Apply these three steps to enhance productivity in your remote workers.

With remote working becoming part of the world of work, companies are looking for ways to ensure that team members who work in a remote environment stay at the top of their game. It’s therefore important that business leaders take intentional steps to make remote employees feel involved in the organisation regardless of the location from which they are working.

These three steps will help you create a winning strategy for your remote employees.

#1 Create a sense of security

There is nothing that negatively affects productivity more than an environment in which employees feel insecure. This does not only apply to employees’ sense of physical safety but to their sense of emotional security. When employees feel emotionally insecure, their minds are filled with thoughts about their wellbeing – and those thoughts dominate creative thoughts that should be better used in the work environment. As a result, very little constructive work gets done.

Employers can impart a sense of emotional security to their employees by organising regular interactions with their team members to assure them should they have a problem or require assistance. Such problems should no longer be confined to work-related matters. People working from home often experience personal challenges and, by showing empathy and offering an ear, team leaders can play a vital role in the productivity and performance of their people.

Another benefit of catch ups is that they also provide an opportunity for leaders to update their team members regarding company news and routine matters, giving them a sense of belonging despite their physical absence from the workplace.

#2 Give them the necessary tech support

It’s a simple fact of life that remote working has been made possible by the technology we now have available. Tech support is no longer confined to WiFi, emails and cyber security, which are all very important. It now also includes Enterprise Resource Management, which ranges from procurement, warehousing, production, sales and customer service, to financial management so remote workers can manage their business activities on a global scale.

Other functionality helps remote employees gain insights for better decision making at every level of the business with intuitive reporting and business intelligence tools. This includes fully cloud-based payroll software with automatic updates, keeping payroll processes up-to-date and compliant via an always on, secure and scalable solution.

Should remote employees need to access a single source of truth with accurate employee information, and a host of features including interviews, training, qualifications, remuneration and more, the tech is available for them to do so.

Lastly, when it comes to self-service, employers can provide a paperless process for managers and employees to manage leave, claims and maintain personal information.

The more you empower your remote employees with the necessary technology, the more comfortable you will make their administration, setting them free to do what you’re really paying them to do.

#3 Nurture a culture of trust

In the past, employees required less monitoring given that managers had constant sight of their outcomes in the physical work environment. That was because workers performed their work under the watchful eyes of their managers. This meant their efforts could be assessed in real time. It was readily apparent if someone wasn’t pulling their weight.

To establish a trusting culture, leaders must be authentic and not play a fake role. People can quickly sense when someone is pretending to be someone they are not.

Part of being authentic is showing your vulnerability, where appropriate. In the days of command and control leadership, this was never done. Leadership was all about strength, which meant vulnerability was understandably hidden. With a more collaborative leadership model entering the workplace, vulnerability is fast proving to be an asset. For example, when a leader shows they are also distressed by a particular event, their people feel a connection to them and they are more responsive to requests and instructions.

In closing

Smart leaders who apply their minds to these three suggestions will find that their remote employees will go not only the proverbial extra mile but a good few extra miles as well.

This article was written by SAGE.