Real Engagement in a Virtual World

Employee engagement is the employee’s emotional commitment to the organization and its goals which tends to influence their behaviour and effort in work-related activities.

Initially, when everything went virtual, I was puzzled on how do we engage employees virtually? Will people be interested in spending an hour on PC just for an online activity which may be fun?

It has already been ten months since we all are working from home. And, I have seen and felt that working from home has made employees feel less engaged than working from the office.

How can this situation be improved?

Virtual Water Cooler

Water cooler chat happens when we take a break from work and socialize with each other. A “water cooler” is simply an excuse for those who might be needing such interaction. We can be the initiator by putting ideas out there. It is a matter of finding people who are willing to lead and innovate these unique ideas. We are always looking for new ways to interact, but we do some great ones at TW.

• Book club
• Movie Club
• Secret Santa — Gift Revealing Party
• Artist hub
• Online Yoga and Meditation Session
• Office Newsletter — An open life-updates/highlights of one month.

Everyone is dealing differently nowadays. This makes the team feel connected and forms a sense of belonging.

Keep the Transparency

After we were WFH, suddenly everyone wanted information on the health of the organization. Effective communication by management via `Townhall` and `All Hands` helps the team to have confidence in you(People Champion) and the organization.

Grow Together

We try to incline the goal of an individual with that of the organization. We need to see how can we nurture and help them grow. They are unlikely to do the same work for their entire working lives. It is fair to assume that they will want to grow within the company.

We need to help people set up `Training and Development` opportunities to help them grow within the company and then provide clear and consistent feedback on improving their skills.

Employee Engagement Survey

Building and maintaining strong employee engagement can be challenging when you are working remotely. It allows establishing two-way communication and involves employees in the development process by giving them a direct voice to the management.

That’s why we should conduct periodic engagement surveys regularly! It will help in comparative analysis and also see any changes/issues that need some action.

Recognize and Celebrate!

Each team challenge could be different. Involve the team in coming up with ideas and solutions. Recognize performance, innovations and encourage the team to acknowledge each other by gifting them a virtual surprise of appreciation.

Do Not Disturb

One of the common challenges I have come across is “too many meetings”. As a team, you can look up the ways how you can minimize it. One solution is to have `heads down core working hours` every morning, meeting free.

Keep in mind that efforts to keep our employees happy and engaged need consistency. It may not show results immediately, but it thrives best when everyone feels included, valued and trusted. The more involved employees are, the more productive they become, and we get something money can’t buy — a happy workplace!