Once you've successfully onboarded your new offshore hires, the real journey is just beginning. Engaging remote employees, particularly those spanning different time zones and cultures, demands a dedicated effort and the implementation of targeted strategies. In this article, we delve into the best practices that can help maintain the motivation and productivity of your offshore team members.
Best practices to keep your offshore team motivated
Regular communication
Make time for frequent calls, chats, and video conferences with your offshore reports. Discuss their progress, provide feedback, and see if they have any questions or concerns. Scheduled one-on-one meetings are ideal, but also keep the lines of communication open in case any issues come up in between.
Clear expectations
Be extremely clear in communicating your expectations around work responsibilities, priorities, timelines, and key results. Provide detailed written specifications, standards, and performance objectives to avoid confusion. Review these regularly to ensure alignment.
Cross-cultural understanding
Make an effort to understand cultural differences and how they might impact work styles, communication, and motivations. Be sensitive in your interactions and adapt your management style as needed. Offer cultural awareness resources and training to help bridge gaps.
Relationship building
While managing performance is important, also focus on building personal connections with your remote team members. Express interest in their lives outside of work and find common ground. Virtual happy hours, games, or other social interactions can help to strengthen relationships when face to face interaction isn’t possible.
Recognition and rewards
Provide regular feedback and recognition to keep your offshore employees engaged. Call out specific contributions and the impact they made. Consider offering spot bonuses, gift cards, or other small rewards for exceptional work. Make them feel like a valued part of the team, even from a distance.
Following these best practices for engaging your remote offshore team members will lead to higher productivity, motivation, and job satisfaction. With the right strategies, you can have an effective working relationship with employees across the world.
Measuring the Success of Your Remote Onboarding Program
Once you have your remote onboarding program in place, you need to determine whether it’s achieving the desired results. Measuring key metrics will show you what’s working and what could use improvement.
Surveys
Send out surveys to new hires a few weeks after they start to get their feedback on the onboarding experience. Ask questions like:
- How would you rate your onboarding experience on a scale of 1 to 5?
- What aspects of the onboarding program were most helpful?
- What could have been improved?
- Did you feel prepared and supported to do your job?
Survey results will highlight any gaps in the program so you can make enhancements.
Retention and Productivity
Look at metrics like employee retention and productivity rates. If new hires are staying with the company long-term and meeting key performance indicators, it signifies an effective onboarding program. Compare these rates before and after implementing your remote onboarding program to measure impact.
Manager Feedback
Meet with managers of new hires to get their input on how prepared and successful their team members seem. Discuss any challenges the new employees are facing and see if additional onboarding steps could help address them. Managers who are closely involved in the onboarding program can also provide useful feedback on what’s working well and what could be improved.
Continual Refinement
Review all the data and feedback, and use it to refine and improve your remote onboarding program. Make adjustments to anything that could be enhanced, such as:
- Extending the onboarding period for certain roles.
- Providing additional resources or touchpoints.
- Improving management involvement and support.
- Streamlining or simplifying some of the steps.
With continual measurement and refinement, you can ensure your remote onboarding program achieves maximum success. New hires will feel fully supported, prepared, and invested in their roles. And your company will benefit from higher productivity, engagement, and retention.
