At least 9 ways to recognize off-site staff

Following my presentation in a northern Alberta town, a participant approached with a question.

He was a branch manager who was looking to advance his career in the bank. This would involve moving into a position where he would be supervising the work of a number of workers who worked remotely. He would only occasionally see them face-to-face.

How could he use staff recognition to ensure they felt valued as part of the team and remained engaged?

It was a good question that will become increasingly relevant. Today, only a small percentage of staff members are so called “teleworkers” or “work-from-home” employees but that number is growing, particularly among people aged 25 to 44.

The opportunity for flexible work hours or to work off-site are among the most popular employment benefits, according to different research sources. For some, avoiding the cost of commuting to work and associated parking fees is like receiving a pay increase.

There is no single definition of what telework looks like. Some employees will work from their homes, others in non-traditional settings such as coffee shops or libraries, or in satellite locations that you visit infrequently. There is also the flexibility to work on a different schedule than those who are in the office everyday—early in the morning, late at night, or on weekends.

Traditional staff recognition practices will not work for employees who work at remote locations or from home and are only seen in the office occasionally. You can’t simply drop by their desks to say thank you or involve them in spontaneous celebrations of team successes. 

Other approaches are required to make them feel valued as part of the team or appreciated for what they do:

1. Use frequent email and voice messages to demonstrate that you are aware of and appreciative of what they are doing. 
2. Send them thank-you notes via the regular postal services. 
3. Be accessible to remote staff members. Schedule “office hours”––times when you will be available to take their calls.
4. Schedule time to meet with remote staff when they do visit the office.
5. If your travels take you near where they work, invite them to meet you for coffee or lunch.
6. Schedule telephone one-on-one meetings with off-site staff at least once a month. Deal with the topics on your agenda but leave sufficient time to acknowledge staff members for what they do and to discuss any questions, concerns or suggestions they have related to their work.
7. Encourage on-site staff to recognize their off-site peers. Remind them to thank their colleagues who work remotely, on whom they depend to be able to do their jobs well.
8. You really can’t beat face-to-face conversation but when in-person meetings aren’t possible with remote employees, teleconferencing may be the next best thing, utilizing any of several simple, inexpensive conferencing websites and apps.
9. Need reasons to recognize off-site staff? Ask your on-site staff members to identify reasons to recognize off-site staff.

Consider this list as just as starting point. Whenever you read a book (such as Thanks! GREAT Job!) about ways to recognize on-site staff, or when you discuss recognition with other participants in programs such as Thanks! GREAT Job! or Staff Recognition: One Piece at a Time, consider how tools and techniques for the recognition of on-site staff could be adapted for the recognition of off-site staff.

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