Ensuring interaction and collaboration is already a difficult task when you are in a physical office, in the remote, with the team entirely distributed and isolated in their own homes, this task may seem impossible.
Organizations are still figuring out how to develop a culture of solid engagement for distributed teams. That is because the disconnection of employees in remote or face-to-face work is negatively manifested in the team, influencing low productivity and even interpersonal relationships!
Why can engagement in the distributed team be a problem?
VitalSmarts interviewed 1,100 professionals a few years ago and concluded that home office workers felt rejected and excluded. In 2017, Gallup, an independent marketing research company, conducted a study that reaffirmed this finding: 85% of workers “were not engaged or were disconnected” and about 43% of respondents reported working remotely at some point in the week or at some project.
The “State of Remote Work 2019” report, carried out by Buffer, was concerned with analyzing the greatest difficulties of remote work. The three main responses were:
Disconnect after work (22%), Loneliness (19%) and difficulty in alignment (17%). We can realize that the three biggest problems are related to engagement and productivity.
It is true that the formation of remote teams has great challenges that accompany several rewards. The fact is: No matter where the employees are located, it is necessary to make sure that the team can be brought together and aligned correctly. Thus, everyone remains connected and engages with practices and through the tools available.
Organizations are more successful with more engaged and performed employees. Enthusiastic and energetic employees feel better about work and the workplace and, consequently, become more productive. This is already proven.
Employees who do not feel motivated during the remote workday pose a risk to themselves and the organization. It’s a big challange for distributed teams.
Greater engagement, better performance
Gallup produced another study to determine the relationship between engagement, work, productivity, employee retention and customer perception. Let’s see some interesting data:
- Engaged employees perform better in delivering tasks and results.
- Organizations with highly engaged employees see a 41% reduction in absenteeism and a 17% increase in productivity.
- Engaged workers are also more likely to remain in their positions.
- Highly engaged organizations achieve 59% less turnover.
Regarding the client’s results, engagement in the team also affirms benefits to the organization. In highly engaged business units, the reach had a 10% increase in customer ratings and a 20% increase in sales.
Engaged employees are more committed to quality than they deliver
They help the organization to improve the relationship with customers and obtain greater performance in the market.
The most engaged employees are responsible for bringing greater profitability to the organization. In the survey, highly engaged organizations have a 21% return on higher profits.
The lack of interaction does not only influence the productivity of employees. According to The Engagement Institute – a joint study by The Conference Board, Sirota-Mercer, Deloitte, ROI, The Culture Works and Consulting LLP – disconnected employees cost American companies up to $ 550 billion a year.
Engaged team, even on the remote
This explains the importance of focusing on a culture that helps to give people what they need to perform better in the work routine, provide development, humanize team relations and clarify work expectations.
Thus, we highlight the need to treat them as concerned parties, for their own future and for the future of the business. It is essential, then, that the alignment between employee and organization is clear and that this organization encourages the engagement of its employees.
Since we know that remote work is here to stay, we have separated some tips for you to encourage spontaneous interactions even at a distance in this text for you to boost engagement in your remote team and overcome your challenges!
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