The contingency plan is beyond over, with many organizations resigning permanently to a work-from-home environment. Both hospitality and senior living industries offer remote roles alongside their in-house team.
While many remote workers are finding that they enjoy the flexibility, many are finding that their career is suffering. Surveys showed that about 95% of employees were thinking about quitting their job this past year. A third of them listed burnout as their main reason. This clearly skyrocketed during the pandemic and is partially responsible for the work shortage we are experiencing now.
This should not be the case, especially in 2022. Unfortunately, when an employee loses sight of a clear growth trajectory, they lose motivation to stay with the company. Remote engagement is extremely important… now more than ever. Here are some things you can do to keep retention on track.
Don’t neglect communication
Unlike an office environment, you don’t get to see your colleagues every day. Because of this, issues can easily fly under the radar and kill morale. Keeping remote employees informed reminds the employees that the organization has a vested interest in their relationship.
Some companies have found that having a remote hour for employees is beneficial. Weekly meetings can be a great way to solicit feedback from remote teammates. What’s important is that your remote employees don’t feel like they’re siloed off. They deserve to have a seat at the table.
Competition
Applying game-playing elements to rudimentary tasks is a popular tactic with modern companies. For a remote team, it’s even more important, because it encourages engagement in a fun way.
Having a competitive edge can standardize performance metrics. With established evaluation criteria, staff members won’t feel like they have to be physically present in order to know if they’re successful in their role. On the contrary, research has shown that 39% of people working from home complete their tasks faster than those in standard workplaces.
Get together when the opportunity arises
Even if you have a team that is spread out across the United States, getting together in person once or twice a year will strengthen team relationships. Depending on the industry, there may be conferences or yearly celebrations that provide an opportunity for the remote team to meet up with the non-remote employees.
Streamline communication
Remote communication is different from in-office communication. Since you don’t see the team in person, colleagues may be conflicted on whether they need to pick up the phone, shoot out a text or write up an email. Remote employees, sometimes feel like their team isn’t around when they are because of differing time zones.
Whether you choose to use an instant communication tool, it’s best to figure out the preferred method within your team. Since you don’t want emails to get buried, it’s important to build a standard of picking up the phone when it’s needed, but also being considerate of your teammate’s hours.
Stay organized
Dropbox or Google docs are necessary tools for those out of the office. Since the training models are different for those who work from home, they need to have a place where they can refer to essential documents when necessary. This is important when you have employees that are staggered across different states.
Need help finding remote employees in hospitality and senior living? Reach out to one of our recruiters here.