The arrangements that come with remote working are no longer viewed as a makeshift solution that should come to an end once the world returns to normal conditions. In whatever sector a business operates in, the organizations have adopted remote work even more, and the working culture within that organization has greatly evolved. It is also important to comprehend the nature of remote work and its impact on the employee’s relationship with the company, the coworkers, and the tasks, for the intended positive results – productivity, engagement, and wellbeing of the workforce.
Citing the 2022 State of the Global Workplace report by Gallup, among the remote workers, 65% indicated that they feel a disconnection from the company that they work in. Such evidence shows that for companies looking to prevent destroyed company culture, it is going to demand efforts to create strategies aimed at enriching working satisfaction and feelings of ownership towards the company regardless of how people work.
Besides, the report by Owl Labs indicates that such companies where remote work is embraced significantly reduce their employee turnover by 25% when compared to companies with weak policies supporting remote work. These statistical inferences depict the importance of how the employee experience is brought forth in the retention and satisfaction of remote workers.
Remote work has become a welcome change for many employees by providing them with greater flexibility and work-life balance. Still, it has created a different set of problems that must be solved to achieve a satisfactory employee experience. Therefore, as with any other new trend, companies in this new normal must come up with particular measures that will enable their employees to perform well in remote workspaces.
In this blog, we shall look at the connection between remote work and employee experience to find out how to increase engagement levels, employee satisfaction, and overall productivity.
The Remote Work Paradigm and Employee Experience
Remote work is intrinsically different from the traditional concept of the office since it scatters employees all over the place and replaces the ‘physical conversations’ with digital ones. In the same breath, remote work also brings along some pains such as challenges that threaten organizational culture, communication, and the wellbeing of the employees.
Stanford University has claimed that remote work can significantly improve productivity and retention. Their research showed that there was a 13 percent productivity jump with employees working from home and turnover rates halved. This data shows why there is a need for companies to have proper remote work policies not just for the convenience of the company but the employee as well. Organizations that do not prioritize upgrading these amenities will be at a high risk of losing their best workers.
Another important aspect of remote work is asynchronous work instead of synchronous work. Meanwhile, in real offices, the bulk of communication is performed in real-time, remote work usually requires asynchronicity due to time zone differences or external schedules. This change can improve efficiency or create struggle if not handled well, especially when employees experience absence or consider themselves detached from their colleagues.
As we seek the best strategies for improving the experience of remote employees, it is crucial to understand the impediments that need to be overcome for organizations to enjoy the complete benefits of remote work.
Common Challenges in Remote Work Environments
Isolation and Disconnection
When people work offshore, one of the biggest issues is how they feel disconnected from their colleagues and also from the company culture. The office environment is a social space in which employees can take advantage of chance meetings, talk in corridors or during lunch breaks, participate in corporate games, and so on. However, when these spontaneous events are denied to remote workers, they often consider themselves cut off and lonely.
About 24% of remote workers report feeling lonely, as stated in the 2023 Buffer State Of Remote Work report. In addition, 20% do not feel that they are part of their teams. Such feelings of being alone can result in low engagement levels, lower data satisfaction, or even worse, high turnover rates.
Blurring WorkLife Boundaries
As far as limitations offered by this form of working are concerned, the challenge associated with separating one’s work and personal life cannot be ignored. And when they are doing it at home, the two roles can rather entwine, which then precipitates stress and low output levels. A lot of remote employees tend to have difficulties in ‘switching off’ once the clock strikes their end time of the normal working hour.
As Owl Labs points out, 18% of remote work employees state the inability to create a division between work and home life that leaves them with a significant problem. This is made worse by the fact that there are flexible working hours which is a good thing but can also lead to employees extending their working hours.
Communication and Collaboration Hurdles
Communication and collaboration are essential elements for the functioning of any organization. However, this does not come easy for a lot of workers. In an office environment, people often notice how easy it is to communicate because of face-to-face exchanges that happen on a spontaneous basis. On the other hand, remote work heavily relies on IT tools like emails, messengers, and video-conferencing that for some reason often do not facilitate effective communication. These are the time it takes to get back to someone, the written language that can be understood in many ways, and the absence of body language all of which make communication less effective.
