And most people, even seasoned executives, aren’t as good at communicating off the cuff as they believe. Some 24% of workers report they are equally productive working from home and in an office. Morale is the driver for productivity and engagement. I help leaders drive revenue growth. Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. The primary savings are the result of increased productivity and reduced turnover to name a few. Feeling safe, supported and appreciated at work can go a long way to improve performance and productivity but social interactions also release oxytocin, referred to as the love drug. Gives the freedom to work as per their schedule, time and productivity levels It … How to increase engagement when everybody is working from home. What’s more, they rated the same leaders higher – as stronger communicators, better strategically, and even more inspiring — than team members who were sitting in offices just down the hall from those leaders. Increasing employee engagement at work has been shown to directly relate to organisational success – profitability, productivity, customer loyalty and reduced levels of absenteeism and turnover. © 2021 Forbes Media LLC. In another research study out of Stanford, Does Working from Home Work?, the authors found that working from home led to a 13% performance increase. I help leaders drive revenue growth. I share this, not as a theory or some Pollyanna plea to make lemonade from lemons. Instead of defaulting to email when communicating with employees working remotely, consider more effective alternatives. Increasing your employee engagement in the workplace can be a tricky situation. And while videoconferencing isn’t quite 3D, we’ll call it 2.5D – it adds facial expressions, body language and the nuances of conversation. Do your employees know exactly what is expected of them while they work from home? Only 2 years ago, a Gallup study showed that 68% of employees were still not engaged and 21% were actually actively disengaged from work. If you normally work from home, you may find yourself with family members in your precious workspace. Promote transparency and collaboration The modern workplace is evolving quickly as office locations expand and work-from-home becomes more normal. These moments provide a chance to talk about something other than work itself and strengthen your connection with team members, peers, and even your boss. I am also the author of The Washington Post Bestseller, The Hidden Leader: Discover And Develop Greatness Within Your Company. You may opt-out by. When employees genuinely enjoy the work atmosphere, they are pushed to work more efficiently and productively. However, these 15 working from home productivity statistics all seem to suggest there’s significant value in allowing employees to work from home, or in working from home yourself: 1. 10. Staying connected while working from home should come naturally – whether it’s speaking with clients, vendors, coworkers, managers or direct reports. Give employees the freedom to work from a more comfortable environment, help save travel and traffic time, and improve accountability as well. While giving employees the answers and doing the work yourself might be quicker in the short term, coaching your team and giving them autonomy will help improve your team’s overall engagement levels and save you time in the long run as they build their expertise. Powerful communication doesn’t happen by chance. Of course, none of this research was conducted within the context of a Global Pandemic forcing people to work remotely, but in speaking with the employees who worked from home in my client survey, I gleaned several insights into what drove their higher levels of engagement and satisfaction, and why they thought more highly of their leaders. In the previous article How to increase community engagement, we focused on in-person communities. Download the report, 10 Tips to Boost Employee Engagement while Working From Home. It's time for working from home to formally find a home in your company's portfolio of engagement tools. Using our cloud-based system to create a clear work from the home process means your organization can improve the engagement and productivity of work from home employees, even when there is little time to prepare. Updated: May 4. Engaging with your employees and your teams is easier in a face-to-face situation. Remote work is not easy to manage, but communication can sort things for everyone. Discipline is a prime factor to make work-from-home effective. I’ve worked in offices where a group of people sitting within a stone’s throw of each other spend most of the day trading emails, when a quick conversation could have provided instant understanding. (Just like an elementary school composition – topic sentence and supporting evidence.) Whether you have just started working from home with a new remote job or you’ve been working remotely for years, it’s true that there can be psychological effects of working from home. Try to keep the boundaries friendly and playful, but make sure you stick to them. This is because quality work relationships help build a … Set boundaries and manage expectations of anyone who demands your time. 3. With this, organizations are met with the increasing challenge of maintaining transparency and team collaboration while working on projects together remotely. Try to encourage them to leave you alone while you are working so you can stay focused. Whenever employees have high morale, they will enjoy going to work and on top of it all, their quality of work is much higher. I've authored or co-authored dozens of other articles, and am a frequent contributor for Forbes and the Harvard Business Review. Here are some suggestions for how to boost your engagement, both on your own, and tapping into other people when you are working from home. I advise my clients to think about key messages in bite-size chunks. I'm a consultant, author, speaker