In 2015, telecommuting for

work climbed to 37% in the

U.S. alone.

Gallup

The average worker

telecommutes 2 days per month.

Gallup

Even if managing remote

employees is becoming a more

widespread phenomenon...

…many leaders stills

struggle with one of its key aspects -

Without the

opportunities for

spontaneous ‘Good job!’

remarks, many managers

are at loss when it comes

to recognizing the achievement of

remote employees.

They often report feeling isolated and out

of touch with things that matter to the

organization.

As a result of receiving little to no

feedback, some of them tend to feel

undervalued as well.

On the other hand, remote leaders

complain that they have no control over

their employees who have too much

freedom in interacting with clients or too

flexible work schedules.

Flickr user krzyzanowskim C.C.2.0

Here are 9 actionable tips to

help you properly recognize

remote employees:

Getting to know the traditions of a

multinational workforce, you’ll be able to

interact with them appropriately and

recognize important days/holidays in their

national calendar.

-

While technologies allow for seamless

communication, face-to-face meetings

are still more powerful when it comes to

employee engagement and recognition.

Hold informal “water-cooler” sessions

through Skype once or twice a week to

keep the lines of communication open and

help the team to become friendly with each

other.

It’s important that team members can

quickly recognize each other’s effort or

help.

They can, for instance, send each other

thank-you notes and cards.

You can introduce a reward system for

remote employees.

For instance, you create the most

productive/happiest/helpful remote

employee of the week award.

Gamification is excellent for boosting

employee engagement and motivation, and

you can add recognition to the mix as well.

Organize team activities like sessions of

online work bingo together.

“Employees need to feel included, as if they are part of a team. (…) Team-based goals and competitions help build a sense of collaboration and cooperation.

Teams can be based on function or location, with the key goal being inclusion in striving towards a common objective.”

Tony Ventrice, senior games designer at Badgeville via Business News Daily

-

Email thank-you notes are way easier and

faster to send but when it comes to

recognizing and motivating employees

they have one serious weakness – they

aren’t personal.

Build a space where remote employees

can post cartoons, or funny images and

comment on every piece of content.

Positive reinforcement should be

delivered regularly to keep employees

engaged and motivated.

Make sure that remote employees are

recognized and rewarded consistently

via Skype, social media platforms or

instant messaging in real-time.

Recognition is key to boosting the

morale of your team and helping

employees collaborate without any

glitches.

If you fail to recognize their

efforts, sooner or later you’ll

have to deal with motivation and

productivity problems.

Read the full article by Simone Smith here.

Read the complete

article by Simone

Smith here.

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