{"id":48685,"date":"2020-09-22T09:51:04","date_gmt":"2020-09-22T13:51:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/?p=48685"},"modified":"2026-04-28T06:28:04","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T10:28:04","slug":"encouraging-employee-engagement-outside-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/encouraging-employee-engagement-outside-office\/","title":{"rendered":"Encouraging Employee Engagement Outside of the Office"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many employees appreciate working remotely for the flexibility and autonomy offered. Yet research also shows employee engagement among remote workers can suffer. It\u2019s not just because they aren\u2019t interacting with colleagues \u2014 they can miss out on customer connections, too. This is especially true during a global health pandemic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Before the\u00a0<\/span>global lockdown<\/span><\/a>, remote workers were found to have increased job satisfaction and decreased stress. Parents in particular appreciated the flexibility and reduced commute (although this was before the kids were also home doing virtual learning).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

However, remote workers were also seen to suffer more from burnout and loneliness. According to the\u00a0<\/span>Harvard Business Review<\/span><\/a>, \u201c[remote workers] often do feel more grateful to their employers. That feeling of indebtedness can lead some remote employees to keep their foot on the gas until they run out of fuel.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Loneliness, meanwhile, was the biggest struggle of working remotely in the\u00a0<\/span>State of Remote Work<\/span><\/a>\u00a0survey of 2018. The isolation of remote work can, over a longer period of time, threaten an employee\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>feeling of \u201cbelonging.\u201d<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

This malaise isn\u2019t good for\u00a0<\/span>employee engagement<\/span>. Now that more businesses are having to adapt to the new normal with work from home policies, it\u2019s important to consider the human need for connection.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Employee Engagement via Connecting to Colleagues<\/h2>\n

People worldwide are suffering a lack of connectivity right now. The shift to remote work is also \u201camplifying some of the challenges around decision making, around bringing people together, and around workflows that we<\/span>\u2019<\/span>ve seen historically in organizations,\u201d according to\u00a0<\/span>McKinsey<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

There are\u00a0<\/span>many ways to keep colleagues connected<\/span><\/a>\u00a0while they are working remotely:<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
    \n
  1. Providing many different modes of communication<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Organizing coffee chats between workers<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Leaving time at the beginning or end of team calls to talk about non-work-related issues<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Creating town halls with undirected agendas to check-in with how people are feeling<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. Offering\u00a0<\/span>e-learning opportunities<\/span><\/a>\u00a0to cohorts of staff<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  6. Hosting virtual office parties (e.g. getting pizza delivered to all employees on the Zoom call)<\/span><\/li>\n
  7. Surveying employees<\/span><\/a>\u00a0about their remote work experience, and acting on the input, to demonstrate how your company values their opinions<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Across industries, leaders are aware of the need to rethink business processes to prioritize virtual collaboration and communication. Yet, this isn\u2019t the only human contact people would have during their days onsite at work. It\u2019s important, also, not to overlook the employee connection with your customers.<\/span><\/p>\n

    <\/div>\n

    \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    <\/div>\n

    Employee Engagement via Connecting to Customers<\/h2>\n

    \u201cSustaining and creating a\u00a0<\/span>caring culture<\/span><\/a>\u00a0is perhaps more important than ever,\u201d said McKinsey\u2019s Tom\u00a0Welchman\u00a0in a podcast considering employee morale during COVID-19.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    <\/div>\n

    Consider\u00a0<\/span>the principle of reciprocity<\/span><\/a>. It\u2019s the idea that doing good for others will help people exit the pandemic stronger than ever. For your employees, this could mean showing compassion and empathy to their customers will fortify their own resilience.<\/span><\/p>\n

    <\/div>\n

    Giving to others is better than receiving<\/span><\/a>, research shows. So, empowering your people to connect with customers and to show they care can improve engagement. Why? Your staff typically will:<\/span><\/p>\n

    <\/div>\n
      \n
    1. Feel better about the work they are doing<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
    2. Appreciate working for a company that cares<\/span><\/li>\n
    3. Shift their focus from their own stress or uncertainty to what they can do for others<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Business is based on relationships. Salespeople who can no longer go out on in-person calls could benefit from checking in virtually. Gary Romano, president and CEO of Civitas Strategies, noted \u201csales is ultimately about solving problems.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

      <\/div>\n

      “Th<\/span>e challenges your clients had four weeks ago are likely very different than today,” he stated in a <\/span>U.S. Chamber of Commerce article<\/span><\/a>. “Even helping them connect with a business that can [meet those challenges] will generate value for your client and a partner.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

      <\/div>\n

      Your business can\u2019t host in-person events in the same way right now. Yet, asking your industry experts to host a virtual roadshow or participate in online panels can give them an outlet while providing thought leadership to your customers.<\/span><\/p>\n

      <\/div>\n

      You might also twist that virtual pizza party idea from above to a customer lunch and learn. Have one of your experts share a process or explore new features online over lunch. Send registrants a small gift card to a local restaurant offering delivery beforehand. Now, you\u2019re fostering internal-external relationships and supporting a community business, too.<\/span><\/p>\n

      <\/div>\n

      Hosting an outdoor, socially distance happy hour, encouraging clients and customers to bring their own chair could provide another casual way to reconnect.<\/span><\/p>\n

      <\/div>\n

      \u201cEveryone is itching to get out of the house and many crave interaction with those outside of their family,\u201d wrote\u00a0<\/span>Cy Moser Regional sales director at Trustmark Voluntary Benefits<\/span><\/a>. \u201cNot only are you caring for the wellbeing of your colleagues and clients, but you are making connections, adding value, and taking a much-needed break.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

