Employees who work remotely often miss out on water cooler chats, recognition in the form of an in-office shoutout after a great meeting or joining the celebration after a successful project.
The reality is, more and more employees work off-site. A survey conducted by Upwork reported 63% of companies have full-time employees who work remotely. Moreover, "'high-recognition companies' have 31% lower voluntary turnover than companies with poor recognition cultures," according to Josh Bersin. Regardless of location, employee recognition makes a difference in employees' engagement with the organization.
To keep distributed employees feeling appreciated and engaged, organizations must be intentional about recognizing their contributions. Here are four tips for remote employee recognition.
1. Leverage technology for recognition
Technology provides plenty of opportunities to celebrate remote employees via email, text, message boards or instant messages. You can also include them in monthly or quarterly recognition meetings by having them join via web conference. Whether they're receiving an award or witnessing the recognition of their colleagues, the sense of community and appreciation is more powerful via video. To be as effective as possible, the picture should be clear and sound should be crisp so employees are better engaged and feel like the remote worker is really in the room.
2. Review & celebrate learning milestones in the LMS
Especially during onboarding, managers should review employees' learning management system records for milestone moments to celebrate. When a new hire completes part of the onboarding process, thank them. For new and tenured employees alike, express appreciation for the time and effort it took to finish part of their learning journey. Recognition isn't limited to verbal methods. You can also use gift cards or additional time off as a way to recognize employees for their efforts.
3. Encourage peer recognition programs
The most successful organizational cultures enable all employees to recognize and appreciate each other. Provide ways for employees to recognize their teammates in the same office, as well as those working remotely. Grant employees the ability to award digital badges or send celebratory eCards. Ensure your organization has the latest technology and tools to make this happen. Make sure your remote team members know how to access these tools, so they can recognize their peers who work on-site.
4. Monitor what matters
Ensuring remote employees feel recognized and included takes effort. Don't leave it to chance. Be sure team leaders are monitoring the recognition they give and who receives it. If you notice that remote employees aren't appreciated as often, establish expectations that managers proactively engage with and recognize their remote team members.
For people who aren't in the same office or time zone or on the same continent, a simple recognition of effort goes a long way toward making them feel part of the team. In turn, that sense of connection makes it possible to retain engaged employees who feel recognized for the work they do. When organizations create a reward system that produces results and works regardless of location, appreciation become embedded as part of the company's culture.
Request a free demo with an Absorb representative to see how an LMS can contribute to your corporate culture, connecting your learners far and wide.
