How to Engage Remote Employees: 10 Not Standard Ideas

The discovery and subsequent spread of COVID-19 have led to the abrupt shutdown of many workplaces, ushering in a new era of remote work for millions of workers all over the world. According to a 2020 survey conducted by Pew Research Center, it is estimated that 71% of the previously employed workforce in the US has had to work remotely at some point. The same survey reveal that, given a chance, more than half of the respondents would want to continue working remotely even after the pandemic. With such a huge number of workers willing to work remotely, the biggest challenge for employers is to look for creative ways on how to keep employees engaged while working from home.

If you came here looking for creative ways on how to engage remote employees or how to stay engaged working from home, you have come to the right place. In this article, we are going to look at the importance of engaging remote workers, as well as explore the different engagement activities for remote employees.

Benefits of Supporting Remote Workers

Today, workers, especially those in the software engineering and development field are looking for much more than an attractive salary and benefits. Whilst one cannot discount these standard perks play a major role, the Gen Z employees tend to lean towards a work culture that offers both intrinsic and extrinsic motivators. 

Here are three major benefits of managing people remotely.

Increased productivity

One of the primary benefits of keeping IT staff engaged is that it helps increase their overall productivity. Today, more and more companies are discovering that workers are willing to walk the extra mile in exchange for the privilege to work remotely. A recent study shows that 53% of workers are willing to work extra time when operating remotely, with 28% of on-site employees willing to do the same. The same study shows that 45% of remote workers are able to accomplish more compared to when working on-site.

Reduced employee turnover

This may sound a bit contradicting but sending workers home is a great incentive to keep them around in the long haul. True to this, a national survey conducted in the US reported that 73% of remote workers had higher job satisfaction compared to their on-site counterparts. Along with that, 53% of remote employees in the U.S. have indicated they aren’t planning to leave their jobs in the near future. This compared with 54% of in-house workers who reported they are on the hunt for a new workplace. 

Increased savings

Managing and empowering a  distributed software development team saves both the organization and employees a lot in terms of money and time. On the one hand, the company saves in terms of office furniture, electricity, janitorial services, real estate, technology investment, and other overhead costs. Workers, on the other hand, can save up to $7,000 annually on transportation, child care, clothes, and food compared to their office-bound peers.

To underscore the importance of working remotely, a recent study by Global Workplace Analytics shows that 50% of the entire U.S. workforce can save up to $700 billion annually working from home at least half of the time.

Now that we have seen the benefits of remote working support, let’s now transition into how to make remote employees feel connected.

10 Easy and Creative Ways to Engage and Motivate Remote Employees

As a manager, learning how to keep a remote team engaged is easier said than done. This is especially the case in the IT field where there’s a stinging skills shortage, with multiple companies that have deeper pockets hiring dedicated development team/s right, left, and center.

Although there are major differences between managing remote staff and keeping them motivated, paying attention to the subtle things can hugely slat the playing field to your advantage.

Below, we have compiled a list of 10 practical remote staff IT management tips that you can try:

#1. Listen

When it comes to supervising remote employees and motivating team members, one man’s meat could be another’s poison. For this reason, it is important for you as a business owner or manager to pay attention to the needs and interests of each employee. 

What motivates an accountant may not necessarily work for a software engineer. Still, what motivates one software developer may not necessarily tickle another. Worst still, software engineers spend most of their time working on huge projects rather than in meetings, which is why it’s important to keep on engaging them in one-on-one and virtual conversations to understand their interests.

#2. Reinforce organizational values

Even before the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, companies were increasingly starting to treat their employees as primary stakeholders of their enterprises. During and even after this crisis, you can continue showing employees that you are willing to walk with them for the long haul.

And one of the best work from home engagement ideas to do so is to reinforce the values of creating a fun and lively environment for the employees that you have built over the years. Along with that, continue modeling and ingraining positive behaviors among the employees by calling out unethical conduct. Still, you need to put in place systems and channels for reporting professional misconduct, as well as establish punitive measures for failure to comply.

