5 Amazing Ways to Boost Engagement in a Virtual Workplace

The corporate world we see today is largely different from how it has been perceived in the past. The modern workplace operates in an entirely different manner with flexible and remote working arrangements at the forefront of things. Who would have thought a few years back that such work arrangements would be feasible? But it is true that the future of the corporate world is remote and the trend of flexibility is here to stay. 

For any organization, working remotely or from a traditional office setup, employee engagement is one of the key concerns when it comes to performance management. Engaged employees can change the fortunes of a business for the better. On the contrary, disengaged employees can steer a business toward a dead end. Organizations are laying a greater emphasis on employee engagement and employee experience than ever before.

However, coming back to the discussion on virtual workplaces, driving high engagement in a virtual workplace can be tricky. When you have your employees right in front of you, you can engage them in a more worthwhile and uncomplicated way. Also, in a traditional office setup, employees will themselves be mindful of their commitment and conduct as they stay under supervision. 

The fact of the matter is that for engaging your remote employees, you need an entirely different spectrum of strategies and tactics. It is time that you embrace the growing culture of virtual workplaces even if your organization is yet to go remote. As per Findstack, more than 85 percent of managers and leaders are of the view that remote work will soon become the new normal. Having said that, it is always an idea to be prepared for the future even if you are yet to embrace this change. 

Actionable strategies for engaging remote workers 

1. Optimize virtual onboarding experiences 

In times of virtual workplaces, even onboarding has gone virtual. Employees join organizations virtually and start working remotely without knowing their team members or managers. This is in fact, a toxic element of the modern workplace. Because of ineffective onboarding experiences, new employees do not really blend into the working environment. This further takes a toll on their motivation and engagement. 

To engage your remote employees from the word go, you need to revamp your onboarding process. Great onboarding experiences will pave the way for exemplary employee engagement. For enriching virtual onboarding experiences, a few ideas are listed below.

• Arrange a virtual tour of the workplace for the new employee 
• Host a virtual meeting between all team members 
• Connect the new employee with their managers and mentors 
• Send a personalized welcome email to the new employee 
• Seek feedback from the employee at the end of their first day 

2. Bring D&I activities into the picture
   
   

The culture of virtual workplaces gives you an immense opportunity to hire exceptional talents from any part of the world. In fact, today diversity has become a major corporate trend and organizations are embracing it wholeheartedly.

A great blend of different cultures, experiences, mindsets, perspectives, and skills can add incredible value to an organization. In fact, did you know that diverse teams have a 70 percent higher chance of capturing new markets? Instride further states that diverse and inclusive organizations have a 35 percent higher chance of generating more revenue than competitors.

However, there is something we need to acknowledge here. Engaging a diverse workforce can be far more challenging than in a workplace where people have similar interests. Besides, engaging a diverse workforce virtually further adds to the challenges. This is where D&I activities come into the picture. It will be a great idea to blend diversity and inclusion into employee engagement activities. 

But for that to happen, you first need to understand what D&I activities are and how they work. Knowing about D&I activities can add greater innovation to how you plan your employee engagement activities. It will be great if you go through an explicit list of D&I activities to engage a diverse workforce.

 

3. Introduce virtual coffee breaks

Virtual coffee breaks can be a great way for your remote employees to have candid conversations to get rid of social isolation. As per Gallup, more than 20 percent of remote employees experience social isolation and loneliness. To be fair, that is quite understandable.

As humans, we all crave social interactions and emotional support. In a traditional office setup, people do not feel socially isolated as they have their colleagues around them and they can ask for help. However, things are different in remote working arrangements. Employees are vulnerable to social and emotional vulnerabilities and it does take a toll on their engagement.

But with a culture of virtual coffee breaks, you can give them a window of 30 to 40 minutes each day to leave their stress behind and engage in informal discussions with their peers. Also, on weekends, you can also host virtual movie nights for enhancing employee engagement. It can be a great idea to help your employees unplug from work during weekends.

 

4. Host mental health webinars

One of the basic strategies to drive high engagement in any workplace is to care for the well-being of your employees. When you show empathy and care for your employees, they respond with greater allegiance and loyalty. This allegiance further drives them to exhibit greater commitment, diligence, and accountability. 

Of course, you would want to be more accountable to someone who cares for your wellness, right? The same is the case with your employees. When you care for their wellness, they will reciprocate with gratitude and responsibility. 

Besides, it is also true that work stress is real and as competition gets more intense, the stress levels are shooting up. To substantiate, as per Wrike, more than 70 percent of remote workers experience high stress and experiences pertaining to burnout. Needless to say, performance and burnout cannot go hand in hand. 

To engage your remote employees in a worthwhile manner, you hence need to support their mental wellness. They will exhibit greater engagement when they can overcome their stressors and foster positive wellness. For that, holding mental health webinars can be a great way to show that you care for your remote employees. 

You can invite mental health counselors to hold virtual sessions so that employees can discuss their issues to seek effective solutions for stress management. This can be a great way to keep your employees engaged and satisfied. 

5. Invest in the right communication tools 

Effective internal communication is the key to engagement and performance in a virtual work environment. When there are efficient communication mechanisms in place, the flow of knowledge and information is consistent. Having said that, leaders can share instructions, feedback, and information in an efficient manner. 

Also, teams can discuss project details concisely and clearly with the help of the right communication tools. For high engagement, teams need effective collaboration and for that, efficient communication is salient. 

As per SalesForce, more than 86 percent of executives believe that ineffective communication and collaboration is the major reason for project failure. Also, it is essential to pay heed to the fact that more than 80 percent of enterprises use social collaboration tools to enhance internal communication for business processes. 

Being a leader, you need to ensure that you invest in the right technology that facilitates high engagement through effective information sharing. Besides, you also need to ensure that you provide effective training to your employees for the utilization of the communication tools or software you integrate. Your employees need to master the 7Cs of communication to perform exceptionally well. In the virtual workplace, technology will assist them in managing the 7Cs of communication effectively.

To encapsulate, employee engagement in a virtual workforce has different dynamics. The facilitators are different and so are the factors of engagement and retention in a virtual workforce. With the above actionable strategies, you can drive exceptional results in terms of employee engagement, experience, and retention. Subsequently, you can create a positive culture that leads your organization to new horizons of success.