Hiring a remote team can do wonders for your business, until you see a lack of motivation in your remote employees.
So how can you keep your team motivated remotely to prevent decreased motivation, employee turnover, and bad results for the business?
Looking for simple yet actionable ways to boost your employees’ motivation?
All you need are the best ways to motivate your employees to encourage maximum productivity.
In this article, you’d find expert advice on how to keep your remote team motivated.
Let’s begin with first learning from how some of the established and famous companies motivate their employees.
Example Of companies that motivate their employees
We understand the need to stay on top of what your team members are doing. But should your control limit the flexibility of their remote work?
These companies think that proper motivation breeds a more productive team.
Here are some of their ideas to motivate employees.
1. The Coca-Cola company
Coca-Cola is one of the leading soda companies in the world. But their status doesn’t stop them from keeping their staff happy.
Coca-Cola strongly believes that highly motivated staff equals high-quality products. And since customer satisfaction is at the top of this company’s priority, Coca-Cola goes the extra mile to keep employees motivated.
With more than 79,000 staff and 300 bottling partners worldwide, how can this company track staff satisfaction?
Coca-Cola keeps its staff happy with extra perks that most others would ignore.
Perks like health club discounts, tuition reimbursements, a Matching Gifts Program, and even automobile discount plans.
If you think that sounds impressive, wait to hear about the employee surveys they conduct occasionally.
2. Google
Employee feedback and education benefits all sound great, but how about a company that offers its staff free meals and childcare services?
Yup, you read that right.
Google is so determined to keep its staff happy that they’re willing to provide free meals.
The company also keeps employees happy with its playful and creative work atmosphere. How many companies can boast of childcare services at their offices?
Of course, with employees getting royal treatment, it isn’t surprising that Google has a job satisfaction rate of 97%.
3. Apple
Apple is making waves as tech giants across the globe.
But what should be as widely advertised as the latest Apple product? Apple’s excellent workplace experience.
Employees at this company love working here so much that they named Apple 2018’s best private sector employer in the United Kingdom.
One thing that makes Apple stand out is its strong employee recognition program.
What’s that? Apple offers paid holidays to its workforce during the holiday season.
While it would be detrimental to have the entire workforce off during the holidays. Apple customises these paid leaves according to staff location.
Workers enjoy their paid time off based on the holiday in their part of the world.
Now, this is one great way to keep your team motivated remotely.
So, how can your small business motivate its remote teams?
How can a small business motivate employees?
The big brands can afford more expensive perks. But as a small business, your budget is constantly in your mind.
But don’t worry. These experts have some handy tips on how to keep your employees motivated.
1. Connect with your team
Sure, you’re the boss. But can your team members count on you to guide them?
John Rampton, the current CEO of Calendar, says that time management is one of the things that remote workers struggle with.
“Maintaining your motivation is hard when time management is a challenge. After all, when you struggle in this area, you aren’t delivering your best work, are more likely to miss deadlines, and cannot maintain a healthy work-life balance.”
It’s easy to judge remote work as all fun and games from the outside.
But on the inside, remote workers struggle with time management, lack of motivation, and prolonged isolation.
Rampton takes things a step further with these helpful solutions:
“Help them with any of their time management problems by:
- Stressing the importance and benefits of time management to them.
- Setting goals together.
- Focusing on quality, not quantity.
- Helping them identify the cause of their challenge with time management so that you can come up with solutions.
- Rewarding their success through incentives or a handwritten thank you note.”
Your small business depends on customer satisfaction to gain ground in the market.
Next time you think about how to make your customers happy, make some room for staff incentives, too.
Offer free lunch on Mondays, host TGIF game nights, and give out birthday rewards. Think of fun ways to motivate employees.
Happy staff equals happy customers.
2. Create a comfortable environment
But time management is not the only problem most remote workers face.
As Nicole Lipkin correctly notes, mental stress, suppressed ideas, and lack of team spirit are the number one causes of work fatigue.
The organisational psychologist and CEO of Equilibria Leadership Consulting says:
“Promote psychological safety. Create a comfortable environment where speaking up is nurtured. Feeling safe to be vulnerable and taking risks can be powerfully motivating.”
“Google conducted 200+ interviews over 2 years looking at over 250 attributes of 180+ active Google teams. They found the teams that had achieved psychological safety were the most successful.”
Think about your team members like tiles in a domino set. When one team member falls, the entire team feels the effect.
Looking for how to keep an employee motivated? Make your workers comfortable by reassuring them that there’s space for creativity.
Engage with them on matters outside of work. Encourage them to come to you with problems they might face within and outside of work.
3. Don’t be scared to think outside the box
Change can be scary, yes. But one constant thing is change.
When your team members come up with new ideas or a different approach to work, be flexible in how you embrace them.
A team member wants to complete a week’s worth of work in 4 days and has a 3 day weekend?
If it doesn’t affect the quality of their work, why not give it a shot?
Nicole Lipkin sums it up nicely saying, “If a remote work situation produces good results from a valued employee, work out an arrangement that works for all parties.”
“Saying no just because it’s never happened before is spiteful. If you can’t reward (your staff) with money, maybe there are other things you can do to show appreciation — be creative! Think outside of the box,” says Nicole.
Think about it. If someone had told our forefathers 100 years ago that we’d be collaborating across the globe from our homes, they would never have believed it.
4. Use the OJP framework
You can do more than one thing to keep your team motivated remotely. The OJP framework is one of those things you can do.
Pay attention here, Mia B. Russell shares some thoughts on this framework.
“Tackling burnout requires leveraging the complex relationships within the workplace—individual, team, and organisation– this is what we call the organisation, job-related, and personal (OJP) framework,” says Mia.
“Grounded in theory and practical application, the OJP framework guides leaders in cultivating a workplace that—instead of causing burnout–creates a climate of trust, respect and fairness,” Mia adds.
Mia, a leadership and management lecturer at Johns Hopkins University, is undoubtedly an authority.
The OJP framework encourages leaders to delve deeper into matters they previously might ignore.
“In embracing the OJP framework, proactive leaders employ the three “A’s”: assess the work environment; acknowledge current realities and span of control and then act to reduce burnout and foster engagement.
“Each step is critical in achieving quick wins and developing long-term solutions for burnout within an organisation.”
Use Talk Magnet to keep your remote employees motivated
Remote work doesn’t mean remote from your team members.
Remember that isolation quickly leads to demotivation. And demotivation leads to fatigue. And fatigue leads to poor quality of work.
Luckily, our expert inputs are the perfect stepping stone as you navigate your remote reality.
But that’s not all. We’ve got one final gift to motivate people who work from home. Use one of the best team communication tools, such as Talk Magnet, to stay connected with your remote team.
Talk Magnet is a team instant messaging solution that enhances efficient team communication.
You can share files, audio and video calls, chat one-on-one or send direct messages to your team anywhere in the world using Talk Magnet.
So, sign up for free now or book a demo to boost your business and your remote team’s productivity.
