More and more employees are working remotely instead of commuting to a main office. Here are some strategies for effectively managing and developing your remote workforce.

1. EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT
STRATEGIES FOR YOUR
REMOTE WORKFORCE

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4. As the workforce continues to evolve, so does the work environment. Gone
are the days of workers commuting to a main office for 8 hours. Instead, more
and more employees are working remotely.
ACCORDING TO GLOBALWORKPLACEANALYTICS.COM:
• Work-from-home work has grown by 103% since 2005.
• 3.7 million employees now work from home at least half the time.
With this change, it’s important for organizations to design an employee
development strategy that can be adapted for remote workers, ensuring they
continue to feel connected and engaged.
SOURCE

5. 4 EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES
FOR YOUR REMOTE WORKFORCE
• Equip managers with training and tools
• Create engaging, intuitive development programs
• Find ways to collaborate and connect
• Measure effectiveness and gather feedback

6. EQUIP MANAGERS
WITH TRAINING AND TOOLS
In order for your employee development strategies
to be effective, your managers need training and
tools on the the best ways to engage and develop
team members that work remotely.
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7. It’s one thing to manage someone who sits
in the same building. It’s another thing entirely
to manage someone who wakes up on the
other side of the world, just as you’re leaving
the office for the day…Managers in these
situations need training and resources to help
them set expectations and effectively manage
people, regardless of when or where employees
are doing their job.
-Liz Sheffield
SOURCE

8. Furthermore, development plans will not work unless
managers establish a trusted working relationship with
their employees. LEADERS SHOULD:
• Model a high-trust environment.
• Set clear expectations and deadlines.
• Encourage both formal and informal touch points.
• Schedule regular 1:1 check-ins and conference calls to
keep all parties up-to-date.

9. CREATE ENGAGING, INTUITIVE
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS
Trust and communication are the first step in engaging
remote workers to participate in development programs.
But if your tools and offerings are not intuitive and
user-friendly, and don’t make sense for your workforce
needs, they will be a hard sell to remote and in-office
employees alike.
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10. Create employee development programs and tools that align with
employee needs and are mobile-friendly. Sarah Lecuna, benefits
manager at Intuit, says programs are embraced by employees when
they focus around the question: “How do we make our employees’
lives easier, or better, or both?” Create a development suite that
aligns with your company culture and employee needs. And invest
in mobile-friendly applications to make your offerings accessible to
all employees, regardless of generation or location.
Also, consider incorporating gamification in your suite of development
tools to encourage some friendly competition between employees.
Research shows that apps with gamification boast higher employee
participation and more positive feedback.
SOURCE

11. FIND WAYS TO
COLLABORATE AND CONNECT
Remote work is also changing workplace culture—specifically
meetings. No longer are meetings just face-to-face. Now
collaboration is online and trainings are off-site. Leverage all
types of tech options (teleconferences, texting groups, central
project camps, instant messaging) to build an interconnected
team free from working isolation.
Remember: it’s crucial to connect often and keep lines of
communication open, regardless of where employees are located.
Don’t forget to encourage informal touch ways for your teams to
communicate to further build rapport and team trust.
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12. Recognition is a great development tool and strengthens work
connections. Here are a few suggestions on how organizations can
recognize remote workers:
• Send hand-written notes, delivered to their remote location
• Once a month do a profile on a remote team member and give a
shout out of the great work they’ve accomplished
• Hold recognition moments during conference calls/meetings
• Say quick thank you’s with fun eButtons or other socially shared
appreciation tools
SOURCE

13. MEASURE EFFECTIVENESS AND
GATHER FEEDBACK
Lastly, in order to effectively create employee development
strategies for your remote workforce, track what’s working
(and what’s not) along the way. Gather feedback from
employees and leverage surveys. You can also leverage
employee knowledge by empowering mentors to train
other employees on skills they’ve developed.
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15. O.C. TANNER AND THE O.C. TANNER INSTITUTE
O.C. Tanner, number 40 on the 2015 FORTUNE 100 Best Companies
to Work For® list, helps organizations create great work environments
by inspiring and appreciating great work. Thousands of clients
globally use the company’s cloud-based technology, tools, awards,
and education services to engage talent, increase performance,
drive goals, and create experiences that fuel the human spirit. Learn
more at octanner.com.
The O.C. Tanner Institute regularly commissions research and provides
a global forum for exchanging ideas about recognition, engagement,
leadership, culture, human values, and sound business principles.

16. 7
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HR TECH 2015
THE MILLENNIAL EFFECT ON
EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT
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that are the Result
of Great Work
MYTHS ABOUT GREAT WORK:
AND the Reality of What to Do to
Make it Happen
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