Be The Organization That Everyone Wants To Work For – Remote Work Edition

by Srikant Chellappa Aug 18,2020
Engagedly
PODCAST

The People Strategy Leaders Podcast

with Srikant Chellappa, CEO

With remote working becoming the new norm these days, it has become tough to maintain a positive workplace culture.

Well, if you read our previous article on how to be the organization that everyone wants to work for, then you must be wondering how much of it is even possible practically in today’s scenario. While we understand that these times are uncertain for many businesses, we also understand how difficult and important it is to retain your existing talent and attract new talent, during these times of crisis.

So here are a few tips on being the organization that everyone wants to work for even during the remote working season.

Collaborate

One of the most common challenges that teams face when working remotely is collaborating from different locations. When a team of software developers are in the same office, it is easier for them to interact with each other without even thinking twice. But how can the same team work on the same project when each member is in a different location?

Though working from home and interacting virtually has its own benefits, it is a known fact that there is no substitute for personally meeting someone. Make your virtual employees feel more connected by scheduling face-to-face meets as often as the employee can make it.

While there are many technological developments in the industry that solve this issue, there are some real limitations to this approach. The good is that, much like project management software, there are countless collaboration tools designed for all kinds of tasks and teams that will help you break down those remote co-working barriers. You can find the list of tools for social collaboration here.

Recognize

It has become vital to recognize and appreciate employees now, more than ever. Most employers tend to forget to appreciate their employees’ good work but they specifically remember to criticize when something goes wrong. There can be various genuine reasons why employers can’t prioritize appreciation.

Like we said before, this practice not only promotes disengagement but creates a sense of dissatisfaction in employees which directly affects their productivity. With remote working, it is already hard for employees to stay motivated. So, always remember to appreciate and recognize the good work of your employees.

Our tip for you is to start using an employee recognition software that can help you build a positive work-culture that promotes appreciation and recognizes employees for even the smallest of their progress. Engagedly allows you to recognize and praise your employees socially for any contribution that they’ve made to the organization.

Real-time Feedback

Sharing and requesting for feedback is one of the very important practices a company needs. Not many organizations focus on this practice because this could also result in negativity in a team. But it is important for team members and managers to understand how their work is contributing to the team success.

Also read: Employee Feedback Matters More Than You Know

Receiving feedback can be very valuable, particularly during this remote-working season. It is important for employees to collaborate and understand each other to make the team more productive. Receiving feedback from managers from time to time can also help employees understand their own work. Feedback doesn’t always have to be about improving, it can also be about acknowledging someone’s contribution to a particular project or any general observation that can employees develop themselves.

Promote Transparency

Promoting transparency at workplace helps you nurture a fear-free and open culture at workplace where employees feel free to openly discuss their mistakes and accomplishments. Transparency helps managers confront situations, which are otherwise difficult, professionally and easily. Most information about the company isn’t always available to employees.

There are various ways to promote transparency:

  • Have clear work processes
  • Specify organizational and team goals
  • Align individual goals to team and organizational goals
  • Have frequent all teams meetings, so that every team understands the co-dependency

Transparency allows employees to access information about their company’s mission, vision, goals and objectives without any difficulty.

This also helps them align their own goals to the company goals and witness the difference they are making to the company personally.

Work-Life Balance – Help Them Disconnect

This is a very important aspect that drives employee retention and contributes to your company culture. Like mentioned before, employees spend most of their time at workplace and want to feel comfortable and happy at work. Most managers fail to understand that employees have a life outside work and that they need to respect it.

It is really hard these days to disconnect from work, with all the technology and emails linked to our phones. And with the increasing number of organizations opting to remote work, employees rarely get off their laptops and mobile phones. There is no way for them to disconnect from work, when working with global teams.

Create a culture where employees aren’t bugged with work at any time of the day. Understand that this is a sign of toxic work culture and pull yourself back from demanding them to work from home on a holiday to send that email out to a client. No matter how important it may seem at times, it is important to draw the boundaries.

 


Engagedly is offering a suite of products part of its Remote Work Toolkit free to any organisation, until Sept 30th, 2020. 

The Coronavirus has affected the way we work today and for months to come. Unprecedented events require unprecedented measures. We at Engagedly believe it is our responsibility as socially conscious corporate citizens to help equip organisations with additional tools and resources during this time of crisis.


Do you want to know how Engagedly can help you be the organization that everyone wants to work for? Then request for a live demo

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Author
Srikant Chellappa
CEO & Co-Founder of Engagedly

Srikant Chellappa is the Co-Founder and CEO at Engagedly and is a passionate entrepreneur and people leader. He is an author, producer/director of 6 feature films, a music album with his band Manchester Underground, and is the host of The People Strategy Leaders Podcast. He is currently working on his next book, Ikigai at the Workplace, which is slated for release in the fall of 2024.

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