In the mid-2000s, marketing professionals wanted to promote online shopping. Therefore, Cyber Monday, the Monday after Thanksgiving Day in the United States, was created. Like Black Friday, online retailers use sales, discounts, and special offers to encourage people to shop via the internet.
Cyber Monday and Employee Engagement have much in common when it comes to remote workforces. Connecting virtually is challenging and requires planning and thoughtful practices in order to positively impact engagement.
Choose the right medium for the message
For the majority of retailers, email is the most efficient form of creating a personal appeal because it allows information to be read, saved, printed, or forwarded by recipients. When companies communicate with their remote employees, they have a few more options. Email may not always be the best option depending on the time-sensitivity or confidentiality of the information. While time-sensitive information can be delivered by phone, text, or instant message, confidential information should be communicated by phone for remote employees.
Interact in a meaningful way
Communication is never a one-way street. Personalizing communications allows retailers to establish, develop, and maintain relationships with customers. The same holds true with remote company employees. They need to feel that they are included and have meaningful connections with their company, manager and teammates. Communicate with them often so that they do feel included and supported. Personalize communications and provide needed context. Your daily MBWA conversations can provide the everyday incidental information you might not normally think to pass along to your remote employees.
Communication Timing
Customers have a say in determining the frequency with which retailers can communicate with them. For employees in remote locations, it is important to establish a daily communication cadence. There must be a balance in the amount of communication remote employees receive. Employees can feel disconnected if there is too little communication. Over-communicating can be detrimental as well since it can impact a remote employee’s productivity.
Day of the event
Retailers must have everything in place to deliver on the expectations they’ve set. For remote employees, company events like meetings or trainings are often challenging. By providing advance notice about these company events, remote employees can schedule and plan accordingly. Be prepared to alternate meeting times for those situations where remote locations are spread across time zones and travel to a single location is not possible. This helps to equalize any inconveniences and keeps the burden of very early or very late hours from falling onto a single group of people.
Be prepared for Cyber Monday thru Friday
Managing and connecting with remote employees can be challenging. Companies and managers must actively focus their efforts to include them in daily activities and identify ways to keep them engaged.
How do you connect with your remote employees? What other tips or best practices can you share?
P.S. – First time here? Welcome to the Agent In Engagement site. Thanks for taking the time to stop by! I hope you’ll explore the rest of the site. Let me know what employee engagement topics interest you.
If you enjoyed this article, you may also like…
- Black Friday
- Giving Thanks
- To Most Employees, Managers Are The Company
- Step Away From Your Desk
- Are Managers Obsolete?
Let’s Get Engaged!
I’m Agent in Engagement Simpson…Greg Simpson.
My mission? To help companies succeed by focusing on how they engage, manage, and develop their employees.
My credentials? Award winning engagement work with Fortune 150 companies.
My next assignment? To come in from the field, the consulting field, and return to headquarters. There I’ll lead the ongoing battle against the greatest nemesis in every company – employee disengagement.
I’m excited about this opportunity to connect with fellow “Agents.” Subscribe to the RSS Feed to receive the latest updates and/or register if you would like to comment on posts.
You can follow me @agtinengagement, email me at g…@a…t.com or learn more about me at www.gregoryfsimpson.com.
