Engaging remote workers: Three tips from a CEO

The past five years have been a series of test-and-learn exercises in managing a remote workforce. At University Credit Union, we were actively planning for and beta-testing remote work before the pandemic made it cool—or at least necessary—to keep employees out of the office.

We started testing our remote workforce strategy in 2019 when we realized that some of the employees of our Los Angeles-based organization were struggling with brutal commutes. We were losing out on top talent due to the fact the commute was a deal breaker for many potential new hires.

Giving workers the option of living wherever they wanted improved their work-life balance and made it easier for us to attract the best talent. The initiative worked out well, leading to an increase in employee satisfaction and engagement on the order of 50+ percent.

Now that we’re living in a post-pandemic world where remote work is here to stay (or so many observers believe, hybrid or otherwise), the strategies that our organization used to enable remote workers starting about five years ago have become relevant for a large number of companies. While I won’t claim to be the world’s foremost expert on optimizing the remote employee experience, I do have some tips to offer for other executives adapting to the new normal of having at least some employees work remotely, at least some of the time.

 

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