Nowadays, it’s said that more and more businesses and establishments are switching to remote work as it’s more convenient for their operations and employees. Some workers also claim that the remote work setup has helped them achieve a healthy work-life balance. But benefits and perks aside, being in a remote work setup also presents unique challenges. For people used to working with teammates, remote working can be unmotivating.
Working in their home offices alone may make them feel lonely, disconnected, and isolated, eventually affecting productivity and morale.
Keep in mind that morale is an important key to boosting employees’ productivity, creativity, and motivation. With highly-motivated remote workers, your company will continue to succeed despite putting everyone in a remote work setup. So, as an employer, what options can you do to boost staff morale and ensure all your personnel will feel the company culture in their homes?
To give you ideas you can try out, here are five creative ways you can boost employee morale while in a remote work setup.
1. Host Company Virtual Events And Team-Building Activities.
You may be talking and communicating with your remote workers every day through virtual meetings and video conferences. But wouldn’t it be satisfying if you could all do something fun that’s not work-related?
Giving your remote employees a chance to connect and communicate in a fun and relaxing virtual environment can help boost their morale and motivation. So, make it a weekly or monthly habit to host company virtual events or organize remote team-building activities.
You can have virtual happy hours, remote games, or conduct remote talent shows to give your workers a chance to show off their talents and skills aside from doing their work. If you’re running out of remote team activities, you can also book a virtual event for your team members using a virtual event service platform.
Either way, organizing team-building activities and virtual company events will help bring your employees together and make them feel loved and connected.
2. Distribute Remote Care Packages.
Working remotely can be just as stressful and tedious as working in an office. So, help your employees pamper themselves and get the relaxation they need by distributing remote care packages to them. To make the process more enjoyable and cost-effective, you can assign everyone to a particular employee who they’ll need to give a remote care package.
Think of this as something similar to Secret Santa, but the remote work version. Then, once everybody has been assigned to their coworker’s names, it’s up to them to fill their remote care package with things that their coworker may like. Whether it’s their favorite snacks, self-care kits, or treats, the remote care packages will surely brighten up the workers’ mood and boost their morale.
3. Reward And Recognize The Merits Of Your Personnel.
Sometimes, some remote workers can’t help but feel anonymous or unseen, especially since a remote work setup means being isolated from everyone, making it more challenging to get recognized or seen for your efforts.
One quick way to elevate the morale of your remote workers is to recognize and reward them for their efforts. So, even if you don’t see your employees working in person, ensure you recognize them for their outputs. Recognizing and rewarding your workers will make your employees feel valued and eventually help boost their self-worth, self-confidence, and higher morale.
You can organize a monthly virtual awarding ceremony to recognize employees who were able to achieve their quotas or targets. You can also give awards to employees who’ve been working for your company for over five to ten years.
Meanwhile, suppose an entire department was able to hit their group targets. In that case, you can give them a shoutout during the virtual rewards ceremony or give away gift cards to all recognized employees and departments.
Overall, there are many ways you can demonstrate appreciation and recognition to your deserving team members.
4. Maintain Social Activities.
Just because you’re not physically working together doesn’t mean you should cease doing the social activities you used to do together before. For instance, if you and your workers used to go out every Friday for cocktails or one-hour coffee break sessions, you can still resume doing these things virtually.
If you used to have monthly lunch meetings, you can schedule virtual lunch meetings and encourage everyone to eat lunch together during video calls. Maintaining these social activities will help retain team collaboration and connectivity.
5. Let Your Workers Talk And Converse About Non-Work-Related Topics.
One of the best things when working together in a physical office is the banter. While doing their tasks, they can strike up conversations anytime with their officemates and talk about topics unrelated to work. Whether it’s about a newly released movie, book, or personal life, these social interactions can help employees create genuine relationships, stay connected, and be more motivated to work.
Nevertheless, it may be tough to banter with your officemates and start conversations in a remote work setup since everyone is working separately. To help them easily connect with their officemates, you can create a company water cooler or a separate group chat wherein everyone in the company can talk and discuss anything, including non-work-related subjects. This will give them the space and freedom to start conversations and maintain authentic relationships with everyone at work.
Wrapping Up.
Boosting your employees’ morale is highly important, especially in a remote work setup. With limited physical interactions, employers and managers need to be creative and resourceful in finding ways to keep their remote workers motivated and connected with the entire company culture. Remember, maintaining your employees’ high work morale can lead to better productivity and overall success of your company.
