How to encourage higher productivity and satisfaction in remote teams

In large companies, employees can be deployed to customer's sites, overseas, or external office locations.

When staff is out of sight, it can be challenging to keep track of their productivity, work issues, and motivation levels, and may lead to unnecessary high turnovers, low work output, or employee dissatisfaction.

To avoid such situations, here are the strategies Human Resources can try to promote higher productivity and learn ways to make their employees feel appreciated.

Tap into technology

These days, everybody is wired up through their smartphones or internet. There is no reason why the company cannot set up online communities or chatgroups for employees to have an easy and secure platform to get advice, voice out issue, or be in touch on company matters.

Other than relaying messages through text, town halls or information sessions can be conducted via video calls, which employees can dial into even if they are not in the main office or overseas.

More than just listening in, video conferences on Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn can provide a space for engagement with comments, Likes and Dislikes, or shares.

They can be conveniently saved and accessed even if the employees are located in different time zones as well.

With everybody on the same page, management can manage expectations on work, company strategies, and opportunities for future growth.

Moreover, such platforms are usually cost-effective methods to gather large groups of people.

Identify clear job roles

During interviews, the hiring managers will discuss mostly the main job scope, and many secondary duties may be left out.

If an employee is located elsewhere, his orientation program will be much more different than a person starting the job in the company itself. As such, he may be unclear of the full job scope his role will entail.

When the employee first comes on board, the manager should detail his job tasks and description clearly and open up a discussion for clarifications.

Not only will this give a good understanding, but it can also identify the top, middle, and lower priorities in the job.

Also, with the lists of tasks identified, it can be later used as checklist for measuring outcomes of productivity.

Make information accessible

In today's technological age, company hacking is not uncommon, and many have stepped up on security.

As such, employees located remotely may have difficulty accessing the company intranet or encounter firewalls when accessing sensitive internal data.

To increase productivity and work effectiveness, companies can create different levels of visibility with software and security such as two-step passwords.

For Human Resource matters, the team can set up newsletters to share company's happening, provide support for employees to get regular feedback on performance or bonuses, and send timely reminders on important events such as submission of appraisal matters.

When employees are in the know and feel part of the company, they can have greater trust in the company to take care of them while they perform their roles.