Organizations have been adopting remote work setups to run their operations in the recent past. However, companies realized that some processes require physical attention with this adoption. Thus, remote working wasn’t ideal for these processes, but not completely even if it was. This led to the birth of the hybrid working system, which required some workers to be in the office physically, whereas some remained working at home remotely.
Worker engagement is crucial in the hybrid system as it determines how your workers feel regarding their work, team, and organization. This article highlights how you can boost worker engagement to have a successful hybrid system. Read on for more insight on this.
Listen To The Needs Of Your Workers
This tip mainly applies to the team working remotely. To ensure the team feels valued, make it a habit to seek feedback regarding their work experience. Hold forums where they can freely express any challenges they’re experiencing, including ways they think you could improve the system for better team engagement.
Not all workers are the same, so some might be wary of publicly giving opinions or sharing issues they’re facing due to the fear of reprimand. Thus, management should allow anonymous feedback methods where the giver of information isn’t made known to other parties. This gives you a better chance of receiving honest feedback that you can utilize to enhance worker engagement.
Hold Virtual Informal Forums
A hybrid working setup presents a situation where there’s minimal interaction among your workers. This isn’t ideal when looking to boost worker engagement. Finding a way to build cohesion among your members from wherever they are might help. Thanks to technology, some tools are now available for virtual meetings.
In this case, you can use virtual tools better by holding fun activities. There are fun virtual events for work you can engage in, such as games. Through these games, you’ll build togetherness, and all teams will feel that they’re part of a community.
Embrace Reward Systems
It’s believed that the way you make your workers feel appreciated in the workplace directly impacts their attitude towards the organization. One of the ways you can ensure team engagement in your organization is by adopting reward systems.
To go about this, you first need to set performance standards that will provide a basis for pinpointing those who have achieved the set milestones. You can also utilize goals by rewarding those who attain them within the said time frame.
You may gift the workers with valuable items to encourage others to yearn for the same. Embracing reward systems has been known to increase employee productivity. They’ll also feel some connection as their efforts are appreciated and recognized.
Increase Communication
One of the easiest ways to ensure worker engagement is through constant communication. Constant communication will bridge the gap between those working in the office and those working remotely.
Consider investing in communication tools for both formal and informal use. Whichever you use, ensure that it allows for effective communication without delays. You want both teams to get immediate assistance or information, so they won’t feel their needs come second. This is especially true for those working remotely.
The communication tools you adopt should also be easy to use. In no way should they make work challenging for your teams.
More than adopting communication tools, it’s essential to check in with your remote team constantly. Doing so will assure them that you haven’t forgotten them and that their needs also matter. However, it’s best to find a balance such that it doesn’t seem you’re micromanaging them, which can yield negative results and lead to team member disengagement.
Adopt Flexible Working Schedules
Some workers might feel that those who work from the office are the most valued. Meanwhile, others may assume that those working from home are favored more because of their flexibility. With all these conceptions of the hybrid system, you may find it hard to boost your worker engagement. So, how do you reverse these beliefs and situations?
As a manager, you can mix up the schedules such that no one worker only works in one type of system. Provide a schedule where everyone has a taste of both worlds. This will promote equality and reduce office politics that hinder company productivity.
Conclusion
This article has discussed ways to boost team member engagement in your hybrid working setup. The art of worker engagement is simple: listen to the needs of your workers and implement solutions to their problems, and you won’t go wrong. Hence, consider implementing these tips into your organization so you’ll have an easy time adapting to the hybrid system.
