Three ways to keep your employees engaged, even if they’re working remote

Online work culture: more than just virtual coffee

It’s undeniable that the work landscape has shifted vastly between 2020 and 2022. The regulations for social distancing and remote work have catapulted any ongoing digital transformation initiatives into top priority and accelerated the need for innovation and adaptability. One of the biggest challenges that companies have had to face during these times has been creating and promoting an online work culture that would generate an equal level of engagement and involvement among employees.

Managers have had to implement new and creative ways of interacting with their teams online, to emulate the sense of belonging that would otherwise be fostered naturally when meeting in person. While virtual coffees were a good start, as months went by it became clear that there was a deeper change needed to keep engagement high and avoid losing high-performing talent. Some companies understood this and quickly adjusted internal policies to increase their employees’ wellbeing and work-life balance. But others struggled to adapt to the online work environment and provide the support needed to navigate these shifts.

Return to the office – what to expect and how to optimize the experience

Getting used to working remote was hard for many and caused the now globally famous “Zoom burnout” – the extreme exhaustion triggered by online meetings and endless hours in front of the screen.

That being said, after two years of wearing half-outfits for the camera, going back to the office also seems stressful and daunting, causing many to feel uncertain and anxious about it. It’s time for businesses to understand and acknowledge that maybe priorities have changed, and employees now have different expectations.

What can companies do to keep distributed teams engaged?

• Create flexible work options

Many companies, such as Twitter and Salesforce, are now adjusting their work policies to provide a better experience for their employees. One of the ways this can be achieved is by offering a flexible work mode, in which employees can choose freely whether they prefer to work partially remote. Although many companies want to avoid online work and home office becoming the long-term standard, a hybrid model could be part of a transition plan that helps employees gradually ease back into the office.

• Optimize online communications

After months and months of virtual meetings, where both video and audio quality were constantly problematic, one of the smartest investments companies can make is in their telecommunication quality. On a LinkedIn poll, which asked people whether they thought there was a “new version” of themselves after the pandemic, 48% of people answered “yes there is” and a further 27% said they were “working on that new version.” Just as people have changed, there’s also an expectation that companies have evolved and that this will be visibly reflected once people return to the office. Modern digital infrastructure and smooth communications can become a powerful return-to-office incentive for employees who have grown frustrated with network and connectivity challenges when working remote.

• Include employees in decision-making

One of the best ways to break the corporate barriers and connect with employees is – case in point – to connect with your employees. This means creating channels of communication where they are proactively asked for feedback about current processes. What’s working well at the moment? Where do they see room for improvement? It’s crucial that their voice is heard and taken into account when introducing changes.

How can Hive help businesses navigate this change?

For starters, Hive has been actively collaborating with leading partners in the telecommunications industry to support our customers in this transition. Many companies have decided to invest in these changes, in anticipation of the return to the office. For example, together with our partner Telefónica, we have recently supported one of the chief enterprises in the retail industry in Spain to implement Hive Streaming. The decision came as a measure to “improve the quality of their most important corporate video communications, with a plan to expand into more events in 2022, once employees make a full return to the office” – in their case, “the primary focus was on optimizing the Quality of Experience.”

We have also been investing in developing our platform, broadening the reach and scope of our products to provide even more detailed and valuable information about employee experience (EX). In the words of Despina Stamkou, our VP of Hive Analytics, “with Employee Engagement Indicators, we want to go one step further and be proactive. We want to help our customers understand, predict and improve employee engagement and create unforgettable video experiences for all their employees.”