With globalization, worldwide locations are a thing & with the advent of the internet, telecommuting became not just a trend but a necessity. Both create a win-win situation for organizations as well as employees. Worldwide locations mean a wider reach & optimum use of location-dependent resources for the organizations. While telecommuting or working remotely means more autonomy & work-life balance for the employees.
Amidst these advantages, has Employee Engagement taken a backseat?
What is all this fuss about Employee Engagement anyway? We know that implementing Employee Engagement plans directly affects key areas like productivity, innovation, health, wellbeing & thus eventually customer satisfaction, turnover & profitability. However, in a distributed workforce, the dynamics of Employee Engagement change drastically. While organizations hustle constantly to innovate in systems, tools & activities for Employee Engagement, being in physically different locations makes this all the more challenging.
“At the core of Employee Engagement is human connection”
Can meaningful relationships be cultivated without a physical coffee machine to have conversations around?
A connection is the most basic need of every human being & it dictates all other aspects of our lives. Camaraderie & collaboration enrich the experience of working. However, with offices in distributed locations & remote working, connection & camaraderie are what employees miss out on. The social aspect of work is what contributes immensely to Employee Engagement & is dismally the missing piece in the context of a distributed workforce.
Can technology be utilized to overcome this gap in a distributed workforce? Can technology be leveraged for connection, camaraderie & collaboration?
As paradoxical as that sounds, a well-designed platform can very much do so.
CircleYard is a platform designed to foster the right mix of formal & informal communication. It can be used via web as well as handheld devices which helps steer the social aspect in physically different locations. What can be done with CircleYard & how it promotes Employee Engagement in a distributed workforce?
- Recognizing efforts & successes including the smallest ones contributes immensely to Employee Engagement. CircleYard’s Employee Recognition feature lets an employee rate a peer, client, subordinate, self or even his/her manager in real-time. This also means there’s a feedback system in place so that there are no unsettled frustrations or issues.
- Employees should feel connected not just by the work they do together but by amicability as well. With CircleYard, it is possible to post images from phones, tabs & machines. This creates a non-formal channel to stay connected. Employees can post pictures of anything from work, conferences & summits to celebrations & office parties.
- Human beings feel involved when asked for help & involvement is another key to Employee Engagement. Housing, Marketplace & Urgent features of CircleYard let employees ask for help regarding these respective issues thus involving everyone in finding solutions.
- Survey & Q&A features let employees give due importance to peer reviews about anything under the sun. This aids them in decision-making & also adds some zap to work.
Bottom Line:
Employee Engagement in a distributed workforce can be defined by using appropriate tools which go past physical barriers & encourage human connection.