How Does Virtual Office Work Impact Employee Engagement?

LOS ANGELES-Engaged employees plan to stay for what they can give; disengaged employees stay for what they can get, according to a report from Blessing White.

It’s one thing to measure employee engagement in a traditional office setting. But how do you measure it in a virtual office. Here are five signs your virtual office employees are not engaged:

1. Disengaged workers don’t trust you: Trust is a vital element of engagement. If workers don’t trust you they won’t give their all. In a virtual office environment, building trust often requires more frequent communication and recognition for a job well done.

2. Disengaged workers don’t set goals: If you are using virtual office employees in a distributed workforce build a goal-oriented culture by making it possible to set both short-term and long-term goals that encourage virtual office workers to contribute their talents to the cause.

3. Disengaged workers post high absenteeism: Attract and retain the best and brightest talent by building a culture that allows virtual office employees to contribute their talent and receive recognition for a job well done. That leads to fewer “sick days.”

4. Disengaged workers don’t collaborate: Help employees find personal satisfaction from contributing their talents. Coworkers and managers should publicly recognize the impact virtual office workers are making on the company with virtual “high fives.”

5. Disengaged workers don’t focus on results: When you have a culture that sets goals, it drives a results-oriented work environment by publishing what virtual office employees, virtual teams and departments are getting done individually and collectively.

Stay tuned for five more signs your virtual office employees are not engaged—and what to do about it.