If you are a manager or business owner with team members working from home, here are 7 ways you can motivate your remote employees and virtual team without a pay rise.

Managing a distributed team of remote workers? Wondering how to keep your team motivated even while they work from home? Check out this article.

The pandemic has meant that many more employees are working from home – both those who are comfortable with this approach and many who are experiencing it for the first time. 

Employees that regularly work from home report that the main drawback is a lack of interaction with their work colleagues, a lack of feedback, and feeling isolated outside the office environment. 

Recognizing the efforts of employees can improve morale and make them feel more motivated so that they achieve more. It also instills a sense of trust and a feeling that their employer supports them.

Following are seven ways you can encourage and reward employees who work from home.

Be Flexible

Employers can reward employees by allowing them autonomy in how they perform their work tasks without necessarily being tied to the 9-to-5. 

A varied work schedule or non-traditional hours (where this doesn’t impact the role they perform) can be a great perk or motivator for employees that don’t work in traditional ways but still achieve results.

Give Motivational Gifts
Gifts and kits from the workplace can be a great way to motivate employees. These can be as simple as branded mugs or stationery or can include items that speak to the pandemic such as ‘stay safe kits’ that could include masks, sanitizer, gloves, and so on. 

Other ideas for gifts could include movie passes, gift cards, or cash prizes that employees can use as they choose.

Stay Connected

When working alone it’s important that employees have periodic contact with other team members, employees, and management. 

During regular team meetings it is a good idea to recognize employees’ successes; praising work that has been done well is a great morale builder. 

Another approach is to hold a virtual get-together that is simply social and that can include games or activities that employees can take part in. 

It’s also important for managers to check in with employees regularly just to see how they are doing with whom they might not otherwise have regular contact.

Client Recognition

When a client is particularly happy with the experience they have had with a business this needs to be communicated to the employee responsible so that they know their efforts have been appreciated. 

In an office environment this might be communicated informally to an employee, it is less likely to happen when they are working remotely unless a manager takes the effort to pass this on.

 Once again, this boosts employee morale, ensures that the practice is continued, and leads to employee retention.

Give a Workspace Allowance

In an office environment, it is easy to cater to an employee’s requirements for performing their job successfully, such as having necessary computer equipment, an appropriate workspace, a comfortable chair and access to office supplies, and so on. 

In a work-from-home environment, this may be more difficult for an employee to achieve where they must make do with what they have. 

Offering a workspace allowance is a great way to ensure that an employee has everything they need to work comfortably from home and shows that an employer cares. Just ensure you have the correct insurance to cover any at-home work incidents.

Include the Whole Team

One way that employees feel valued is to receive recognition for their work from teammates.

 Simple things such as sending team-wide thank you cards for a job well done, acknowledging individuals who went above and beyond to achieve a goal, and recognizing employee’s anniversaries and birth dates can do a great deal to make employees feel less isolated and part of a team. 

When a task has been particularly well-done teams should be rewarded with, for example, merchant gift cards, half-days off, or free meal deliveries from their favorite restaurants.

Celebrate Employee Wins

When employees are not in the office environment they miss out on the praise and thanks they would otherwise receive for doing something well. 

It is easy to approach an employee in an office environment and celebrate their win. Managers and team leaders must make sure that such employees are not overlooked when working from home. 

One approach to this is to establish an ongoing employee recognition program where outstanding work is rewarded. 

This could be implemented with a points system employees earn for their best efforts that could then be redeemed for a gift or other benefits.

You may also like: How To Reward Your Work From Home Employees

 In Conclusion: How To Motivate Your Remote Employees and Virtual Team Without a Pay Rise

Recognizing and rewarding work from home employees is not that difficult and does not take that much time and effort.

It is important, however, since not all employees adapt to working from home as well as others.

Even small gestures can mean a great deal to employees that are accustomed to having the support of their colleagues in an office environment.