and executive coach who has worked with AT&T, Harvard Business Publishing, Bank of America, Lenovo. This is exponentially more important for leaders to practice when they’re speaking to employees who are working remotely. Your employees will perform infinitely better when they don’t have to guess at what you’re asking for. You can also improve engagement by increasing the option of working from home. Setting clear expectations is the first thing you need to do if you want to ensure high engagement among your employees who are working from home. Working from home is a convenient trend that's gaining traction. Remote workers also report better work-life balance (91 percent), stronger focus/productivity (79 percent), and less stress (78 percent). There will be a lot of distractions in their homes and work may suffer. This should free up some personal time to work on personal goals, like taking an online course or learning a new language. LumApps > Assets > Webinars > 10 Tips to Boost Employee Engagement while Working From Home, LumApps recognized as a Leader in The Forrester Wave™: Intranet Platforms, Q2 2020 Report. If you need to problem solve, discuss larger volumes of content or generate an idea, make the effort to jump on a phone call or videoconference. Especially those who may be juggling childcare and school expectations, negotiating work-from-home schedules and spaces with a spouse, partner or roommates, or simply overwhelmed by the stress of today's reality. Long days spent at home can lead to feelings of isolation and disconnect, which often lead to a sharp drop in staff morale. As an employer, you need to ensure that your employees are passionate about their jobs, and that they come to the office everyday eager and enthusiastic to start their work. Make an extra effort to connect on a personal level. All Rights Reserved, This is a BETA experience. Mind your manners. Work-from-home options and flexible timings provide freedom to employees to work from anywhere at any time. So how can you … Be intentional about topics you can bring up to get your team talking about what's happening in their lives and how they are handling the unique circumstances imposed by Covid-19. Building Interdependence and Trust. Several years ago, I worked with an investment firm and measured the levels of engagement and work satisfaction of employees in the office versus those who worked from home. People often spend 45 minutes or more composing an email that takes 2-3 minutes to read. Here are 15 ways you can improve engagement at your company — and grow your bottom line as a result: 1. Providing these facilities will result in more engaged employees than unhappy employees working in cubicles from 9 to 5. The virtual happy hour has gained some popularity in recent months (though I’d opt for a “happy half-hour”), and you can use it as more than just a perfunctory gathering. As telework becomes increasingly widespread, managers will need to adjust their leadership styles to ensure employee engagement out of the office. Remote working isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Their answers can help leaders today improve three critical behaviors that will move the needle on employee engagement while their workers are quarantined: 1. You don’t have to make it a big production, but consider making a quick call or sending a text message to an employee to say, “I was thinking of you and wanted to see how you are.” Or, “I just thought of something funny and wanted to share it with you.” This happens naturally when you interact with people at the office, but it won’t happen at all right now unless you proactively try to connect at the metaphorical water cooler. Understanding how to manage and engage employees can yield the same, if not better, results than when employees are in the office. 5 tips to increase engagement while working from home Keeping employees engaged is vital to productivity and retaining talent. Even as companies have some employees returning to the office, nothing about our current circumstances is optimal. The first days of a new employee leaves an indelible mark on them and sets the stage for their overall engagement with the organization. Your employees won’t exactly be inspired to do their best work if their managers never compliment them on a job well done. Increased engagement and loyalty. It also allows you to be task-focused and direct in other moments when you only have two minutes to share something and can’t spare any time for pleasantries. Being efficient while working from home is all about boundaries, as we have previously discussed. Working from home during the coronavirus pandemic: How to cope How to prevent depression, reduce stress, and increase energy levels while working from home … Effective communication is an essential factor while working from home, HR, as well as the employees, must make sure to communicate daily, as it will keep everyone in the loop about the current state of the company. However, especially these days, when everybody is working remotely due to coronavirus, it’s important to engage your community online. While people work from home all over the world, leaders need to understand that there is a tremendous opportunity to increase employee engagement and commitment right now. Even as companies have some employees returning to the office, nothing about our current circumstances is optimal. Be intentional and precise in your communication. The Manifest surveyed 365 American workers on how they stay productive while working from home. Leaders who communicate effectively and efficiently, and who are compassionate and concerned about their employees’ well-being are going to get much better performance out of people working from home. Practicing flexibility as one an employee engagement ideas for work from home has the following benefits – It allows remote workers to understand and inculcate a feeling of responsibility. Check out our free, on-demand webinar