The global pandemic forced many businesses to transition to remote work. According to Gartner, even after the COVID-19 threat is over, at least 80 percent of companies are likely to retain this setup.
Working from home has a lot of benefits to both a business and its employees. But it’s certainly not without cons.
Feelings of isolation, unplugging after work, distractions, collaboration and communication issues, conflicting time zones, and demotivation are just a few of the problems remote workers face.
With the remote workforce getting larger each day, employee engagement software becomes even more valuable in promoting productivity, efficiency, and accountability.
What is employee engagement software?
If keeping employees engaged is often a challenge in organizations where people have to work on-site, how much more for companies with remote workforce?
Organizations can use employee engagement software to increase employee job satisfaction and retain their best workers. This software, which the human resource team administers, uses a combination of programs, such as task management, data analysis, and surveys.
Below are the major benefits of employee engagement software:
Keeping Employees Connected
In remote work environments, it’s easy for employees to feel “disconnected”.
While virtual meetings, emails, and chats allow workers to communicate with each other in real-time, when their colleagues are 900 miles away or have a different zone, it can be pretty lonely.
Survey platforms, which come with employee engagement software, give employees a chance to be heard. Through surveys, they can voice their concerns, provide feedback to their superiors and suggestions that can help the organization succeed.
Employee feedback is valuable to an organization, too. It gives them access to meaningful insights, such as how to retain top employees, what can keep them motivated, and how they can perform well at work.
Clear and Insightful Performance Feedback
Since employees and their leads don’t have a lot of face-to-face time, providing performance feedback can be a real challenge.
Employee engagement tools allow managers or team leads to share continuous feedback designed to help employees thrive in their roles.
Unlike in traditional work settings, remote feedback provides far more valuable information. A good example is a 360-degree feedback strategy, where employees receive honest feedback from their direct superiors and peers.
360-degree feedback and similar methods offer employees insightful perspectives about their performance, which helps increase employee productivity, enhance their skills, and work on their could-be-betters.
In addition to their performance, feedback platforms give focus on employee behavior too.
Employee Recognition & Manager’s Visibility
Just because they are working from home doesn’t mean employees can no longer receive a “pat on the back” from their managers for a job well done. After all, every person has an innate need to feel appreciated for what they do.
Employee engagement software allows employees and managers to recognize each other through tools like “achievement badges”, “company shoutouts”, and “incentives”. Some software programs also feature peer-to-peer recognition and certificates.
Better Communication
Effective communication is at the core of successful remote teams.
It’s easy to miss essential updates when employees are constantly bombarded with emails or get caught up with so many messages as they log on to their CRMs.
Engagement software promotes effective communication in many ways. Surveys and 360-feedback are excellent platforms where managers and employees can openly and confidently provide genuine feedback to each other without the fear of being judged or misinterpreted.
Employee Development & Team Collaboration
There’s a reason why it’s called employee engagement software – it empowers employees and helps them become the best version of themselves.
Employee development in remote setups can be achieved using tools that enhance their skills and prepare them for more challenging roles. Engagement software can include learning programs and training courses designed to promote employees’ competencies, from leads to frontline workers.
Another benefit of such software is collaboration. Working together, planning as a team, and managing tasks in a remote setting can be difficult.
While collaboration tools, such as project management software, feature online tools like instant messaging, project boards, and channels, survey platforms present in employee engagement software enable organizations to understand patterns and behaviors that foster or bar collaboration.
Additionally, employees have a venue to speak about their best attributes and skills, enabling managers to choose the perfect employee to do specific jobs.
Employee engagement software is a vital tool that helps a remote workforce to operate like a well-oiled machine. It comes with tools and features, particularly feedback platforms and recognition, that empower employees and keep them engaged.
More importantly, this kind of software allows organizations to see who needs more training, what interventions are necessary to improve employee performance, and how key objectives are being met. 
