No matter the industry you’re in or the number of people you employ, it is now more important than ever before to connect with them on a more personal level. Developing meaningful relationships is the foundation of a positive company culture, but also better talent retention during these trying times. Add to that, connecting with your employees in a meaningful way opens numerous opportunities for growth, whether you’re looking to drive your company forward or inspire your employees to keep developing their careers under your brand.

The possibilities here are endless, but we often find ourselves unable to truly break those barriers (especially when working remotely) and connect with our employees in a way that doesn’t seem forced or like we bear some hidden intention. Honesty and transparency are the keys to winning your employees over, as you might have already guessed, but there is more to that story than meets the eye.

Let’s take a closer look at those key tips you can use to connect with your employees and keep them motivated in 2021, but also in the years to come.

Focus on employee well-being

During the pandemic, your primary concern should be the physical and mental well-being of your employees. Of course, this is a mindset you want to preserve even when the pandemic passes one day, because the world is rapidly making a shift towards a health-oriented mindset at work. Simply put, people no longer want to work for a company or a boss that doesn’t care for them and their well-being. 

Rather, they are looking to work for a company that allows them to build a healthy work-life balance, minimize stress, and lead a positive lifestyle. This is, of course, difficult to achieve in the midst of a pandemic, and so your employees need you to provide the right support and guidance at every turn.

In a practical sense, this means that you need to shift your communication efforts towards ensuring the well-being of your employees. Open one-on-one lines of communication and ask your employees how they are feeling, what they are going through, and if there is anything the company can do to make this stressful period easier. Your employees will appreciate your good intentions, and will repay in kind.

Offer and welcome regular feedback

When people are left to their own devices, or when there is no regular communication between you and your teams, productivity and zeal will invariably suffer. This doesn’t mean that you should spy on them to keep them in check, or reprimand them if they’re not productive – it means that you should motivate and inspire them to do better work with alacrity.

This is difficult to achieve, of course, but it’s not impossible, especially if you embrace and provide regular feedback. When providing feedback, it should be encouraging and it should show the employees that you trust and believe in their talents and expertise.

You should also encourage your employees to provide honest feedback at the end of their shifts, so that you can use that information to make better managerial decisions. With that information, you can elevate productivity and make their time at work much more satisfying. 

Make international employees feel welcome

Hiring and onboarding people abroad is a complex and challenging task in many respects. You need to ensure complete legal compliance with the local laws and regulations, for one, but you also have to overcome the challenge of making these international employees productive members of your brand. 

Doing this manually is a costly process that is likely to fail, but if you work with a partner that specializes in global PEO solutions and provides you with all the tools you need to engage your international workforce, you can motivate your remote employees with relative ease. Global PEO is all about quick and efficient remote onboarding and legal compliance for international hires, but it also allows you to connect with your remote employees more efficiently and motivate them to become an integral part of your brand.

Establish clear expectations and talk with the individual

When people’s expectations differ, you can expect varying results at best. You need to align your expectations with those of your employees, and you need to make sure everyone is on the same page in your organization. This is one of the key elements of efficiency and productivity, but it also ensures accountability.

When people know what their exact job is and what’s expected of them, then they will have an easier time enjoying their work, and there will be little standing in the way of productivity and zeal in the workplace. Make sure to communicate your expectations with everyone so that there are no mixed signals and that everyone can work on specific goals unhindered. 

Nurture a positive workplace culture

Last but not least, one of the best ways to motivate your employees but also connect with them in a meaningful way is to establish and nurture a positive company culture. It’s important that you build your culture on the right pillars, and these typically include:

• Transparency.
• Honesty.
• Equality.
• Trust.
• Collaboration.
• Accountability.

When people start to internalize these values and this kind of mindset, they will naturally start enjoying their work more, connect with their colleagues, and build a more open relationship with the higher-ups such as yourself. This is, of course, a very powerful way to boost productivity and positivity across your entire organization. 

Over to you

It’s not easy keeping people motivated to do good work during these trying times, but can you blame them or is the problem much deeper and more intricate than it seems at first glance? To an experienced business leader, the problem is not that people are getting lazier or that they don’t have the right work ethics, it’s that they need a leader to inspire them to achieve more. Be sure to use these tips to motivate your employees to take your company to new heights of success in 2021 and beyond.