Since the Covid-19 pandemic, many companies have adopted flexible working as the new normal. And, after 2 years of remote working, many remote employees want to continue working from home – and if they can’t they’ll quit. Therefore, it’s important to understand how to manage remote teams effectively.
Before we jump into our tips on how to improve remote employee retention, let’s first look at a few definitions.
What is employee engagement?
Employee engagement is the emotional commitment that an employee has to the organisation and its goals. This means that engaged employees care about the work they do and what it means for the company. When employees care, they are engaged.
How is employee engagement linked to employee retention?
Simply put, when employees are engaged and satisfied at work, they are less likely to resign.
A large portion of remote employees state they would quit their job if they weren’t allowed to continue working from home, with two-thirds of employees stating they would only work for companies that offer remote work. And while the option to work remotely can be a great retention tool in itself, HR departments and management teams need to understand how they can help their virtual team to thrive.
Remote employee retention strategies
Engaging a remote workforce can be challenging. In fact, a lack of employee engagement is a major issue that can cause those working remotely to feel less productive. This can lead to a high employee turnover rate that is felt by on-site employees.
Employee turnover is costly, and a high rate can create a negative work environment, so it’s now more important than ever that you look at your employee retention strategies.
Let’s take a look at some fundamental strategies for improving remote employee retention.
Create a seamless remote onboarding process
Starting a new job remotely can be daunting. New employees want to feel welcome and make a good first impression, so help them thrive by having a strong onboarding process.
HR can help remote employees feel included by sending an introductory email to team members and communicating openly with remote team members through each stage of the onboarding process.
Not only will this help to reassure new hires, but it will also ensure they are familiar with the company culture.
During the early phases of onboarding, you should ensure that remote team members feel engaged with colleagues. For that reason, members of the team should reach out to those working in a remote environment to help them feel welcome.
Consider setting up virtual happy hours, lunches, or coffee mornings to promote communication within teams.
Build a strong remote working culture
Loneliness is one of the biggest negatives of working remotely. Having a strong remote working culture helps to bring employees together and gives everyone a shared sense of purpose. This helps to make employees feel connected and often leads to real actions such as regular check-ins that help to counteract isolation.
Having a strong workplace culture only works when you re-evaluate your work and hiring process, and new employees should understand what is expected of them right from the get-go.
Ensure you’re always clearly outlining:
- Employee roles and job descriptions
- Collaboration processes (Do your employees work across cloud solutions like OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive etc.?)
- Communication styles (Do employees communicate through Zoom, Slack, Email, MS Teams etc.?)
- Access to training tools
- Remote social events and opportunities
Promote a healthy work-life balance
Flexible work arrangements are incredibly important, but so are boundaries.
Encourage remote workers to stick to a routine as much as possible, and avoid video calls and messages to your remote teams outside of work hours.
Offer growth opportunities
Providing your team with regular opportunities for professional development can have many benefits for you and your team. Rewarding your high-performing employees with growth opportunities such as pay increases, bonuses, and career development can increase engagement and improve their performance, which in turn leads to a higher talent retention rate.
Luckily, there are many ways to train and develop your employees such as online training sessions, webinars, and mentor programs.
To understand what your employees want, start by understanding the roles your employees aspire for in your company. From there, you can work with your employees to create opportunities for them through training and up-skilling.
By doing this, you’re listening to what your workers want and equipping them with the skills needed to succeed, giving them job satisfaction for years to come.
Recognise and appreciate the best performers
Rewarding and recognising high performers is a huge part of a good employee retention strategy for those performing remote work.
Employees who feel appreciated and rewarded for quality work and contributions to the business are more likely to stay in a company longer, boosting retention rates.
Get feedback and act on it
Giving remote employees the opportunity to regularly feedback about their experiences at the company has plenty of benefits.
When employees feel listened to, you can expect positive outcomes.
In fact, a study showed that employees who feel their voices are heard are almost 5x more likely to perform their best.
Employers that listen to their employee’s issues and offer solutions and tools to help are just one of the keys to remote employee turnover.
Conclusion
Remote employee retention is considered one of the main challenges that many businesses and organisations face, but it’s something that every business should act on.
A decent wage and flexible working alone isn’t enough to make your employees happy. Your employees care more about how they are treated and valued by you.
Having a strong employee retention strategy as part of your HR arsenal ensures that your remote workers remain positive, do more, and improve the team’s (and organisation’s) performance.
When your remote workforce feels appreciated, they live and breathe your business, becoming ambassadors wherever they go.
The above strategies are just some great examples of how you can increase your remote employee’s job satisfaction.
Employers must re-evaluate these strategies often and maintain a strong employer-employee relationship for it to work.
GPC Finance is a leading Irish recruitment consultancy based in Dublin, specialising in accountancy and finance, banking and financial services, audit, tax and insurance for permanent appointments. Search our latest jobs here.