Keeping your remote employees engaged

Approximately 3.3 million employees consider their home their main place of work, according to 2013 research from GlobalWorkplaceAnalytics.com. If you allow your staff members to work remotely at least some of the time, you can keep them engaged by giving them promotional products. When your telecommuting employees receive these items, they will feel like an important part of your company. Here are some different ways to keep your staff members interested with branded products:

Help them feel connected

To prevent your remote employees from feeling left out, communicate regularly with them. Whether it’s through a phone call or Skype meeting, checking on these workers will help them feel more connected to your company. Consider inviting your remote workforce to come into the office once a month for teambuilding meetings and other company events. Doing this will help your telecommuting employees feel like a true part of your organization. During in-person meetings, hand out branded apparel, logoed smartphone chargers and portable power banks that will help them feel connected to your brand.

Create a newsletter

A good way to keep your remote employees in the loop is to send everyone a monthly newsletter that includes important company updates. According to Matt Straz, founder and CEO of Namely, an HR and payroll platform, it’s also a good idea to include an employee spotlight piece in every newsletter. Straz said in ‘a’ Magazine that doing this will improve company culture by allowing staff members to learn interesting facts about their coworkers.

Provide each employee who received a spotlight with a useful promotional product like a branded water bottle or custom notepad.

Recognize remote employees for their efforts

Just because your remote employees aren’t in the office all the time doesn’t mean you shouldn’t show them appreciation on a regular basis. When a staff member goes above and beyond for a client, for example, call that person and tell him or her how grateful you are for all his or her hard work. A simple thank you can go a long way. If you want to step up your recognition efforts, consider giving a remote employee a gift, like a branded phone case or promotional wine bottle opener.

Encourage local involvement

Your remote employees will feel like a true part of your company if you allow them to represent your business at industry events, local conferences and other functions, according to Jon Elvekrog, co-founder and CEO of 140 Proof. Elvekrog said in Entrepreneur that encouraging employees to participate in job fairs, speak at schools’ career days or sponsoring their memberships at professional organizations will make them feel like they are an important asset to the company.

Have your telecommuting employees to hand out promotional products, such as branded pens, coffee mugs and t-shirts at these events to help start conversations and extend the value of the events for the participants.