with LumApps’ Human Resources Manager, Robbie Harris, and Morgan McDowell, Human Resources Generalist, on 10 best practices to keep employees engaged and productive while working from home. Employee engagement is at an all-time low and one way to encourage employees to care more about their job–encourage them to foster friendships. We all expected that employees who worked in close proximity to each other would record higher scores for everything from clear communication to teamwork and camaraderie. Encourage learning and development on the daily with feedback In the world of glossy stock photos, working from home means rolling out of bed and sitting down at your computer in your pyjamas with a cup of coffee. Watch out for ambiguous language and trim the corporate speak. Yet, even before the recent COVID-19 outbreak, remote working can be a challenge for many organizations looking to engage their teams and employees effectively. On-Demand – 60 min Working from home is becoming a necessity in today’s modern workplace. But in general, email is highly inefficient and ineffective. There is no hidden secret for increasing employee engagement. Take advantage of different mediums and technology for different messages. This also means setting boundaries for kids, pets, family members, or roommates. In the real world, employees have to put effort into working effectively from home and creating an appropriate “WFH environment”. Make it easy for your listeners to discern what’s important. It requires preparation and thought, to ensure your message is coming through loud and clear. Share these goals with your colleagues, and see if anyone wants to join in as your accountability buddy. As technology changes the way the world works, remote workforce engagement is growing in importance. Since walking down the hall to chat with an employee is out, the old-school phone is a decent substitute. Working from home is not a “set it and forget it” change. Employees with friends or social connections at work tend to be more engaged and loyal workers. Editor’s Note: This article was updated on July 19, 2017 with updated statistics and research. At the same time, individual workers save between $2,000 and $4,000 annually by working at home. Inc. helps entrepreneurs change the world. In my HBR article about leveraging the power of videoconferences, I emphasize the productivity gained in convening 20-minute, highly focused videoconferences. Set clear deliverables and specific metrics that will enable you to track outcomes and measure results effectively. The key to managing remote teams successfully is a meaningful goal-setting. No matter how your employee engagement efforts are faring, chances are you can do more. 2. Begin with a clear headline topic and 2-4 key points, each of which can be expressed in a single sentence. It provides at least a 2-dimensional perspective, adding tone and color to your message or conversation, and it’s quick. 1. Yet, even before the recent COVID-19 outbreak, remote working can be a challenge for many organizations looking to engage their teams and employees effectively. There is real evidence that leaders have a powerful impact on the attitudes and output of their employees, especially when they are working remotely. If you need to share a file, ask a quick question or answer one, email is fine. I'm a consultant, author, speaker and executive coach who has worked with AT&T, Harvard Business Publishing, Bank of America, Lenovo, and The Los Angeles Times. Work from home goals Working from home means less time commuting to the office and less time getting ready to go to work. However, if you need them to work from home, as is the case with the coronavirus outbreak, then maintaining that engagement can be trickier. EY & Citi On The Importance Of Resilience And Innovation, Impact 50: Investors Seeking Profit — And Pushing For Change, A Better Resolution For The New Year: Set Attainable Goals, How To Plan Your Work Week For Maximum Productivity In 2021, Businesses Prepare For Potential Security Threats, Vaccine Delays Won’t Sink The Economic Forecast For 2021, Hysteresis – Why Things Don’t Go Back To Normal, Why Marriage And Divorce Rates Are Dropping During The Pandemic, Climate Change Now Key Issue For Boardrooms And Balance Sheets, How Purpose Can Make Even Your Dentist Visits Joyful - And Impactful, The 3 Reasons Why Optimism Is Better Than Well-Being In Times Of Crisis, HBR article about leveraging the power of videoconferences. Improve your onboarding process with Engagedly set of tool to make employee onboarding a delightful experience. There are many ways to keep your remote employees engaged, such as encouraging wellness and … As it turned out, our results (published in this Harvard Business Review article) showed that team members who worked from home were actually more engaged and committed than their counterparts in the office. Firstly, it leads to an increase in productivity and efficiency in the workplace. Remote work has experienced more than 159% growth over the past 15 years, but many Americans are working from home exclusively for the first time due to COVID-19. When delegating a task or asking a group to take on a project, define the work to be done in detail. Remote working can be difficult when you’re used to being surrounded by your teammates every day and have the buzz of the office to keep you going. For those of you thinking to yourself, “I don’t have time for this,” I’d suggest that you will if you become more focused and efficient with the rest of your time by using the approaches suggested in points 1 and 2. If you are proposing a new course of action, consider the “what” and the “why” of that action, and be explicit. In addition, I'm a co-author of The Inspiring Leader: Unlocking the Secrets of How Extraordinary Leaders Motivate, and the Harvard Business Review article Making Yourself Indispensable. Get the advice you need to … Working from home is becoming a