Image by Luis Ricardo Rivera from Pixabay
COVID-19 has caused many companies to alter their approach to business. The growth of remote workers has been one of the most noticeable changes by far. While it may be the best option for human safety, you must not ignore the need to see optimal performance levels.
Employees are the greatest asset at your disposal - when they work as they should. However, their natural work ethic is only one contributing factor. They still need guidance and support, here's how to provide it.
Keep Them Motivated
An employee that wants to work hard, will. So, you should want to be a better leader that keeps them motivated and eager to provide great results. While liking the boss will provide an incentive to perform, the biggest source of motivation comes from within. So, providing clear insight into the potential for promotion and career development is key. This could come from a set path to success or through seeing colleagues climb the ladder. Give employees a goal to aim for, and it will be reflected in their work.
Provide Quality Equipment
If a staff member is going to work from home, you need to ensure that the right tech is in place. Inferior products and online connections will slow their daily output. In turn, this can severely harm their efficiency levels. As well as the right systems, you want to know that the machines are working at peak condition. File management is a key factor, and removing duplicates will free up more space on hard drives. Likewise, providing cloud storage can allow their systems to work faster and better.
Invest In Development
It would be easy to fall into the trap of “out of sight, out of mind”. In reality, the need to keep their skills updated and relevant could not be greater. Interactive staff training modules will help them grow as workers. Moreover, this is a key step to encouraging a sense of consistency across the team while also uniting staff members. So, you will be left with a group of workers that are connected in their thoughts and feel a part of the family. This is the best achievement of any remote workforce.
Save Their Time
Remote workers want to spend their time actually solving problems and working on the tasks that help the business thrive. Fielding client calls or other admin is not ideal, unless this is their area of expertise. So, outsourced IT management or customer care can play a big role even when you consider the remote nature of your workforce. The less time they spend on these issues, the more time they can spend on actually working. In turn, this should feed into their motivation and general happiness levels.
Be Flexible
One of the best things about remote working is that it gives employees a little flexibility. This perk can have a telling influence on their motivation and productivity. Do not stifle it. Let them show a little autonomy by solving problems with their talent and skills. After all, this is why you hired skilled candidates in the first place. As long as workers meet deadlines, allowing them to set their own hours is ideal too. When they can enjoy a better work-life balance, views of the company will soar.