Top 10 Ways to Create a Sense of Belonging for Remote Employees

A recent Gallup survey showed less than half of employees feel strongly that their employers care about their wellbeing. And according to research from Slack with remote employees across five countries, only a sense of belonging was much worse than before the pandemic. Follow these unique ways to create a better sense of belonging with your work-from-home employees. 

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Top 10 Positive Actions to Take with the COVID-19 Crisis

While many companies have moved to a work from home way of life for the immediate future, we still have companies that are proceeding with business. These helpful actions are a good way to keep your employees healthy and your business running strong during a health crisis, no matter where they are working from.  

  1. Keep employees more informed. Update employees through your company’s intranet website—it’s a single place to find important organizational information.
  2. Actively encourage sick employees to stay home. Since health authorities think the virus mainly spreads person-to-person through coughing or sneezing of infected people, encourage sick employees to stay at home and consult their doctor, no matter how minor the symptoms are.
  3. Go virtual for your meetings. To lessen the number of close contact meetings, consider going more virtual with on-line or teleconference meetings. Many leading tech companies are providing free access to their software so people can connect during this time.
  4. Create telecommute options, where possible. If work functions fit and circumstances such as high geographic incidence rates raise a high risk for contracting COVID-19, offer employees the option to work from home.
  5. Practice healthy living. Promote healthy habits by encouraging employees to follow guidelines from the CDC, WHO, and local health authorities, etc.
  6. Purchase supplies. Try to keep your facilities stocked with tissues, soap, and anti-bacterial cleansers to help employees practice healthy living and reduce spread.
  7. Use regular email communications. Send out email communications reminding employees of the right and wrong things to be doing like avoid touching eyes, nose or mouth to prevent spread of germs.  
  8. If someone should get the Coronavirus. Be prepared to have the communication channels available and use managers to inform your entire workforce immediately on how to mitigate risk.  
  9. Show caring concern. Send a get-well card and/or gift basket to your ill employee to let them know you care since no one plans on catching the flu.
  10. Signs for the times. Post signs in restrooms, throughout office or common areas reminding all to wash their hands and wiping down their workstations frequently. 

Trying to accept this new “normal” is difficult. However, businesses that have a strategy, keep the lines of communication open, and understand the ever-changing impacts of positive actions, will weather this storm.

Recognition Reflection: What special steps are you taking for dealing with the COVID-19 virus and helping your employees?

Roy is no longer writing new content for this site (he has retired!), but you can subscribe to Engage2Excel’s blog as Engage2Excel will be taking Roy’s place writing about similar topics on employee recognition and retention, leadership and strategy.

Should Care and Concern Fall Under Recognition?

Is showing care and concern for our fellow employees an act of recognition or something completely different?

From my point of view, I have defined recognition as mostly an intangible expression of acknowledgement and valuing of an individual or team, for their positive behaviours, their personal effort, or contributions they have made.

By this definition, recognition occurs because:

(1)  Some positive action or specific positive behaviors have occurred by an employee on the job. 

(2)  You feel their actions merit you acknowledging and valuing them for who they are or what they do.

(3)  And, unlike rewards, you are not expecting the employee to do something in return just because you’ve recognized them.

So now, in response to a recent question asked of me, do you give recognition to people because they’ve experienced a positive life event or perhaps they’ve had some serious challenges?

Let’s examine this carefully.

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When Leaders Give Recognition Watch What Happens

Last Thursday, I was standing at the boarding gate in Toronto Airport waiting to board my WestJet flight to Calgary.

I saw this man in a suit, who went around and shook hands with all of the WestJet staff members as he went forward to board the same flight. I even saw one employee ask for a minute of his time as they walked together down the passenger boarding bridge.

Hmm? Was this the WestJet president and CEO, Ed Sims? (more…)

Why You Should Care More About Your People

Here’s a fact: employees who feel more caring concern and love from their employer and colleagues perform better on the job. Now we’re not talking about romantic love here. This is all about respect, concern, and compassion, or what is being called companionate love.

Do you have policies and practices that promote compassion, caring, and concern, in time of need?

Consider what former Cisco CEO, John Chambers, expected from his staff. He wanted to be notified within 48 hours whenever a close family member of an employee passed away so he could make an appropriate response and action.

What do you do to show care and concern for your employees? (more…)

Show Caring For The Good Things and Bad Things

It is an interesting situation around showing people you have concern and care for them.

How and when do you typically show caring towards fellow employees?

I think there is a human tendency to want to provide for people and protect them whenever they’re going through a hard time.

But what about the good things that happen to employees? Do you say anything? (more…)

Make Sure You Care Before Giving Recognition

Too often we see people and ask the question, “How are you?” without really stopping to listen to the response.

You must learn to ask the question, “How are you?” and not only listen for what people say, but also watch for how they say it and the non-verbal cues of their real feelings.

Follow along and learn how to show care and empathy to employees so that they are more likely to believe the genuineness of your expressed recognition and appreciation. (more…)