Remote working has been an amazing opportunity for so many employees – but it can equally leave some people feeling isolated and undervalued. You know your employees are working harder than ever, but when you can’t buy them a drink after work, it can feel hard to reward them appropriately. Here, we look at some great ideas for rewarding remote workers.

Keep them in the loop

Workers who are still remote can easily be forgotten if you have some workers in a physical building. Even if your entire workforce is remote, it can be difficult to remember to copy everyone in on important messages. Make an effort to keep every worker in the loop through catch up sessions and one-on-ones, and ensure that they know they’re a valuable team member by continuing to connect regularly.

Celebrate their successes

Celebrations for an office-based workforce might come easily to you, but you need to be a little more creative about celebrating remote successes. Make an effort to praise employees on team chats so that everyone knows that you’re paying attention to their hard work.

Provide further training

Just because an employee is remote doesn’t mean they aren’t valuable and shouldn’t be offered progression opportunities. Make sure that employees are aware of any training opportunity you offer so that they can thrive and grow how they want to.

Do something special

Speaking of getting creative, giving employees a little reward used to be easy – you would take them for lunch, for example. Now you might want to celebrate a special occasion (such as an employee anniversary) a little more inventively. So why not send them a voucher for a meal they can enjoy with a loved one, or if possible try to get people together in person for an event. This is less possible with international workforces, so in that case, focus on providing them with a material reward they can really enjoy.

Give them great benefits

Perhaps one of the best ways you can reward remote employees is by giving them great benefits that they can access easily, such as the Zest Benefits platform. This shows that you value them as an employee, but that you also see them as a whole person and know that they need to take care of every aspect of their life. And that you’re on their side!

These simple ways of rewarding your employees can make a remote workforce feel that little bit more connected.