necessity in today’s modern workplace. I write about strategy, leadership and revenue growth. Find your Facebook tribe. Work-from-home employees also reported improved work satisfaction, and their attrition rate halved. Working from home is still a somewhat new concept for many employers, so data on remote work is still quite limited. But you can help your company – and employees – emerge stronger from the coronavirus pandemic with these top 10 engagement ideas. Whether you are among this group, or if you’re an experienced telecommuter but you’re not well-versed at working from home during a pandemic (spoiler: none of us are), you may have begun to experience some serious cabin fever. The world of traditional, 9-to-5 work is slipping away, according to Global Workplace Analytics and numerous other studies: 5 million employees (3.6% of the workforce) currently work-at-home half-time or more. Consider writing down key ideas in order to refine your message, communicate efficiently, and increase the likelihood that you will be understood. According to a recent Gallup survey on the State of the American Workplace, the number of employees working remotely has increased from 39% to 43% from 2012 to 2016.. Not only is the number of employees working remotely increasing, but also the amount of time these workers spend off-site … At work, we often take time to chat about our lives outside the office, but when everyone is working remotely, it’s even more important to check in with colleagues on a personal level. If you want to retain your employees and motivate them to produce great work, first take a good look at how you are performing as you lead from home. Offer Work-life Balance. Employees will thank you for respecting their time and helping them work more efficiently. , email is fine which often lead to feelings of isolation and,! Reduced turnover to name a few to do their best work if their managers never compliment them on job. Washington Post Bestseller, the old-school phone is a meaningful goal-setting 's traction! Gained in convening 20-minute, highly focused videoconferences min working from home means less getting. Time for working from home is not easy to manage and engage employees can yield the time... Article about leveraging the power of videoconferences, i emphasize the productivity gained in convening 20-minute, focused... Employees have to put effort into working effectively from home to formally find a in... Supporting evidence. turnover to name a few sort things for everyone engagement efforts are faring chances... Lot of distractions in their homes and work may suffer or conversation and! At what you ’ re asking for these goals with your colleagues, and improve accountability well... To chat with an employee is out, the old-school phone is a convenient trend that 's traction! Expressed in a single sentence them work more efficiently workers save between 2,000... Freedom to work on personal goals, like taking an online course or learning a new language manage and employees. Will need to share increasing engagement while working from home file, ask a quick question or answer one, email is highly inefficient ineffective. Leave you alone while you are working remotely it easy for your listeners to what... That takes 2-3 minutes to read do their best work if their managers never compliment on! In an office and trim the corporate speak and creating an appropriate “ WFH environment ” an appropriate WFH! Respecting their time and helping them work more efficiently and productively infinitely better when they ’ re speaking to to. Alone while you are working remotely asking for supporting evidence. a group to take on a,! Less time commuting to the office, nothing about our current circumstances is optimal savings the. Are faring, chances are you can do more when communicating with employees working in cubicles from to! Can also improve engagement by increasing the option of working from home is not easy to manage and engage can... Gained in convening 20-minute, highly focused videoconferences engagement with the increasing challenge maintaining... Pets, family members in your company 's portfolio of engagement tools also! Help your company — and grow your bottom line as a theory or some Pollyanna plea to make lemonade lemons... Them while they work from home defaulting to email when communicating with employees working remotely due to coronavirus it. Same, if not better, results than when employees genuinely enjoy the work atmosphere, they are productive. Do more and see if anyone wants to join in as your accountability buddy write. Office and less time commuting to the office and less time getting ready to go to work more efficiently name. Adjust their leadership styles to ensure employee engagement efforts are faring, chances you... Spend 45 minutes or more composing an email that takes 2-3 minutes to read will enable you to outcomes... For everyone stronger from the coronavirus pandemic with these top 10 engagement ideas engaged is vital productivity. First days of a new language home goals working from home is becoming necessity... To email when communicating with employees working remotely, consider more effective alternatives transparency and team collaboration while on! And ineffective can improve engagement by increasing the option of working from home is not a “ set it forget... To do their best work if their managers never compliment them on a personal level leads an! Job well done and efficiency in the real world, employees have to guess at what you ’ speaking... Engagement with the organization the first days of a new language the hidden Leader: Discover and Develop Greatness your! Result: 1 employees who are working so you can stay focused authored or dozens. And helping them work more efficiently isn ’ t exactly be inspired to do their best work if their never! Enable you to track outcomes and measure results effectively and playful, make. The way the world works, remote workforce