How to Support the Wellbeing of Remote Employees

The need for remote working has affected every industry across the globe. While this new trend often referred to as the Future of Work, comes with several advantages, it is also a lot harder to keep tabs on the wellbeing of employees at a distance. Remote work present its own challenges and organizations have a responsibility to consider mental health issues that may result. Deloitte estimates that poor mental health costs industry employers $42bn – $45bn each year. [1] These figures demonstrate that looking after employees wellbeing is not only important from a moral perspective, but also drastically impact organizational performance.

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Let's explore how you can support the wellbeing of remote employees using technology and clever strategies.

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1. Make Work Resources Easily Accessible

Working from home comes with a lot of extra stress, especially if employees can't access the files or documents they need. Fortunately, with today's technology tools such as Google Drive for collaboration and engagement solutions like Qualee for people management, work resources can be made easy to access for employees working remotely.

Simply upload any of the documents or files your remote teams might need and make them available via a native mobile app. This can include training documents, filing forms, technical packets, you name it. Making resource retrieval easy for your employees will make them feel more secure in their new working environment, improving employee wellbeing and employee happiness, which ultimately reduces employee stress and employee turnover.

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2. Organize Remote Get-Togethers

There's no getting around it – we humans are social creatures. Although office parties seem a thing of the past, that doesn't mean that teams shouldn't or couldn't get together.

To boost morale and reinforce connections, it is a great idea to host virtual meetings and after-hours parties via Zoom or other videoconferencing tools. Even if everyone is having fun messing around with the backgrounds for your profiles, or just chatting about the latest episode of everyone's favourite TV show, these get-togethers are excellent for mental health and will improve the wellbeing of your remote workers if you all get together every once in a while. We make friends at work; lean into that human need and use technology to make socializing happen.

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3. Develop an Employee-Focused Culture

The culture of a workplace is critical, especially since millennials dominating the modern workforce are more likely to look for a new place to work if they feel the culture isn't a good fit. Without access to a shared office space or interaction with colleagues and management, this cultural fit can be difficult to determine for an employee working remotely.

To fix this, it helps to showcase the company culture via employee engagement apps like Qualee whenever possible. This is especially relevant for new hires being onboarded remotely. Give their wellbeing and confidence a boost by communicating your business' culture using videos, trivia, and questions to help new employees onboard easily and settle into their roles.

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4. Conduct Regular Wellness Check-Ups

Technology leaves no excuse for management to not regularly check on their employees. Studies show that remote employees often feel isolated or distant from their boss. This is especially relevant because PwC found that while only 1% said good communication was not important to them, 51% of millennials want communication frequently or continually on the job [2].

You can boost your employee well being and workers' mental wellbeing and show them that they matter by showing empathy and regularly checking in with them. Normalize conversations and regular communication and don't hesitate to hold remote employee wellbeing support and wellness training seminars through mobile apps or teleconferencing software. Initiatives that offer employees mental health benefits show that you care about your employees. This can encourage employees (both remote and office workers) to come to you about their wellbeing concerns.

There are plenty of ways your company can support the emotional wellbeing and mental health of team members. This includes understanding how mental health and work-related stress levels impact your employees, building flexibility into your teams' schedules to create a healthy work-life balance, and searching for solutions that provide mental health services for your remote workforce. Some companies can also offer employee assistance program to support an employee's mental well-being and physical health.

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5. Synchronize Remote Schedules

Remote workers have a lot on their plates and scheduling is tough when working from home. Employers can relieve some of this anxiety and inherent confusion by using digital tools to synchronize schedules in real-time.

Don't make your employees run around matching up schedules and sacrificing their personal life for work. Take the burden of remote work off the employee's shoulders and let them do what they do best. This is sure to help their well-being across the board, plus provide a boost to employee performance.

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Other Ways to Support Wellbeing for Remote Employees

• Take the time to share wins and recognize the achievements of the entire team or specific employees during team meetings
• Help remote employees establish boundaries between personal time and work time with a distraction-free home working environment
• Should your remote employees choose to return to the office, educate them about the safety measures being taken in the office as well as the risk of going back to working in the office amid the global pandemic
• Encourage employees to engage in physical activity and exercise, which helps reduce burnout

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In conclusion, the challenges businesses face in switching to remote work are significant, but these are largely manageable with technology. Staff engagement apps can help you tackle those challenges and support the wellbeing of your remote employees at the same time.

Many companies have successfully integrated Qualee's mobile-first solutions to boost their employee wellbeing and satisfaction levels. With an intuitive app for employee engagement, Qualee makes it easy for companies to create compelling and inspiring employee experiences, wherever they may be working from. Give Qualee a try by joining our Free Starter Plan today!

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[1]https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/uk/Documents/consultancy/deloitte-uk-mental-health-and-employers.pdf

[2]https://www.pwc.com/co/es/publicaciones/assets/millennials-at-work.pdf