Graham Glass is the founder & CEO of CYPHER LEARNING, which specializes in providing learning platforms for organizations around the world.
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How quickly things change—at the start of the pandemic, workforces moved, seemingly overnight, to a remote model. In the absence of a physical water cooler, employees asking questions of each other and other “normal” in-person methods of learning and interaction, organizations sought other ways for workers to connect and engage effectively. After all, employee engagement, defined by the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) as “the level of an employee’s commitment and connection to the organization,” is an important part of the job experience and an indicator of job satisfaction.
Organizations began relying more heavily on video conferencing platforms, such as Zoom, to fill that void for all types of employee engagement and activity: from training and coaching sessions to HR updates to (virtual) social events and more.
This worked well at many companies, ours included, for a while. But I also heard from companies that began to notice that, as schedules filled up with video calls, employees seemed to disengage—the opposite of what was wanted. Many weren’t participating, their cameras were turned off or they were clearly multitasking. Companies quickly discovered that they also needed other ways to drive engagement.
Why Is Employee Engagement More Than Just Zoom Calls?
Rather than rely on just one solution, driving employee engagement requires a multifaceted approach. That’s because:
• People get burned out from too much screen time, and large video calls aren’t for everyone. For example, introverted people can be less inclined to speak up. It also can be difficult to pick up on social cues over video that you would catch in person.
• You can’t cover all your needs with a video call. For example, training involves more components and resources—some of which don’t necessitate live, synchronous connection.
• Video meetings take time and schedule-wrangling; this time can often be better directed elsewhere.
• Employee engagement also requires addressing emotional components: showing trust in your employees; letting them know they matter; asking for, listening to, and acting on their feedback and opinions; and promoting balance and employee well-being. These are areas that can’t be addressed solely through video calls.
To be clear, this isn’t intended to knock video conferencing platforms. We relied heavily on Zoom at the start of the pandemic, and we still use it; it’s great. But like any tool, it’s important to use it strategically.
Additional Strategies For Driving Engagement
As we begin to navigate out of the pandemic, the remote and hybrid workforce is here to stay. With that in mind, some ways we’ve found to supplement video calls and effectively drive employee engagement in this environment include:
1. Building Online And Offline Communities
Organizations can use various technologies that facilitate community-building, learning and knowledge-sharing—such as supporting Q&As and inviting experts to host sessions.
Our company uses a groups function to organize social groups internally (in addition to work groups, of course). For example, we have clubs related to books, cooking, pets and cultures. Each group has a newsfeed, and members can share images and videos at any time. This provides a sense of connectedness and belonging among the team.
2. Delivering Asynchronous Training
Trying to force everyone into a synchronous training model (e.g., live Zoom class) isn’t always the best fit, especially for large, global workforces where schedules don’t align. While live training is great for highly interactive activities (e.g., roleplay), companies might find that an on-demand (asynchronous) format is a better fit for other information delivery across their distributed teams.
In addition, it’s important for companies to expand their training programs beyond just compliance. Training is key to skills development and professional development, impacting employee retention and satisfaction.
3. Providing Mentorship Opportunities
Connecting newer employees with more tenured ones can help employees develop professionally and foster important social connections.
Online mentorship is also a good way to connect employees who work on different teams, or even in different parts of the world. Some mentors may stand out in the online community as subject matter experts (based on their role, interests and the groups they participate in). Companies can encourage these people to reach out to newer employees through direct messaging and help with training. Especially when face-to-face meetings aren’t a viable option, this approach can build valuable relationships.
4. Recognizing Employees
Even if you have a great recognition system in place, it might not be optimized for remote or hybrid employees. Now is the time to fix that and create a culture of any time, anywhere recognition.
Managers play a role in delivering positive reinforcement, and there are multiple ways to recognize employees, like sending a “pat on the back” and congratulations through a #ThankYou Slack channel, social media, emails and newsletters, a learning platform (e.g., with badges for achievements) or a recognition platform.
If you have an employee awards program, make sure it includes remote employees equally—and if you don’t have one yet, this is a perfect moment to start.
5. Using Zoom Strategically
Rather than take a one-size-fits-all approach, ask yourself whether an activity needs to be a video meeting or not. Avoid live conferencing when you can use email or on-demand video more effectively, and be mindful of employees’ time and schedules.
We use Zoom for quarterly company meetings and when we need to provide live, full-company updates (such as funding news). It also works well for training with interactive components.
Addressing Engagement Matters
Taking incremental steps often makes the most sense when it comes to tackling employee engagement and adopting a broader approach. Know that change won’t happen overnight—though we’ve certainly seen the pace of change accelerate over the last couple of years.
Organizations can look to incorporate the areas above organically, in a way that makes sense: seeing how employees respond, collecting feedback and then building plans out further. The important thing is to act. Good luck with your strategies!
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