According to a Gallup poll, 21% of remote employees experienced issues communicating with their managers and teammates. These problems are related to uneasy communication with the management, which, in turn, leads to unclear task descriptions, missed deadlines, and the general disappointment of the workers involved.
Access to Learning and Development Opportunities
While working remotely, employees may have little ability for organic learning or skills enhancement. In-person mentoring or the building of a social network is not available, making it more difficult for employees to make their efforts to progress in their careers. Companies need to ensure that remote workers’ professional growth does not suffer because this is an important factor for employee engagement and retention.
According to a LinkedIn study, 68% of employees would like to learn while doing their respective jobs but the possibility of learning while remote working is limited. Learning opportunities embedded in jobs that are outside the office are less common in remote working arrangements because of a lack of movement. If organizations do not make active efforts to create learning and development opportunities that fit employees who are working in remote or hybrid settings, employees may become frustrated by their lack of progress and disengage with their work which negatively impacts employee experience.
How to Improve Employee Experience in a Remote Work Environment?
Organizations have to understand these challenges and do their best to provide a rewarding experience to remote workers. This cannot be achieved without focusing on a combination of aspects including connectivity, communication, development, and recognition.
Making Employees Feel Connected and Valued through Virtual Team Engagement
Building personal relations between employees and colleagues is one of the ways to enhance employee engagement within remote workplaces. Activities such as team building can help to fill the void created by the absence of physical interaction and thereby enhance group identity among distant workers. Such activities may even be as simple as happy hours on the internet, or playing virtual games or brainstorming sessions in which many people participate.
Due to such considerations, Zapier has adopted the use of the trusty Slack instant messaging app although they recommend that general channels be reserved for work and specific ones for recreation. That is, employees can still connect over platforms outside of work, regardless of their geographic location.
Furthermore, organizations may implement training programs in which remote workers are ‘hosted’ by veteran employees of the organization who speak to the remote employees 1 on 1 via a video call. This encourages the development of good relationships among the employees which contributes to the feeling of inclusivity in the organization.
Offering Flexibility and Supporting WorkLife Balance
Flexibility is one of the major advantages of working from home. On the other hand, responsibility such as owning up to the consequences of working from home exists ie; the great need to respect and promote good work-life balance for staff. Companies should be very firm on the requirement for employees to follow a schedule and also take breaks to alleviate work-related fatigue. Accepting a culture that emphasizes the health of employees fosters the time-management ability of staff members.
Consider Auzmor, for instance, whose employees are allowed to integrate flexible working hours that provide access to mental health support. This has not only contributed to helping the employees manage their workload but also enhanced their total well-being.
Other companies also have no meeting days or days when all of the meeting is focused on specific time frames, so as not to overload employees with a never-ending flow of online meetings that give them little time to get their work done without any interruptions.
Strengthening Communication with Clear Channels and Guidelines
Companies have to equip remote workers with means to communicate effectively as well as policies on how such means are to be used. Tools such as Zoom video conferencing, Microsoft Teams, Trello, and Asana project management software can enhance communication, teamwork, and organization in a remote working setup.
All members need to find a way to stay informed, nurture participation, and act, when necessary, independently or in teams. For instance, guidelines must be established for response times, preferred methods of communication for different types of tasks, and how to escalate urgent issues. These rules will help employees organize their work in a remote environment.
Additionally, weekly or bi-weekly check-ins between the manager and employee are important. These meetings do not have to be limited to work-related issues and can include personal well-being discussions and issues faced by employees while working remotely.
Providing Continuous Learning and Development Opportunities
If you want your employees to keep improving their competencies and ever-expanding their mental horizons, the company needs to offer them some tools such as an online training management system. For instance, Learning Management Systems (LMS) such as Auzmor’s help remote employees develop new skills through several technical, professional, and leadership training modules. Furthermore, these systems enable the employees to use the self-paced learning approach which allows them to manage their workload and learning without any of the two encroaching on the other.
Another form of informal training that businesses could use in addition to training courses involves creating a platform for employee interaction through lunch and learn webinars or collaborative project work. Not only does this serve to support holistic abilities enhancement, but employees also gain a sense of connection with colleagues.
