Motivating a Remote Workforce Requires Radically New Tactics, Methods of Engagement

With millions of people currently working from their own homes, there can be a disconnect. A lack of in-person chats, water cooler laughs, or small encouragements has left many employees feeling like an island in their home offices. With that, employers are pivoting to focus on the mental health and well-being of each employee, a positive and welcome development. While no one expected the COVID-19 pandemic, its rapid onset early this year led to an abrupt and unexpected fulfillment of those yearnings for remote work, at least for office-bound workers.  But, as they say, you should be careful what you wish for.

The transition from office to home has clearly been a welcome development for many employees who had been struggling to balance their career demands with family responsibilities.  And the jury is still out as to whether work from home receives permanent status or if it’s destined to mostly remain a short-term expedient.  But, at least in some cases, legitimate concerns about tradeoffs have been raised.  Perhaps the most important of these is the risk of employee burnout along with loss of motivation and productivity – a consequence that some associate with substituting technologies, like Zoom, for face-to-face interaction and collaboration with co-workers.

Zoom and similar internet collaboration services may, indeed, be the most visible components of today’s remote work environment, but I would be cautious about laying too much blame on technology for problems affecting home-based workers.  Instead, I suspect that their high visibility mostly distracts from deeper workplace challenges including lack of recognition, lack of feedback, personal pressures resulting from the pandemic, and what one commentator1 has characterized as “micromanagement creep,” where managers – who may themselves be unfamiliar with remote work arrangements – feel the need to stay on top of everyone’s work, demanding incessant updates.

With only a few months of remote workforce experience under our belts, there are very few bona fide experts who can demonstrate how to do it flawlessly.  But it has been in place long enough that a number of thoughtful suggestions have surfaced for ways that managers and HR departments can make the WFH experience both engaging for the employee and productive for the employer.

For example, the author of a recent article in the Harvard Business Review saw a parallel between remote workers and those in the military responding to real-world crises.  Their keen awareness that their work required them to succeed in a critical mission, led to the highest motivation levels of their careers, sometimes including 18-hour workdays.  Of course, no one is advocating for the exhaustion of your own home-based workforce.  But the authors make clear that one key to motivating employees to solve problems creatively is by resisting the temptation to make work too tactical by imposing a regimen of strict processes, rules, and procedures – too many of which create a downward spiral of demotivation.

Instead, they advocate presenting employees with challenging issues that face the organization and encouraging them to experiment with solving problems that really matter.  Examples include: Where can we deliver amazing service to our customers?  What’s broken that our team can fix?  What will drive growth even during a time of fear?  How can we keep our suppliers in business?  And how can we reliably ship critical goods around the world?

Of course, not every organization is in a position to engage the majority of its remote employees in such lofty assignments.  But there are a variety of more modest steps that managers and HR departments can take to reinforce and encourage their remote workers.  For example, setting clear expectations about allocating times to be available online for meetings and then holding them accountable for attending.  Using the phone for situations which might be emotionally charged.  Encouraging achievement through accomplishment instead of simply by activity.  Providing remote employees with the appropriate tools for security, collaboration, and communication.  Holding “virtual happy hours.”  Helping employees make sure their home office setups are consistent with company ergonomic and safety standards.  And saying “thank you” for good work.

Perhaps the most important strategy is the recognition that motivating a remote workforce requires the same basic elements as it does with a traditional office environment.  They involve the same human beings with the same aspirations and issues that used to play out in the office every day.  The tools are different, and learning to use them well will require time, practice, and feedback.  But the motivations, the rewards, the need for collegiality, and the recognition for creative achievement are just the same.

Chris is an accomplished technology sales and business leader with over 20 years of business and partnership development, client management, and strategy. He is skilled at closing high-value deals, working closely with partners to deliver results, and developing new business opportunities inside existing partnerships. He is a proven leader with demonstrated success building high-growth businesses.