3 TIPS TO IMPROVE REMOTE WORKFORCE CULTURE

43% of Americans reported working remotely last year. Here are 3 tips to help you best manage your remote workforce.

  1. Over-communicate-there are plenty of tools to keep communication sharp. Try Zoom and Slack for starters
  2. Get to know them– even though they aren’t in the office, check in with them personally
  3. Offer a sense of significance and belonging- pair the team up so they can have more time to chat and get to know each other.

TAKE THE BIAS OUT OF YOUR PEOPLE DECISIONS

Cognitive bias is the tendency to make decisions or take action in a way that projects an individual’s bias on a group or organization. Assumptions are important to make when making leadership decisions, but when relied to heavily on, can do more damage than good.

The same holds true when dealing with employee morale. If you push your own agenda without considering the needs of the employees, you might be pushing them towards disengagement. Instead, spend a little more time asking employees for their views through Forgeant’s EXA.

NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF CULTURE

100 Federal St. in Boston is home of the Bank of America. Because of the boring culture surrounding the building, they build “The Atrium,” a multi-million dollar project that contains 17,000 square feet of space. and a ginormous TV.

It can be stuffy working for a bank, but now, you can lounge, have a drink, chat, and watch some sports. This is a huge investment in the culture of the organization to give employees a better work experience. You don’t have to spend millions of dollars, but definitely be mindful of the culture of your organization.

ENABLE EMPLOYEES TO BE ABLE TO VOICE THEIR OPINIONS

Let’s face it, your open door policy is not working because employees are afraid to tell you how they really feel, I mean, why would I tell you how I’m feeling if it is negative towards you and the company?

Employees need a voice. They need to be heard for your benefit, so you can design a better work experience for them.

In implementing a continuous listening strategy you are giving your employees an opportunity to tell you how they are truly feeling without making it awkward.

GREAT EMPLOYEES MAKE GREAT CUSTOMERS

Have you ever wondered why people are clamoring to work for Google? I tried to break into Google once to find out…it didn’t turn out so well.

The main reason, yes is money and benefits, but a higher view shows that it is the employee experience that they are able to design in order to maintain top talent.

If you can create an employee experience that is positive and engaging then you are going to create a positive and engaging customer experience.

A LESSON FROM CHICK-FIL-A

Walking into Chick-fil-a headquarters in Atlanta is like walking into Disneyworld of corporations. The workers seem to be the happiest on earth.

Carmen, the milkshake lady, couldn’t be more happy with her job. The reason she is so happy working there is because she knows that the company actually cares about her as an individual. If you can get your baseline employees this engaged…you’ve got the formula figured out.

The CEO sat down with every single employee to ask how he could help them and actually implemented their feedback. No wonder they are rated top places to work.

THE REVOLUTION WAS ABOUT DISENGAGED EMPLOYEES

A bunch of people didn’t like the way their boss (the King) was treating them and so they decided to take matters into their own hands by dumping a bunch of tea into Boston Harbor and left the “company” en masse.

You can avoid your employees creating a holiday celebrating their independence from you by simply listening to them, expressing a vested interest in their wellbeing, and of course, designing a better employee experience.

Have a happy 4th of July.

IMPROVE YOUR EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATION SKILLS

BostonSpeaks is an organization that focuses on improving communication in individuals and teams. The reason I was brought in was to bring an employee engagement slant to the training.

Communication is a key pillar in engaging employees. It leads to:

  • Increased trust
  • more productivity
  • more cohesive teams
  • an improved employee experience

THE AVOCADO OF BELIEF

Hear me out. The old adage, people are your greatest asset…that was cute, but then we got smart and realized that we need to empower managers to help employees learn and grow.

I believe that if you want to hit the mark with employee engagement, you have to work on the beliefs of the organization, the foundational principles behind why you do what you do. If you can get employees and managers to buy in to this system then you will have a much more engaged workforce.

If you are unsure where to start, reach out.

HOW TO GAIN TRUE INSIGHTS FROM EMPLOYEES

Employee engagement surveys appear to work, but it feels like we just ignore that employees could not be delivering honest feedback. Participation rates are already low and when you consider how many people just clicked through it to get it over, you start to see the data as less accurate than you thought.

Implementing a survey solution that can glean true insights needs the following attributes:

  • Easy to complete
  • Short

My suggestion is to put together a 2 question google form and send it out anonymously.

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