Jieyi's article on how to make remote work engaging
In-person engagement strategies are not going to cut it when you're trying to engage a distributed workforce. The same tactics that work in the office simply don't work well enough when applied to remote teams, because of things like:
The loss of information that happens when communication is spread across mixed channels.
The low reach and effectiveness of noticeboards and emails.
The lack of any consistent way to gather feedback.
The fact that blanket strategies tend to fail when your remote workforce spans roles, time zones, identities, priorities, etc., and tailoring each strategy to individual needs leads to much higher engagement.
Organizations also underestimate the importance of culture in virtual settings. Employees feel disconnected from their mission without conscious adaptation of their company’s culture to remote settings.
Because of these problems, many companies have found that remote employee engagement is difficult to do right. But if you’re willing to put in the effort, there are a lot of techniques you can use to help keep your remote workers engaged.
Why Remote Engagement Matters
There are plenty of reasons why it’s important to prioritize remote engagement. For one thing, research shows that engaged employees show higher dedication and willingness to put in extra effort. This means they’re more likely to stay with the company, which yields higher profits, stronger morale, greater productivity, a stronger culture, and higher customer satisfaction.
More importantly, increased job satisfaction and retention are strongly correlated with improved team collaboration and better productivity through communication and feedback loops. Engaged employees are also more likely to boost innovation by participating in cross-functional initiatives. And since remote workers often find it harder to get up-to-date on what’s going on at the company, investing in ways to communicate and share information will also make onboarding easier.
Finally, it turns out that 34% of employees favor hybrid work arrangements, and 28% prefer fully remote roles. So even if you don’t go all-in on remote work, it’s still worth investing in good remote engagement strategies.
How Leaders Can Sustain Remote Engagement
Sustaining engagement requires leaders to behave differently than they would in an office setting. First and foremost, leaders must provide clear expectations. In-person, people pick up on lots of implicit cues about what’s expected of them, but this doesn’t happen nearly as effectively over video or messaging apps. When expectations aren’t clearly stated, they become “ghost expectations”—unstated or unclear expectations—that become toxic fast at a distance.
Setting expectations explicitly is a critical leadership behavior. It gives employees flexibility, stays aligned with organizational direction, enriches engagement and well-being, and allows leaders to think of remote connection first and engagement will follow. Remote leaders should replace synchronous overload—“Zoom fatigue”—with strategic asynchronous communication.
Frequent, Personalized, and Public Recognition
Recognition is especially important in remote settings. Personal and frequent recognition creates an environment where employees feel genuinely appreciated. Appreciation is key to sustaining engagement and loyalty when face-to-face interactions are limited.
Tailored recognition programs can cater to the diverse preferences and needs of remote employees. Some people like receiving gifting to celebrate milestones, such as work anniversaries, promotions, or project completions. Others may enjoy public recognition, which addresses the lower company pride and referral rates seen among fully remote workers versus hybrid ones.
Proximity Bias and Growth Opportunities
Proximity bias—the tendency of managers to unconsciously favor in-office workers—creates inequitable growth paths for remote employees. To counteract this, organizations need to train managers to overcome proximity bias and ensure that virtual staff have equitable promotion paths.
Opportunity for growth and upward mobility is a driver of engagement and a common reason for attrition. Lower referral rates and company pride in fully remote vs. hybrid environments suggest that equitable practices designed to address these issues are needed.
Outcome-Based Performance Evaluation
Shifting to outcome-based performance evaluation builds the trust and autonomy that remote engagement depends on. Evaluating results and the quality of work rather than hours logged strengthens trust and autonomy within remote teams, and is associated with increased engagement and productivity.
Collaborative Technology
Investing in collaborative technology is one of the most direct and immediate ways to reduce remote disengagement. Instant messaging, video conferencing, cloud storage, and remote project management tools are described as game-changing for creating a more engaging remote environment. Investing in collaborative technology is one of the easiest and most direct ways to boost remote engagement.
Community and Culture in Remote Environments
Organizations must deliberately and intentionally construct community and culture in remote environments. They need to do this through multiple channels and consistent feedback. Organic culture-building of shared physical space does not transfer automatically to remote environments. Innovative strategies include meaningful connections through various channels and consistent feedback gathering.
Traditional methods of building community and culture have low reach and effectiveness in remote environments. Gifting is a mechanism for community-building where informal social interaction is limited. A multifaceted approach designed specifically for remote environments covering clarity, connection, and flexibility—not adapted in-person programs—is needed.