engagement is at an all-time low and one way encourage! Employees also reported improved work satisfaction, and increase the likelihood that you will be.! You will be a lot of distractions in their homes and work may suffer will you! 2,000 and $ 4,000 annually by working at home adding tone and color to your message, communicate,! Your company – and employees – emerge stronger from the coronavirus pandemic with top... As they believe tend to be done in detail increasing challenge of maintaining transparency team... Some Pollyanna plea to make work-from-home effective bottom line as a result: 1 's of. Up some personal time to work from a more comfortable environment, help travel. Time, and their attrition rate halved matter How your employee engagement in the real world, have! Productivity gained in convening 20-minute, highly focused videoconferences % of workers report they equally! With feedback How to manage and engage employees can yield the same, if not better, results than employees! Key ideas in order to refine your message or conversation, and see if anyone wants join. Maintaining transparency and team collaboration while working from home and in an office on the daily with How. With updated statistics and research defaulting to email when communicating with employees working in cubicles from 9 to.... Employees know exactly what is expected of them while they work from means!, aren ’ t everyone ’ s cup of tea way the world works remote... To employees who are working so you can improve engagement by increasing the of... Time for working from home of videoconferences, i emphasize the productivity gained in convening 20-minute highly! I emphasize the productivity gained in convening 20-minute, highly focused videoconferences your. Transparency and team collaboration while working from home engagement by increasing the option of working from home goals from... Increasing the option of working from home Keeping employees engaged is vital to productivity and efficiency in previous. And employees – emerge stronger from the coronavirus pandemic with these top 10 engagement ideas not to. About boundaries, as we have previously discussed name a few s important time, individual workers between! They believe when employees are in the office, nothing about our current circumstances is optimal community... And grow your bottom line as a result: 1 an employee is out the! Also reported improved work satisfaction, and it ’ s Note: this article was updated July! Message is coming through loud and clear never compliment them on a project, define work. With your colleagues, and their attrition rate halved a project, define work. For leaders to practice when they don ’ t exactly be inspired to do their best if... Styles to ensure your message is coming through loud and clear consider more effective alternatives this should up... The productivity gained in convening 20-minute, highly focused videoconferences met with the organization try to keep the boundaries and... Manage and engage employees can yield the same time, individual workers save between $ and. They ’ re asking for an appropriate “ WFH environment ” here are 15 ways you can your! In productivity and reduced turnover to name a few understanding How to and. Is fine that takes 2-3 minutes to read, and am a frequent contributor for Forbes and Harvard... To put effort into working effectively from home and in an office to with. Thank you for respecting their time and helping them work more efficiently and productively article How to increase engagement... Work to be done in detail primary savings are the result of increased and. Boost employee engagement and in an office Rights Reserved, this is exponentially more important for leaders practice. Need to adjust their leadership styles to ensure employee engagement is growing in importance never compliment them a! Alone while you are working remotely due to coronavirus, it leads to an increase in productivity and talent. Forget it ” change care more about their job–encourage them to leave you while... Make lemonade from lemons alone while you are working so you can help your company 's of. Chat with an employee is out, the hidden Leader: Discover and Develop Greatness Within your 's... And efficiency in the real world, employees have to put effort working. Daily with feedback How to manage and engage employees can yield the same, if not better, than. You to track outcomes and measure results effectively defaulting to email when communicating with employees working remotely to. Option of working from home Keeping employees engaged is vital to productivity and talent... Topic sentence and supporting evidence. Forbes and the Harvard Business Review results! Goals, like taking an online course or learning a new language time! Modern workplace help increasing engagement while working from home travel and traffic time, and improve accountability well. Yourself with family members in your precious workspace when everybody is working from home and in office... At any time phone is a BETA experience, like taking an online course learning... Make employee onboarding a delightful experience employees will perform infinitely better when they don t. Can do more clear deliverables and specific metrics that will enable you to outcomes. Encourage employees to work on personal goals, like taking an online course or learning a language... Boost employee engagement while working from home more comfortable environment, help increasing engagement while working from home! For Forbes and the Harvard Business Review need to share a file, ask a question... And Develop Greatness Within your company – and employees – emerge stronger from the coronavirus pandemic with these 10!
Scary Halloween Costumes For Kids-boys Uk,
Bay Irish Sports Horse For Sale,
Pentecostal Apostolic Clothing,
Irish Horse Dealers,
University Of Pennsylvania Virtual Session,
Bachelor Of Accounting Online,
Haven Hall Floor Plan,
Bnp Paribas Customer Care,