      <\/div>\n

      \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

      <\/div>\n

      We often talk about\u00a0<\/span>personalizing customer experience<\/span><\/a> and connecting with them on an emotional level. However, don\u2019t underestimate the value of these human interactions for your employees, too. With so much of the day-to-day work now being done digitally, opportunities for human interaction are a welcome change.<\/span><\/p>\n

      <\/div>\n

      There\u2019s little doubt connecting employees and customers can positively impact customer satisfaction and brand loyalty.\u00a0<\/span>Emphasizing interaction and positive relationships<\/span><\/a> can benefit employee engagement as companies, brands, workers, and consumers adapt to all of the changes COVID-19 is imposing upon us.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Many employees appreciate working remotely for the flexibility and autonomy offered. Yet research also shows employee engagement among remote workers can suffer. It\u2019s not just because they aren\u2019t interacting with colleagues \u2014 they can miss out on customer connections, too. This is especially true during a global health pandemic.\u00a0 Before the\u00a0global lockdown, remote workers were found to have increased job satisfaction and decreased stress. Parents in particular appreciated the flexibility and reduced commute (although this was before the kids were also home doing virtual learning).\u00a0 However, remote workers were also seen to suffer more from burnout and loneliness. According to the\u00a0Harvard Business Review, \u201c[remote workers] often do feel more grateful to their employers. That feeling of indebtedness can lead some remote employees to keep their foot on the gas until they run out of fuel.\u201d\u00a0 Loneliness, meanwhile, was the biggest struggle of working remotely in the\u00a0State of Remote Work\u00a0survey of 2018. The isolation of remote work can, over a longer period of time, threaten an employee\u2019s\u00a0feeling of \u201cbelonging.\u201d This malaise isn\u2019t good for\u00a0employee engagement. Now that more businesses are having to adapt to the new normal with work from home policies, it\u2019s important to consider the human need for connection. Employee Engagement via Connecting to Colleagues People worldwide are suffering a lack of connectivity right now. The shift to remote work is also \u201camplifying some of the challenges around decision making, around bringing people together, and around workflows that we\u2019ve seen historically in organizations,\u201d according to\u00a0McKinsey.\u00a0 There are\u00a0many ways to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":5038,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[156],"tags":[374,164,241,385,210],"yoast_head":"\nEncouraging Employee Engagement Outside of the Office - Sogolytics Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"With so many people working remotely, your employees can feel disconnected. Not just from colleagues but from their customers too. Here\u2019s help.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/encouraging-employee-engagement-outside-office\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Encouraging Employee Engagement Outside of the Office - Sogolytics Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With so many people working remotely, your employees can feel disconnected. Not just from colleagues but from their customers too. Here\u2019s help.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/encouraging-employee-engagement-outside-office\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sogolytics Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-09-22T13:51:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-28T10:28:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/emp-1.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"487\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"714\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jenn Goddu\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/encouraging-employee-engagement-outside-office\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/encouraging-employee-engagement-outside-office\/\",\"name\":\"Encouraging Employee Engagement Outside of the Office - Sogolytics Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-09-22T13:51:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-28T10:28:04+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e279d58fbb23148c5be4fdcb53b4a454\"},\"description\":\"With so many people working remotely, your employees can feel disconnected. Not just from colleagues but from their customers too. Here\u2019s help.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/encouraging-employee-engagement-outside-office\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/encouraging-employee-engagement-outside-office\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/encouraging-employee-engagement-outside-office\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Encouraging Employee Engagement Outside of the Office\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Sogolytics Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e279d58fbb23148c5be4fdcb53b4a454\",\"name\":\"Jenn Goddu\",\"description\":\"Jenn likes asking questions and getting answers, which makes Sogolytics a good match. She\u2019s a Charlotte, NC-based, Canadian ex-pat, with a M.A. in Journalism and a M.F.A. in Creative Writing. She\u2019ll leave the quantitative data analysis to the experts!\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/author\/jgoddu\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Encouraging Employee Engagement Outside of the Office - Sogolytics Blog","description":"With so many people working remotely, your employees can feel disconnected. Not just from colleagues but from their customers too. Here\u2019s help.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/encouraging-employee-engagement-outside-office\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Encouraging Employee Engagement Outside of the Office - Sogolytics Blog","og_description":"With so many people working remotely, your employees can feel disconnected. Not just from colleagues but from their customers too. Here\u2019s help.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/encouraging-employee-engagement-outside-office\/","og_site_name":"Sogolytics Blog","article_published_time":"2020-09-22T13:51:04+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-04-28T10:28:04+00:00","og_image":[{"width":487,"height":714,"url":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/emp-1.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Jenn Goddu","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/encouraging-employee-engagement-outside-office\/","url":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/encouraging-employee-engagement-outside-office\/","name":"Encouraging Employee Engagement Outside of the Office - Sogolytics Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-09-22T13:51:04+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-28T10:28:04+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e279d58fbb23148c5be4fdcb53b4a454"},"description":"With so many people working remotely, your employees can feel disconnected. Not just from colleagues but from their customers too. Here\u2019s help.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/encouraging-employee-engagement-outside-office\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/encouraging-employee-engagement-outside-office\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/encouraging-employee-engagement-outside-office\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Encouraging Employee Engagement Outside of the Office"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/","name":"Sogolytics Blog","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e279d58fbb23148c5be4fdcb53b4a454","name":"Jenn Goddu","description":"Jenn likes asking questions and getting answers, which makes Sogolytics a good match. She\u2019s a Charlotte, NC-based, Canadian ex-pat, with a M.A. in Journalism and a M.F.A. in Creative Writing. She\u2019ll leave the quantitative data analysis to the experts!","url":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/author\/jgoddu\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48685"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48685"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48685\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66743,"href":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48685\/revisions\/66743"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}