While appreciation and encouragement is a basic human need, the sudden implementation of remote workplaces and work from home policy has made it quite difficult for managers to appreciate their subordinates.
Plus, research confirms that working from home is not 100% proving to be the dream experience that most employees were anticipating.
In fact, a study involving 1,214 individuals revealed that remote work during pandemic had improved some individuals while others experience a sharp decline in job satisfaction and motivation. This policy also requires you to work alone, which trigger mental health issues.
As a matter of fact, the remote work economy is growing, making it imperative for managers to find out some novel ways to appreciate, acknowledge, and reward employees.
Nurture a happy and productive remote team with 3A’s: Appreciation, Acknowledgment & Award
Here are some simple ways to make your team feel valuable during their work from home tenure.
- Appreciation for work from home
- Create a culture of kudos with Acknowledgment
- Award when they deliver the best work from home
The first major element of 3A framework is an appreciation which is simply an estimate of employee’s worth or merit.
You appreciate your team members for who they are. If you are managing a team, you need to understand that appreciation is independent of any action on the part of members. It happens before an individual does anything- I mean goal attainment or daily task.
Do you appreciate your team members for their unique talents, abilities, and competence, all that makes them who they are as a person? How to do it when everyone is doing remote work during a pandemic?
Here are some tips that can help you show how much you value your work from the home team:
Videoconferencing
Plan an informal videoconferencing meeting through eyeson and tell them they’re going great while sipping coffee. To add fun and excitement, you can plan game nights or virtual happy hours where everyone can chit chat, share jokes, health tips, and recipes.
You can personally call the person and thank them for their work ethic, skills, and attitude or simply appreciate everyone for supporting and coordinating with each other for complex and urgent tasks.
Work from home employee needs acknowledgment as well. It is simply defined as the act of acknowledging or recognizing people for what they do.
Acknowledging employee efforts is mostly due when they have finished a project or job successfully. But I personally believe that today’s employees wanted to be acknowledged for not only what has been done, but they also want to be noted along the way.
Give shout outs during video calls
It’s a great way to publicly announce the one who performed the best or celebrate the whole team working from home for all the hard work they put in.
Message them
A video conference is not possible all the time because when we implement a work from home policy, then everybody works as per their own flexibility. This is where can you send them a personalized message.
Here are some messaging examples:
- We are consistently amazed by your remote work performance.
- We’d like to acknowledge the marvelous victory you’ve attained!
- It’s incredible to see you consistently breaking the status quo.
- Companies dream of hiring employees like you. Thank you for choosing us.
Recommend them on LinkedIn
It’ll probably take a few minutes to write but can make a huge difference. This does not only boost employee morale but provides a professional endorsement for employees.
When rewards are the main focus acknowledgment is always unnoticed. That’s why I suggest managers when they give acknowledgement they don’t have to give a reward. But when you plan to reward your people for achieving something extraordinary, acknowledgment is a must.
A long weekend
Give your rockstar employees a couple of extra paid day off for their birthday or just for their dedicated performance over the week.
Food discounts
During this Covid-19 pandemic, everybody is ordering food online. So it’s a great idea to send them discount coupons on food delivery and takeout.
Key takeaway
As organizations are shifting towards remote workplaces, there is a dire need to engage and motivate employees. You need to make efforts to motivate your people and show them they are valuable and important to the company.
