Build a Better Remote Worker Employee Experience

It’s no secret that a positive employee experience benefits employers — happy workers are more likely to be productive, loyal and innovative. As dispersed teams become more common, you might find yourself managing this experience for both on-site and off-site professionals. By investing in an inclusive system, you can build a remote worker employee experience that increases retention and attracts top talent.

Traditional vs remote worker experience

The employee experience is the sum total of interactions your workers have with your business throughout their tenure. This includes both tangible factors — such as office environment, available technology and salaries and intangibles, including relationships and the office vibe. Other important parts of the employee experience are:

• Onboarding process
• Responsibilities and tasks
• Advancement opportunities
• Autonomy
• Company culture
• Management styles
• Communication with leadership
• Ease of getting answers and support

The remote employee experience involves similar factors but to different degrees of importance. For example, some things that are crucial for on-site employees may have little to no impact on remote workers, such as the layout of your office or the quality of snacks in the breakroom. Conversely, remote workers are more likely to be affected strongly by things like video streaming quality and centralized communication.

Off-site employees also have different challenges — namely, communication and connection. While on-site workers develop relationships naturally, remote employees need to make a conscious effort to connect with colleagues.

As an employer or manager, it’s important to be aware of these differences. When you understand the struggles, needs and preferences of your remote team members, it’s easier to find solutions and create a better experience.

Ways to improve the remote worker employee experience

1. Use a remote-first communication strategy

Communication is the most important — and most challenging — part of the remote worker employee experience. They can’t pop into someone’s office or participate in impromptu discussions. To ensure that remote employees feel like part of the team, encourage everyone to keep the majority of their communication in the digital space. Use strategies such as:

• Regular meetings: Schedule online team meetings once a week. Keep them short and sweet, but make a point of asking each person directly for feedback; this is a great way to include remote workers in the conversation, even if they’re not confident enough to speak up.
• Online collaboration tools: Programs such as Discord, Slack and Microsoft Teams enable members to chat, ask questions and share files in the same place. This keeps everyone on the same page and helps remote workers stay in the loop. Since the whole team is involved in the conversation from the beginning, it’s easier to eliminate redundant emails and catch problems before they cause bottlenecks or delays.
• Video calling: Reduce the loneliness and isolation that often accompany remote work by embracing video calling. Each conversation provides valuable human connection and helps employees build stronger relationships; your workers will hang up feeling happier and more refreshed.

2. Create opportunities for networking and collaboration

Traditional office life is overflowing with opportunities to connect and collaborate with colleagues and supervisors. Some ways to provide the same experience for remote employees are:

• Provide a buddy: Pair each new remote worker with an on-site mentor during the onboarding process. A formalized buddy system creates a friendly point of contact that anchors the new employee into the company.
• Encourage collaboration: Ensure that remote employees are included in office collaborations by assigning tasks to teams of on-site/off-site workers.
• Involve company leadership: Help remote teams get to know your executive team by including them in video meetings as often as possible. Bolster your off-site employees’ reputations by communicating their contributions and accomplishments to company leadership.
• Offer in-person opportunities: A few times a year, give all your employees a chance to meet face-to-face at regional conferences, retreats or client meetings. It’ll cost you a bit more in travel, but the strengthened relationships will result in a stronger, happier team.
• Host virtual team-building activities: Allow remote employees to interact on a casual, social level with virtual happy hours, fun workshops or games. You can also do the Zoom version of show-and-tell, where everyone shows off their pets, kids, plants or something interesting in their workspace.

3. Make yourself available

When you manage a dispersed team, it’s important to be present in your remote employees’ lives. Start with regular, one-on-one check-ins — they give the employee time to ask questions and offer feedback without the pressure of a group meeting. This is also a great time to work together to set goals that keep the person feeling challenged and motivated.

During each check-in, listen and observe carefully. Does the employee have a need you can meet? Do they seem stressed or overwhelmed? By paying attention, you can tailor your responses and communication style to suit the individual.

Don’t stop there. Based on your observations, go out of your way to create a better employee experience by:

• Sending upgraded technology or equipment
• Providing new responsibilities and projects
• Offering flextime to deal with family or personal obligations
• Connecting the employee with trainings, workshops or mentorships to fulfill their professional goals

4. Promote a balanced corporate culture

A healthy, supportive corporate culture is essential to a positive employee experience. Work-life balance is the perfect place to start; after all, without the physical and time boundaries of a traditional office, remote employees tend to overextend themselves. They may feel pressured to be available 24/7, particularly in a performance-driven company.

Do these two things to prevent burnout and stress:

• Create a do-not-disturb mechanism. In an office, it’s easy to tell when someone needs to be left alone. Offer that same courtesy to remote employees with the digital equivalent of a do-not-disturb sign. They might block off “unavailable” time in their calendar, for example, or set their instant-message status to “away.”
• Set and enforce a no after-hours work policy. Encourage your team to disconnect completely after business hours — no emails, texts or phone calls. If your remote employees work in different time zones, it’s helpful to have everyone put their hours in a shared calendar to prevent confusion. All of your employees will benefit from the change.

As part of your efforts to bring balance, find ways to promote physical and mental wellbeing. Does your company offer benefits such as free gym memberships or subsidized therapy? Make sure your employees are aware of these perks and encourage them to partake. For remote team members, you may need to make special accommodations by connecting them to telehealth services and finding local gyms.

5. Make remote employees feel appreciated and welcome

Off-site employees miss out on the little perks that brighten the workweek, such as birthday parties, impromptu team lunches and surprise doughnut deliveries. You can include your remote workers in the fun with special treats that help them stay connected.

Products that make remote employees feel included are:

• Branded shirts, coffee mugs or stickers
• Local specialty foods, crafts or souvenirs
• Gifts to celebrate important professional milestones
• Birthday cake or cupcakes
• The branded calendars or supplies you use in the office

A positive remote worker employee experience benefits everyone

With effort and investment, it’s possible to create a fantastic remote worker employee experience. By building inclusive systems and procedures, you can strengthen your company and set it up for long-term success with dispersed teams.