I recently read an article about the health and safety of remote employees and how it is important to insure their well-being as much as it is on-site employees. Certainly the old adage of “out of sight, out of mind” should not apply in this case. The same goes for those remote employees that are included in your employee reward and recognition programs. While engaging communications are integral to all reward program participants, perhaps even more so for remote employees.
Remote employees are considerably more common these days but often times find themselves slightly detached or disconnected from the day-to-day happenings of the on-site/office staff. While this is to be expected since they are not physically present, it is the responsibility of the employer to create a recognition program that encompasses all employees through varying methods of communication, outreach and overall engagement.
Long gone are the days where staff meetings were the best/only way to reach all of your employees at the same time. From video meetings to texting to social media there is no shortage of tools that can and should be used to include remote workers. One of the biggest failures with regards to a reward and recognition program would be for a company to not strategize about how to effectively include and celebrate these employees.
I have written many times about the benefits of surveying a target audience – this situation is no exception. Don’t make assumptions about how to reach your remote workforce - find out directly from them how best to truly engage, motivate, and reward them for total program success!