Building Positive Culture with your New Remote Employee  

Managing remote employees can be challenging! The world of work today looks radically different from work only a year ago. With so much up in the air, it’s important to develop and depend on your most important assets: your employees. Even without the immediate connection of the office, the way you manage still comes across in the company culture. Here are a few tips from us on how to manage, with your employee’s interest in mind.  

1. Trust in your employees.

These are individuals you have hired, and at a small business level, you have probably personally interacted with them through the hiring process. Trust that you have hired well. Top employees want the space to do good work. It can be hard to let go when you can no longer see your employees so regularly, however, micromanaging will only add stress to your employees and lead to disengagement. 

2. Keep the dialog open.

Many new remote employees miss the atmosphere of the office for the connections and ability to give and receive feedback. If employees had a concern before working remotely, they could come to your office and knock on your door. Or catch you in the break room. Now, calls are schedules out meticulously ahead of time. Keep the open-door policy by setting check-in meetings with employees. Even if only once a month, they will appreciate the opportunity to check-in and air any concerns or questions. Employees also represent a valuable communication resource. They are on the front lines of your company, your work, and your customers. Ask for their input and ideas, allow their creativity to shine and enhance your business. 

3. Put your policies and procedures in place, remind employees of the process, and follow it!

As you go through a period of uncertainty, employee misconduct can rise by as much as 33%. If employees have an issue, they need to know how to go about addressing it. It is always a good time to review your policies and procedures, and it is important to recognize when employees might need a refresher too. Giving employees a set avenue for addressing concerns will mean they do not feel they have to make their own rules to have their issues heard.  

4. Focus on your outputs, not your process.

Remote work offers employees flexibility over traditional office work. Your bottom line depends on the work completed, not the way it was finished. Good leadership requires empathy. The way you work best is not the way that other members of your teamwork best. If you have employees working strange hours, or teams that are requesting additional collaboration tools, look at their outputs. Are they hard workers and top earners? Are they providing value to you and the company? The bottom line is your bottom line. Flexibility for employees often means higher quality work and a happier worker. 

Schedule a call with us today to learn more about how to manage your remote employees successfully!