10 Ideas to Better Engage Virtual Employees

Remember when Zoom calls were the exception, not the rule? It wasn’t all that long ago that virtual work environments were uncommon. But as with most norms, the pandemic brought total upheaval.

Several industries have since seen a shift to remote and hybrid work, and as of June 2022, only two in 10 people work exclusively on-site. While virtual work presents plenty of benefits for employees and employers alike, working remotely comes with its fair share of challenges.

With fewer in-person interactions, how can employers keep employees interested, challenged, inspired, and motivated? Today, we’re sharing 13 virtual employee engagement ideas.

Why Is It Important to Engage With Remote Employees?

The success of your organization depends on employee engagement — research from Deloitte shows that engaged workers are 57% more effective and 87% more likely to stay with your company. Furthermore, corporate culture (the qualities that define an organization, such as its conduct policies and core values) is directly tied to business performance.

So, it's a no-brainer that organizations should inspire to create an engaged company culture. But before we get into how to do that, let's step back and define more specifically what employee engagement actually is.

What is Employee Engagement?

Employee engagement is the level of commitment and connection an employee has to an organization. Highly engaged employees are dedicated to their work, their colleagues, and their organization’s mission. Disengaged employees, on the other hand, tend to do the bare minimum and remain secluded from the rest of the team.

Of course, it’s important to engage your entire workforce, but employers must take special care to support remote workers and make them feel connected. You’ll see better performance, higher retention rates, and increased morale. But it doesn’t come without its challenges.

The Challenges of Virtual Employee Engagement

In the ancient in-office days of yore, employee engagement was all about conference room birthday parties, learning lunches, or happy hour get-togethers. It was natural, it was normal. And now it feels rather cliché….

These sorts of activities build camaraderie and can help create a positive perception of employers and workplaces. But when many (if not most) employees work remotely, sometimes in different time zones, how can employers foster that sense of community and shared commitment, while motivating and empowering their employees?

A few employee engagement challenges related to engaging virtual employees include:

• Communication: Nothing can quite replace in-person conversations, or the way employees are able to bond when crowded around coffee makers or sitting in meetings beside each other.
• Relationships: Fostering bonds in a hybrid work culture takes a different approach than the natural bonding that can happen in person.
• Motivation: When employees don’t work within the vicinity of their supervisors and peers, remote employees may not feel like they’re making an impact or getting the same kind of recognition.

There are plenty of virtual engagement ideas for remote workers that organizations can use to keep their employees interested, excited, and connected to their work. But rather than relying on sending snack boxes or company swag, employers should choose activities that encourage participation. Team building is valuable for creating a collaborative, productive workplace that keeps employees involved.

Businesses big and small, corporate or casual, can benefit from putting an effort into virtual employee engagement activities that ensure employees remain dedicated to their jobs and their employers.

10 Virtual Employee Engagement Ideas

Employers have to think out of the box for ways to engage remote employees. But that’s a benefit, not a drawback! While it might seem like a daunting task, leaning into the benefits of virtual work can help you develop remote employee engagement activities that excite employees and positively impact their working experience.

1. Enable Easy Communication with Colleagues

Engaging employees is impossible when you can’t communicate with them — or when they can’t communicate with each other. But by giving your entire workforce access to a social collaboration tool, you can enable collaboration and connection among employees, no matter when and where they’re working.

Functionalities like chat and file sharing streamline communication, and a social media-like feed encourages participation. Plus, leadership can reach all employees at once so nobody is out of the loop.

Enabling easier communication allows your employees to stay plugged in when they’re clocked in, ensuring they’re engaged — even from afar.

2. Help Them Create a Productive Home Office

Not every virtual employee will have chosen their abode with virtual work in mind, or have a room they can easily convert to a home office. One way that employers can show employees they’re invested in their virtual success is to assist them in setting up a home workspace.

Whether employees need specific equipment to do their jobs or simply the technical support to get up and running, employers can support them in a number of ways during the setup phase. Helping to create an inspiring and comfortable working environment for your virtual employees can help boost their productivity as well as their job satisfaction.

3. Recognize Their Performance

Although recognizing a remote employee’s performance takes more work than swinging by their desk, it’s well worth the effort to prioritize these acknowledgements. When employees know their work is valued, they’re happier, more engaged, and more likely to stay with the organization.

Manager support is crucial, but leaders are often too busy to see the day-to-day accomplishments of their employees. With peer recognition software, employees can give each other virtual kudos that managers can then view for formal performance reviews.

Peer recognition gives employees a chance to feel seen for their contributions, and for leaders to have clearer visibility.

4. Create Virtual Water Cooler Gatherings

It may seem cliché, but the proverbial water cooler was a boon to employee engagement. It was a natural, unforced gathering place that got employees out of their cube and bumping shoulders with colleagues.

So, how can you replicate the office watering hole in a virtual environment?

Virtual group chats are a nice way to simulate the togetherness that impromptu office gatherings can cultivate. Whether your business uses Microsoft Teams, Slack, or another conversation software, encourage employees to participate in group conversations on not-always-work-related topics.

This might be a weekly show-and-tell, themed “gatherings” on favorite TV shows or current events, or even simply everyone giving an answer to the same question. Think, “If you could have dinner with one person dead or alive, who would it be?”

In Paylocity’s Community, team members are able to quickly communicate and touch base in Chat. Not only can they catch up and socialize, but they’re able to share files and collaborate when talk turns to work topics.