#3. Decentralize authority and project ownership

Whether you are working with software engineers or any other professionals, failing to decentralize authority and projects could lead to missing out on great workers. As indicated earlier, most workers today are looking for both intrinsic and extrinsic motivators, and both freedom and a strong sense of autonomy are a huge part of the equation. If you are overly obsessed with punching a clock every clock, you could be missing out a lot on something important. After all, a results-driven culture doesn’t follow a particular schedule but lies in allowing people to thrive in their respective capacities, which can happen from anywhere.

#4. Use new technology

We are living in a digital world where technology is constantly changing. And in such an ecosystem, techies often take pride in keeping up with the trends and emerging technologies. No software engineer is willing to stick around maintaining old, broken code that’s written with older technologies, which is why it is important to continually revamp and invest in modern technologies.

#5. Encourage communication

Encouraging formal and informal catch-ups between team members is yet another great way to increase intimacy and trust. For example, you can set up coffee-break groups and keep rotating the participants weekly. Better yet, you can make new team members feel more welcome by allocating them a buddy. CEOs and managers having a communication plan for remote employees is also important, which is why you should have an open-door policy by giving remote employees multiple communication channels to contact you. 

#6. Support personal and professional well-being

When it comes to remote working, it can be hard to spot wellbeing issues. For this reason, it is important to put in place mechanisms to identify any personal issues with your remote employees. If a particular worker keeps skipping virtual meetings or calling in sick, for example, it could mean they’re experiencing ‘isolation fatigue’. Possible ways to engage employees virtually in such a scenario may include providing mental health access or training. And with the absence of commute time, remote workers can easily commit to such courses.

#7. Encourage flexibility and innovation

Managing a business entails juggling between tasks and keeping an eye on multiple moving parts. And more than often, there are multiple ways to troubleshoot and solve problems, most of which are yet to be invented. As a business owner or manager, you should give your remote team flexibility to identify and solve problems in the most creative way possible, even when the solutions aren’t part of your SOP. Who knows, your company could become a pioneer in the next big technology for tomorrow’s SOPs and solutions.

While at it, ensure you provide the necessary tools and infrastructure to encourage creativity and innovation, so the employees are empowered to contribute towards solving problems.

#8. Engage in fun activities

Yet another creative way to manage and motivate your remote team is to organize informal activities between the team members. It could be virtual quizzes, karaoke, coding competitions, just to mention but a few. To boost engagement, you can also allocate a monthly or annual budget for these activities, as well as encourage the team members to decide on the themes.

#9. Recognize and reward merit

If a particular employer is positively contributing towards the growth of your company, it’s absolutely important to recognize and reward their contribution. This is particularly important for software engineers, who are commonly stereotyped as introverts or nerds that hate communicating with others and hate public recognition.

Whilst it’s true that some software developers are introverted, it doesn’t mean they won’t be happy to be recognized for their hard work. As such, you should find creative ways to recognize and reward merit to show that you value the employees’ contributions toward the growth of your organization. Popular ways to reward merit include paid-for holidays, bonus packages, or even stock ownership.

10. Provide opportunities for growth

Business owners and managers need to work with remote employees to establish their future endeavors. Many professionals, especially software engineers, would prefer sticking to the technical aspect of the professional rather than following the management path, although they also want to be sure they will continue to climb the corporate ladder. 

By providing opportunities to excel and grow into technical leaders within the company, you will not only have won their loyalty but also motivate them to continue producing quality work.

Concluding Remarks: How to Get Software Engineers Engaged

The COVID-19 pandemic has completely and forever changed the way businesses operate. On the one hand, companies are hesitant to bring back full-time employees, while on the other hand, employees are reluctant to return back to the contemporary office. And if the statistics published by multiple sources are anything to go by, there’s no doubt that remote work will only continue to grow in the coming years. For business owners and managers, trying to understand how to engage and motivate remote employees will not only help improve their productivity, reduce employee turnover, and reduce overhead costs. Luckily for you, the tips listed in this article will make it a piece of cake to manage, engage, and motivate your remote team.

Ensure the success of your projects by following the work from home engagement ideas highlighted in our guide!