1 5 STEPS TO ACHIEVING COMMUNICATION SATISFACTION WITH REMOTE WORKERS

2021 Research ReportDr. Brittany Barhite, Strategic Advisor,

SocialChorus

5 steps to achieving communication satisfaction

with remote workers

2 5 STEPS TO ACHIEVING COMMUNICATION SATISFACTION WITH REMOTE WORKERS

Leaders often worry that remote employees are less engaged and disconnected from their organization’s goals and culture. COVID-19 and the return to the workplace have intensified this discussion. Leaders are concerned their organizations are at risk if employees stay remote, while employees have embraced remote work and are pushing back on organizations’ return-to-workplace philosophies.

One of the questions that has emerged from this topic is whether or not remote workers are less engaged and, thus, less productive. It turns out, co-location with one’s leader does not impact employee engagement. of CEOs want employees to return in person, while

only 10% of employees want to come back full time.1

83%

1 Best Practice Institute 2021 Return to Work Study

Are remote workersless engaged?

Co-location with one’s leader does not impact employee engagement.

3 5 STEPS TO ACHIEVING COMMUNICATION SATISFACTION WITH REMOTE WORKERS

Organizational communication satisfaction has a much greater impact on employee engagement than being in the same office as your leader.

The study

A survey was used to test the research questions on communication satisfaction and employee engagement. The survey was distributed to 265 anonymous full-time employees gathered through Qualtrics. Approximately, 50.9% of the participants were located in the same building with their leader and 49.1% were not.

Participants were asked questions on leader-employee relations; employee engagement; lean, medium and rich channel preference and communication satisfaction. The survey results showed that being co-located with your leader did not have a significant relationship with employee engagement.

With the dramatic increase in employees working remotely, this finding is important. The result also goes against popular organizational beliefs that remote workers are not engaged unless they are in the office.

If being remote is not a significant variable in employee engagement, then what is?

The survey found that organizational communication satisfaction has a much greater impact on employee engagement.

The study also showed that communication satisfaction is achievable with remote workers.

Here are the 5 steps to achieving communication satisfaction with remote workers.

4 5 STEPS TO ACHIEVING COMMUNICATION SATISFACTION WITH REMOTE WORKERS

Build a positive leader-employee relationship

Those employees who felt they had a positive relationship with their bosses, no matter their location, and connected regularly via various communication channels, were much more engaged. Those employees with positive leader relationships also had 80% greater communication satisfaction. These regular conversations allowed employees to build trust, seek clarity and feel a part of the decision-making process. The communication channel did not matter. Employees did not need in-person face-to-face communication with their leaders to make this happen. They just needed the opportunity for conversations with their leader through various channels.

01

Employees don’t want to feel like a number; each wants to feel like a valued team member. It is important that a company’s internal communications and employee engagement strategies effectively convey that.“NORESSA KENNEDY HINKLER, Travel Nurse Across America

Forbes Communications Council

5 5 STEPS TO ACHIEVING COMMUNICATION SATISFACTION WITH REMOTE WORKERS

Provide opportunities for two-way communication

Communication is not a one-way street. Good communication flows both ways. Employees were more engaged when they had avenues for two-way communication.

Organizations need to provide opportunities for two-way communication but, in a remote world, it doesn’t always have to be a meeting or email. Utilizing technology to provide a forum where employees can comment, collaborate, ask questions and provide feedback is also helpful for a participative, two-way conversation.

02

Recently recognized as Ragan’s Employee Communications Team of the Year, Ford Motor Company was

recognized for its "hive" approach to communications, facilitating two-way dialogue between employees

and executives that helped elevate trust and built connections with employees when they needed it most.

WATCH THE WEBINAR | How Ford innovated to deliver a transformational employee experience

6 5 STEPS TO ACHIEVING COMMUNICATION SATISFACTION WITH REMOTE WORKERS

Communicate frequentlyand authentically

Employees want their organizations and leaders to provide frequent and authentic communications. When employees felt “in the know” and part of the organization’s mission and vision, they were more engaged.

Oftentimes, organizations wait to communicate updates and changes until they have all the information to avoid confusion or information overload. These infrequent communications have the reverse effect. When there is a void of communication, employees make up what they think is happening and, most of the time, their theories are filled with angst and worry.

Organizations should communicate frequently and authentically, even when they don’t have all the answers. It is okay to be candid and say, “We are still figuring out the answers. We will communicate more soon by this date.” Consistent and frequent communication is the key to change management and employee engagement.

03

Oftentimes, you will not have all the answers employees are looking for, and that breeds anxiety and uncertainty. It’s important to focus on what you know, and be candid about what you don’t. If you do not have an answer, say so. When this occurs, it’s important to let employees know you are committed to communicating openly and transparently, and will follow up as soon as you know more.“MORGAN GALBRAITH | Harvard Business Review 

7 5 STEPS TO ACHIEVING COMMUNICATION SATISFACTION WITH REMOTE WORKERS

Communicate via multiple channels

The study measured satisfaction with many types of communication channels. No channel came out on top as the best way to reach a co-located or remote employee. Some employees preferred face-to-face communication, while others liked phone or email. Every employee learns and communicates differently.

It is essential to reach employees where they are, utilizing a variety of communication channels to ensure the message is heard and understood.

04

Being able to get communication and information in a timely way to a diverse population of employees, as well as being able to hear back from them—what they liked, what they wanted to hear more of, what they saw happening in the organization— was one of the reasons why we felt like a tool like SocialChorus was imperative to our employee engagement culture.

MICHELLE DITONDO | Avion Consulting, MGM Resorts“

8 5 STEPS TO ACHIEVING COMMUNICATION SATISFACTION WITH REMOTE WORKERS

Create a culture of communication candor

When employees can be open and honest with leadership, this leads to better engagement. Speaking openly and honestly can improve communication and collaboration, saving employees time and, in some cases, angst. Relationships, processes and projects can improve when we have open and candid conversations.

Personalizing one-on-one discussions

One of the best ways to learn what employees care about is one-on-one talks with their manager. For these discussions to truly be effective, managers must have an “open door” policy. Workers need to feel comfortable to speak their minds honestly and openly.

Managers (and leaders in general) can do this with authentic executive communications. By showing they too are human, employees will feel comfortable speaking up and trusting their leadership.

You have to be able to have a conversation that reaches people, that seems real. That seems like it’s consequential, and intentional, and deliberate.

MALCOLM GLADWELL | Attune Summit“

05

9 5 STEPS TO ACHIEVING COMMUNICATION SATISFACTION WITH REMOTE WORKERS

Achieve communication satisfaction at your organization.

LEARN HOW AT

SOCIALCHORUS.COM

About SocialChorusSocialChorus is the creator of FirstUp, the platform that makes the digital employee experience work for every worker. Using a

powerful orchestration engine, we bring personalized information and systems access to every employee where they are—on

any endpoint or device in any language, anywhere in the world. Whether they’re wired, mobile, frontline, distributed or essential,

FirstUp gives employees what they need to do their jobs efficiently and companies what they need to achieve agility. That’s how

SocialChorus helps enterprise companies like Amazon, ABInBev, Ford and GSK continue to transform their businesses.

Communication satisfaction is key to remote employee engagement

This study showed that it does not matter if an employee is remote or co-located with their leader. A co-located employee can also feel disengaged if they are not satisfied with the organization or leader’s communication.

Instead of focusing on the location of the worker, organizations need to work on improving communication satisfaction by building leader-employee relationships, providing opportunities for two-way communication, and sharing updates frequently and authentically through various communication channels.

CONCLUSION