A remote development team is very different from an outsourced team. Therefore, to make them feel like part of the organization, give them direct responsibilities to execute, improve, and create job functions. This way, they will feel more integrated with the organization, trusted, and valued.

Employee engagement translates into protecting and fostering your greatest asset, the human capital.

For too long, employee engagement has been viewed as the sole responsibility of the HR department. However, the trend is fast changing today as research derives more meaningful connections between employee engagement and business success.

A key finding by Gallup shows that engaged teams lead to 21 percent higher profitability. Engaged employees show up to work every day with passion, presence, purpose, and energy.

Not only that, but engaged employees also create a better employer brand for your business and decrease employee turnover- a reason why organizations lose money every year.

Another Gallup study found that there is an employee engagement crisis facing the world, with only 13 percent of employees feeling engaged in their business.

Employees are the very foundation of a business’ success. Unless the employees are self-driven, no business can flourish at any location, especially in the case of remote teams.

It is critical for enterprises to drive employee satisfaction and engagement with their remote teams as more and more companies now rely on remote teams to carry out key functions.

Let’s see how businesses can increase employee engagement at remote locations.

Five Tips to Engage Remote Teams

Use Modern Collaboration Tools - Slack, Teams and Webex

If your employees share an office, you might forget to use modern workplace tools such as Slack, Asana, or Skype. But, for collaborating with remote development teams, these are a must. You need to structure every little part of the process and allow for consistent communication between teams, which these apps make possible.

Allow for instant messaging, video calls, task scheduling, meetings, and so on to bring your remote teams at pace with your in-house employees. With consistent interaction, you can resolve any queries your remote team might have and follow a streamlined process at all the locations. Such an arrangement would make collaboration easier for your remote team, allowing them to engage regularly with the key decision-makers as well as colleagues.

Make them feel like a part of the organization

A remote team is very different from an outsourced team. Your remote team comprises of experts who are paid effectively to perform high-end duties, responsibly. Therefore, to make them feel as part of the organization, give them direct responsibilities to execute, improve, and create job functions.

This way, they will feel more integrated with the organization, trusted, and valued. When making key decisions about our company’s future, involve your remote team in discussions and hear their opinions. Instill a sense of responsibility and oneness in your remote team to drive better engagement from them.

Create a healthy work environment for them

Since your remote team is a critical part of your organization, you are responsible for creating a workplace for them where they will want to go. A healthy environment creates a sense of safety, passion, and positivity in employees. The workplace for your extended remote team should be no less than what your in-house employees get.

Have a cafeteria at your remote location, subsidize food, launch programs for employee health awareness, checkups, and pay them as per the industry standard rates in their market. Improve employee engagement by making your remote team feel valued and cared for.

Encourage employees to innovate and not only follow

In the technology industry, this one is a no-brainer. The IT landscape is shifting at rocket speed. Under these circumstances, if you limit your remote employees to do as said and not think beyond, you are crippling innovation and growth from within.

Remote employees can be the reason behind your success if they are allowed to innovate and present new opinions and ideas freely. Create incentives for achieving goals and presenting fresh ideas that can move the needle toward transformation. When employees are free to work their brains, they will feel more empowered and engaged even miles away from your organization.

Take their feedback and adapt to their needs

Ensure that you have policies and processes in place to garner feedback from your remote employees. Understand what is important for your employees at various remote locations, tailor the experience for them, and share ideas back and forth.

Trends shift, and what is important today might not be tomorrow. Therefore, organizations should look beyond the set methods and practice flexibility when it comes to engaging remote employees. Be adaptive and responsive in your ways of driving engagement and do more of what works best for each remote location.

Engaged employees are less prone to obesity, as they are more connected to their work and rarely feel stressed out. The American Psychological Association estimated that organizations lose over $500 billion every year due to workplace stress that reduces employee productivity.

When employees feel underutilized and less challenged at their workplace, they are more likely to leave, costing organizations dearly. On the other hand, engaged employees are 87 percent less likely to leave, offer excellent customer service, and provide the best they can.

All these stats point toward the importance of engaged employees, both in-house and at remote locations.

If you are not sure about how to set up and retain an engaged remote tech team in India, Braves Technologies can help. We are pioneers in helping organizations set up and scale their remote teams with our proven processes and expertise.