5 Ways to Prioritize Your Employee’s Experience in a Hybrid Workplace
January 27, 2022
Happy people are productive people. When it comes to boosting morale and participation in the workplace, our agency prioritizes engagement across all fronts. Proactively managing morale is just as important for remote or hybrid environments as it is in person.
From quarterly contests to care packages, there are many ways we increase engagement, even in our hybrid structure. Here’s how we keep our agency motivated virtually:
1. Encourage Virtual Meetings and Team Outings
Even when it was impossible to be together in person, we still made it a priority to host virtual pod outings, including happy hours and game nights, where teams could interact outside the office environment.
2. Introduce Office-Wide Contests
There’s nothing like a little competition to bring the team together. With some creativity, contests can be done from the comfort of an employee’s home. Just don’t forget the prizes!
Our agency hosts quarterly contests, with the anticipated Super Bowl contest set to begin in the coming weeks. We look forward to this every year and track our progress on our social media.
3. Send a Care Package
Unexpected presents are the best. Care packages are a great way to make WFH remote employees feel appreciated, even when you can’t be together in person.
These care packages can be as simple as sending a snack to your employees’ doors. Recently, we sweetened our staff’s day by sending them Caroo snack packages to enjoy at home.
4. Virtual Mentorship
Employees are more likely to serve organizations that offer meaningful opportunities to learn and develop. That’s why some of the most successful companies invest in mentorship programs for employees – like Caterpillar, Fidelity Investments, Google, and General Electric.
Our agency mentorship program, Point Pals, offers a great way for newer employees to connect with, and get advice from, other members of the agency. Pairs meet twice a month, virtually or in person, to catch up on how the week is going, share any positive outcomes, or answer any questions.
5. Quality Communication Tools
To drive engagement in a remote or hybrid structure, it’s important to encourage strong communication practices.
As an agency, we use texts, mass communication platforms like Remind, Zoom and FaceTime to stay in constant communication on projects and client work while working from home. We’re currently testing out morning announcements in video form as another way to be more personal.
Virtual work, whether it’s remote or hybrid, is here to stay for the long haul. Continue to get creative and find new ways to shake up your regular meetings.
Lauren Izaks is the COO and executive vice president of All Points Public Relations, a franchise-focused PR agency based in the Chicagoland area, www.allpointspr.com.
