Editor’s Question: How can business leaders keep employees engaged when working from home?

Rob Dang, CEO of Netrix, explains how Netrix has engaged with employees during the pandemic.

As a result of the pandemic, remote work has forced those in the workforce to balance both work and personal commitments in a new way. Parents and caregivers face stressful situations as they support their children with virtual learning, search for ways to support older relatives who may be more vulnerable, on top of their normal responsibilities. Meanwhile, everyone is seeking answers for the uncertainty we face.

With the lines of work and home blurred, the following tips can help professionals support their teams and encourage engagement with employees while they work remotely.

• Arrange regular company-wide communications to share news, provide updates and stay connected to your team. Such communications will remind employees that the organisation considers them a valuable part of the team. Send communications to remind employees that leadership cares and acknowledge the fact that many who work from home are working more, not less, especially as they are balancing personal commitments.

• Leaders and managers need to connect virtually as much as possible via Microsoft Teams or another collaboration tool. Start meetings with a fun fact to build relationships and add personal touch to otherwise work-focused meetings. Encourage your team members to turn their video on and speak up throughout meetings.

• Employee recognition is more important now than ever. At Netrix, our employee applause recognition programme is designed to reward employees who go above and beyond their normal work responsibilities. Recognition programmes help create a positive work environment for employees, increasing both performance and engagement. At Netrix, we send a personal note and gift card to each employee’s home when they’ve been recognised.

• Celebrating national holidays is another way to keep your employees engaged. We recently celebrated National Employee Appreciation Day by emailing a lunch e-gift card to the employees. This is an easy way to show appreciation to staff and it also highlights the importance of taking a break and treating oneself for a job well done. 

• Get creative with all-company meetings. For the first time in our history, we conducted a virtual global kick-off. Prior to the event, a gift box with snacks and treats was sent to each employee’s home with a special note signed by senior leadership. This added a special touch to get employees excited for the virtual kick-off and encourages the employee to stay engaged during the session.

• Remind employees of company resources that may be available for them, like applicable work from home equipment, PPE or other COVID-19 resources. It’s also important to include the relevant contact personnel managing each of the resources to make next steps clear and concise for all employees.

• Launch an employee advocacy programme to allow employees to share and create content that can be posted on social media channels.

Implementing any or even just a few of these tactics can add up and can lead to better productivity. Properly encouraging employees to support, communicate and engage with one another and the company ultimately results in happy employees, satisfied clients and overall success.