What Motivates Employees in a Telecommuting Environment

May 29, 2012, by Stephanie Messier | Work Environment and Policies

Allowing employees to work from home can be a great benefit to both the company and worker.  Beyond the benefits, it could be difficult to engage employees working remotely.  And, it’s not for everyone.  Some individuals are not necessarily the most productive when working in a home environment.  So, what should you do to motivate and engage your virtual employees?  Here are a few tips on having engaged employees in a virtual work environment:

• Ensure you have a clear Work from Home Policy in place with details of the work from home arrangement.
• Keep a few “hotelling” workspaces at the office so employees coming in to the office don’t have to scramble to find a space to work while there.
• Ensure your employees have the proper tools, equipment and company access to information to be productive.
• Make sure that you hire people that would thrive in that environment.  Use pre-employment assessments to help identify the best people to work at home and be productive.
• Have more social events during the work day that can bring people together.
• Use technology to help with communication – web conferencing, web cams, chat rooms, social networking sites and more can be used to enable engaging and productive communication throughout your workforce.
• Provide regular communications with employees to touch base as well as to seek opportunities to provide feedback and give recognition.

Having engaged employees without face-to-face interaction can be tough.  For some managers, not being able to actively monitor employees’ performance can be a challenge.  In diligently implementing the above tips, it will help to minimize the downsides of a telecommuting environment.