While appreciation and encouragement are basic human needs, the sudden implementation of remote workplaces and a 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 the pandemic had improved some individuals while others experienced 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.
The first major element of the 3A framework is appreciation, which is simply an estimate of an 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 tasks.
Do you appreciate your team members for their unique talents, abilities, and competence, all that make them who they are? How do you do this 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:
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 and 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 employees also need acknowledgment. Acknowledgement is simply 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 want to be acknowledged for not only what has been done, but they also want to be noted along the way.
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.
A video conference is not always possible because when we implement a work-from-home policy, everybody works according to their own flexibility. This is where you can send them a personalized message.
Here are some messaging examples:
It'll probably take a few minutes to write, but it can make a huge difference. This not only boosts employee morale but also 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 acknowledgment, don't have to give a reward. But when you plan to reward your people for achieving something extraordinary, acknowledgment is a must.
Give your rockstar employees a couple of extra paid days off for their birthday or just for their dedicated performance over the week.
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.
As organizations shift towards remote workplaces, there is a dire need to engage and motivate employees. You must make efforts to motivate your people and show them they are valuable and important to the company.