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By Chris Gay, Editor
April 15th, 2008
Trust is key to engaging virtual workers
Virtual employees are people who, most or all of the time, work in a remote location away from their supervisor or work group. These include telecommuters, road warriors, geographically dispersed teams, and anyone who isn't located with co-workers. According to Entrepreneur Magazine (August 2007):
- More than 80% of companies define themselves as virtual workplaces
- On average, organizations classify 27% of their employees as virtual
- 17% of employees telecommute regularly
Technology makes a virtual workforce more attainable than ever before. Email, instant messaging, web conferencing and portable communication devices make it easy for people in distant places to connect and collaborate. But technology is only part of the solution.
When you look at the issues and solutions, the key to successfully managing and engaging virtual workers is building TRUST with them, their peers and the organization’s leadership. The components needed to do this include:
- T – Team Make-up and Guidelines – Define the team norms, establish guidelines for operation, such as meeting and communication standards, and have a well-defined onboarding process.
- R – Resources and Policies – Ensure that you define the necessary skill sets and policies for success and then provide the tools, training and processes to support those needs.
- U – User-friendly work environment – Set standards for the type of work environment that will support high performance for virtual workers. Identify the type of equipment, supplies, technology, and ergonomic work set-up that is required.
- S – Strategy for Employee Engagement – Recognize the importance of engaging the virtual workforce so they understand their role in the company’s success and are committed to contributing. Make the extra effort to stay in touch with these people on a personal level just as you would stop by someone’s desk and chat.
- T – Technology and Communication – Technology is important, but it’s not the only way to communicate with virtual workers. Define all of the communication channels available, and don’t forget the importance of phone calls and even written thank-you notes.
Building TRUST with this critical and ever-increasing portion of the workforce is core to establishing a high performing organization.
See you next month.
Chris Gay
Partner, Bridge Consulting
engagement@melcrum.com
P.S. Don't miss Melcrum's new research report How to communicate with hard-to-reach employees for the latest strategies and case studies on engaging hard-to-reach employees.
Coping with crisis at Transport for London
Janet Croissant, Strategic Communication Management, April/May, 2008
In this free article from the latest issue of SCM, Janet Croissant, head of group internal communications at TfL, reflects on the internal communication challenges during the terrorist bombings. She suggests some questions to ask yourself when testing your own internal communication preparedness to handle a crisis.
HMRC faces up to engagement challenges
Sona Hathi, Internal Comms Hub, 15 April 2008
While this week marks three years' existence of HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), last Friday, the department's employee engagement levels were put under scrutiny by the Financial Times. Here's a look at HMRC's employee research findings, along with a few words of advice from Bill Quirke.
Demonstrating the value of Enterprise RSS
Alex Manchester, Social Media Newsletter, April 2008
Thursday 24 April is an important day for social media in business – it's Enterprise RSS Day of Action! The day of action (ERDA), is about highlighting the benefits of RSS, and demonstrating a prototype model of business-ready RSS, which can transform the underlying communication and information delivery methods in an enterprise scenario.
Employee burnout a deep and overlooked issue
Annie Waite, Internal Comms Hub, 14 April 2008
Creating a workforce of engaged employees is fundamentally a health issue says Ivana Crestani managing director of The Ryder Self Group managing consultancy.
Fact-based evidence of culture
Angela Sinickas, Measurement Newsletter, April
2008
What facts can you gather about the way the corporate culture currently is, compared with what the organization wants it to be? Angela Sinickas says start with the mission, vision, values and brand attributes that theoretically define an organization’s ideal culture.
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