Recognizing and Rewarding Remote Employees
Rewarding employees is among the best strategies for increasing engagement and employee outlook, especially in a remote working environment. Without any meetings in sight, managing how remote employees are appreciated and recognized can be a tough task. This is the reason why there are employee milestones and wins, which should be celebrated frequently regardless of whether it is a verbal recognition in a virtual meeting or an internal recognition program to sustain one’s zeal and business confidence.
Businesses might also choose short or middle-level informal recognition schemes having rigid physical components like gift vouchers, days off, or additional staff development. And to prevent the problem of remote work, where employees get lost in the ocean of emotions and hundreds of tasks ahead, steps towards accomplishment are celebrated at the strategic management level without losing the focus on contributions made by the employee.
How to Measure the Success of Remote Work Strategies?
After implementing the remote work strategies, the next step is to evaluate whether or not the systems put in place are effective and serve the employees’ needs. The following are three measures that can be looked into:
Employee Feedback and Engagement Surveys
Such feedback captures the employee journey quite well. Organizations should carry out engagement surveys and seek feedback through one-on-one sessions, focus groups, or pulse surveys. This information helps determine how employees are coping with remote work and what areas require development.
Productivity Metrics
Aggregating productivity levels is very important in ascertaining if the changes affected the performance outcomes regarding work-from-home policies. Key performance indicators (KPIs) like the percentage of tasks accomplished, the percentage of deadlines met and the amount of work done by the employees portray the degree of acceptance of the new remote work style.
Turnover and Retention Rates
One metric that should always be considered is the turnover and retention rates of the employees as that will determine if the organizational systems regarding remote working are satisfactory. Most often high turnover is associated with the employee’s balance of how they would like to suit the new working conditions vis-a-vis the support they are offered in their work environment.
The Future of Remote Work: Preparing for LongTerm Success
The rise of remote work is not a temporary trend; it is a new way of doing things from now on. And as this new way of working matures, companies have to stay nimble regarding the employee experience. If strategies focused on connection, communication, development, and recognition are utilized, a business can build a work-from-home atmosphere that nurtures employees as well as the business for the longer term.
Auzmor is among the first ones to encourage remote work and focus on employees’ health and involvement in the process. If companies acquire appropriate technology, build a communicative atmosphere, and improve their remote work policies, they are likely to keep their employees well-motivated, productive, and content regardless of their physical location.
Conclusion
There are both positive and negative aspects to the occurrence of a remote working model. The organizations that strategize on remote work with employee experience in mind are not only on the rise in terms of active engagement and productivity. They are also retaining the best of the best. It is reasonable to assume that the sense of connection, work-life balance, and acknowledgment of efforts will allow the employers to have the remote employees’ – engagement and motivation for a longer period.
With the recent rise of flexible working arrangements, it’s no longer enough for organizations to simply copy and embrace change. Change is already within reach and the solution is to be able to create a remote employee experience that motivates, engages, and inspires.
Learn how your organization can sustain employee experience while remote working with Auzmor software. Click here to request a demo and learn how our products would enable engagement and productivity for remote employees!”
FAQs
Q: What are the most significant challenges of remote work for employee experience?
A: The way remote work is executed can create barriers to addressing issues revolving around communication, collaboration, and engagement. It is, therefore, very critical that management ensures that contact is sustained and that the right tools are available.
Q: In what ways can the employee experience be improved when working remotely?
A: Employee experience can be improved by encouragement to speak freely, reasonable working hours, appropriate tools to perform the requisite tasks, and promoting a work-life balance.
Q: How does Auzmor support remote work and employee engagement?
A: Auzmor offers employees collaboration applications and platforms to improve communication in the workplace, workflows, and other processes within which the employees operate from remote locations.
Q: Why should you focus on employee experience for remote working professionals?
A: Improving the employee experience for remote working professionals will increase productivity in business, motivation to work, retention rate, and the development of corporate culture.
Q: What trends are expected to change the nature of remote work and employee experience?
A: The proper management of remote worker experience is evolving as a result of trends such as hybrid working arrangements, growing reliance on digital technology, and an emphasis on wellness.
