As I sat on our weekly sales call this week, I realized that half of the people on the call were working remotely. That is probably not uncommon for many companies as we approach 2016, and even if you still go to the corporate office on a daily basis chances are that you have colleagues that do not sit in the adjoining cube or down the hall from you but in an entirely different time zone that you interact with on a regular basis. There is tremendous upside to working remotely, such as getting the laundry done in between calls or getting dinner started while you are working on your latest blog entry.
However, there are also challenges associated with working remotely. When you cannot see the person you are communicating or working with, you can miss a lot of those clues from a face to face conversation that are a pretty clear indicator that maybe you should come back later to discuss your latest lead or opportunity. While video conferencing is available and utilized, every conversation cannot be via web or phone cam. There are also times when you need information from a colleague and those minutes of waiting for a return phone call or email can feel like hours. These are issues that we need to deal with and will continue to deal with in the modern work environment and will likely continue to increase over time.
However, one tool that you may not have considered to keep your work force on the same page is an employee recognition program. While this will never replace the high five or pat on the back you receive from the boss as you walk down the hall following a successful client meeting, the virtual high-five of receiving recognition via points from a colleague or a manager can certainly fill some of that void. I recently celebrated a birthday, and I had a nice email from our president wishing me a happy birthday which was a nice way to start the day. Even nicer was logging into my employee recognition account several days later and seeing that I had received some birthday points that I could use to get myself a little birthday gift. Much appreciated.
Feel free to contact our QIC business development team to discuss how we can help you design your employee recognition program to bring your entire company together.
