List: Seven Great Strategies for Retaining, Developing and Motivating Remote Workers in 2021

Coffee = [Not?] Required

Thank you to Rebecca Skilbeck of Forbes.com for your excellent article: 7 Strategies For Maintaining Employee Motivation When Remote (forbes.com). Below, we list the 7 strategies, and add our own commentary to each (along with some cool pics!).

Feels So Good!

1. Set Clear Achievable Goals - whether its a target weight, a target mile time or a targeted work project we can clearly finish while achieving identifiable objective, we humans love the idea of meeting goals. #winning is something we all love to do, and we feel better when we do so.

And the fans go wild!

2. Recognize and Celebrate Achievements - It's the little things in life. A big raise once a year makes a worker feel great for a little while. But, if you want to motivate year-round, small rewards are the way to go.

Here in Philadelphia, when an opponent of the Philadelphia 76ers misses two straight free throws in the second half of a game, every fan in attendance gets a free small Frosty from Wendy's. Now a small Frosty is about a buck, and I doubt most fans ever cash in on the deal, but the fans GO NUTS every any opposing player steps to the line in the second half, and when they miss two in a row, the fans blow the roof off of the joint.

Humans love the very prospect of getting free stuff, and getting free stuff for doing a good job has the added benefit of making an employee feel valued. Not to mention, you get to feel the benefits of the gift of giving, and your clients/customers reap the rewards of your more productive staff! What's not to love here?

So Easy to Do - and a Self-Fulfilling Approach

3. Provide Positive Feedback - I mean, come on - who doesn't love a little pat on the back some times? Make it a goal to provide positive feedback for your employees. It won't even cost you the price of a Frosty!

Every One, Every Where

Strives for Personal Development

4. Create Space for Personal Development - We cannot to much to improve on Ms. Skilbek's own words:

People join an organisation for the current role and for future career opportunities. In fact, 33% of jobseekers say professional development is the most important factor in accepting a new job. If an organisation doesn’t deliver against the employee value proposition (EVP) sold during the recruitment process, top talent walks out the door.With remote working and L&D budgets slashed, encouraging self-directed learning and creating a culture of continuous learning is a must. Managers play a key role in ensuring employees have time and space for personal development. Without support, many employees deprioritise their personal development which leads to disengagement. 94% of employees say they would stay at a company longer if it invested in their career development.

Research shows that investing in employee development leads to 11% greater profitability and 2X higher employee retention.

How About Your Work Life?

5. Foster Connection and Purpose - Well it's a little easier to explain the frosty phenomenon than this one! It begins with a simple maxim - people working remotely feel less connected to their job. They are feeling vocationally (not to mention socially) isolated. To counter that, employers need to establish a meaningful, reliable connection between the company and its workers. The suggestions for doing so include managers increasing their informal check-ins with workers, holding remote social hours via Zoom and the like, conducting lunch and learns, etc.

Fair or Foul?

6. Establish Clear Boundaries - Burn out, burn out. One of the obvious major hurdles about working from home is separating work life from home life! Technology, combined with the different schedules we all keep, make this seemingly impossible. Look, when your boss, who likes to conclude her day's work at around 11:00 p.m., sends you an e-Mail at 11:00 p.m. - you feel the need to answer her right away. Never mind that bowl of ice cream, Walking Dead episode or your spouse's advances - your phone is on and nearby (isn't it always?!) and , when it dings, you ;pick up.

You have to stop doing that.

And, for your further edification:

Covid Case of The Week - Wage and Hour Claims Added to Retaliation Claim - Aguayo v. Shield N Seal (Posted April 3, 2021)

Covid Case of the Week - Kofler v. Sayde Steeves Cleaning Service, Inc. - Termination of Employee Seeking FFCRA Leave a Violation of Anti-Retaliation Provisions of FLSA (Posted April 9, 2021)

Yeah - NO.

7. Experiment and Personalize - Although it comes in at No. 7, it seems to encapsulate almost all of the others, and requires exceptional soft skills from managers and supervisors. Some need a kick in the pants, others, a pat on the back. So don't kick everyone in the pants, even if that is go to modus operandi.

Sure, it worked for Vince Lombardi in 1963 - but it ain't 1963 any more.

Explore what makes each employee work, and work most productively. Embrace that, feel that. Then cultivate a work environment (schedule, reporting responsibilities, job duties) that reflect that worker's best skills.