The face of America’s workforce has changed dramatically in the last couple of years. And this is largely due to a vast number of professionals realizing the benefits of remote work. 

A huge number of companies also realized the benefits of going remote in 2020 as well due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced many businesses to operate remotely or face closing their doors entirely. 

But with the uprising of remote work across the nation and across the world, many businesses find themselves facing a new problem. And this has to do with productivity levels.

When you work at home, you’re not governed by a manager or a timeclock in the traditional sense. But thankfully, there are many tools at your disposal to assist with keeping remote employees happy and productive.

Here, we’ll explore a few ways that you can make your remote employees successful. 

Remote Mentoring 

One of the best tools that you can use to keep your employees engaged and productive while working remotely is virtual mentoring. 

Mentoring itself is a great way to not only boost morale and productivity, but this also offers you and your company additional tools to help further establish your business.

For example, studies have shown that 90 percent of professionals who have had mentors are happy with their work lives. And when you’re working remotely, easily sidetracked by daily activities that you may have to perform at home, having just a little bit of support can go a long way.

With virtual mentoring, you get the traditional effects of mentoring delivered right to your employees’ homes. And you’ll also be able to check on progress, help motivate, or address any concerns or needs that a remote employee might have. 

Stay Connected with Technology 

Today we have an array of digital tools that make remote work possible. And these same tools can also help you stay on top of your employees, no matter where in the world they may be working from. 

If you’re having issues with productivity, there are software tools that can help an employee stay on task. Such tools may even have time clock features that allow a remote employee to “punch in” at a certain time every day. 

Additionally, there are several types of online technologies and tracking software available that you can use to keep track of your employees progress from anywhere in the world. And the key to keeping your employees engaged is to stay on top of this tech and let your employees know that their daily progress is being monitored.

You don’t want your remote employees to feel like they’ve entered into some sort of digital prison, but by providing them with the tools to stay on task, you’ll find that you can keep your productivity at a working level. 

Give Credit Where Credit is Due

If you want to keep employee retention at a high rate, you simply have to offer incentives for professionals to stick around. And this is because, in today’s business world, remote jobs are becoming much easier to come by. 

Having an incentive program for keeping productivity levels up is a great strategy to keep remote employees engaged, and it also has its own way of helping to boost performance. 

For example, you could offer a paid day off for completing a project ahead of schedule. Or you could offer a cash incentive for idea generation for upcoming projects or events. 

In addition, you should always give recognition, even if it’s in the form of a “thank you” email when an employee does great work. And this is probably one of the best ways to keep your employees happy and engaged.

Remote work is on the rise. And some industry experts have forecast this trend to take over most of the workforce within the next decade. Knowing this, it’s best to keep ahead of the game in order to ensure employee engagement and productivity.