Training Remote Employees: How To Increase Their Motivation?

Since the global pandemic forced companies to send their employees to work from home, everybody has adjusted to it now. Along with hybrid working from home, companies are also hiring new employees and training them. Be it for a hybrid workforce or a complete remote setup; these training programs have to be more organized than the traditional ones.

Due to a lack of face-to-face communication, many companies struggle to maintain focus and productivity while training remote employees. This post will walk you through the strategies and tips for enhancing remote training programs.

What Is Remote Employee Training?

Remote employee training programs are just the same as traditional training processes but are conducted virtually instead of in-office. Right from the day of their recruitment, they are guided at every step virtually during their onboarding process. Employees may report to one or multiple managers during their training and onboarding process.

Through virtual conferences and various online tools, the managers train employees about their job responsibilities, positive company culture, ethics, values, and tech skills related to their position. For these programs, employees usually have to log in to a virtual platform daily at a fixed time.  

Benefits Of Remote Training Programs

As a leader or a manager, you may think that remote training is a passing trend. However, as more companies and employees get accustomed to it, the process is very beneficial. Remote training programs ensure the employee or the entire team is safe but are taught the necessary skills at the same time.

Cost-effectiveness

Organizations love training remote employees as it helps them save a lot of money. Expenses such as trainer fees, training center/venue rents, food, electricity, and costs for physical training materials are saved easily. Companies do this by providing their employees' laptops or desktops to attend the training programs online.

It saves a lot of time for both employees and trainers, which they had to spend on the daily commute in in-office training.

Less learning time

Employees tend to learn quickly during online training programs. Unlike traditional training programs, employees don’t have to wait during starting or wrapping up a training session. As the entire training material is hosted on an online learning management system and virtual meeting platforms, they can log into the portal and start learning. It helps them to grasp concepts quickly and reduces the learning time.

Online training enhances an employee’s productivity, improves their skills, and gets comfortable with the company culture and regulations.  

Flexibility

Training remote employees offer complete flexibility on when and where they want to learn. They can learn the entire course module from their homes' comfort with their own hybrid work from home schedule, not limited to office hours. It also helps in reducing absenteeism and allows managers to handle employee attendance easily.

As the training modules are based on the concept of microlearning, where bits of knowledge are presented in audio and video formats, employees can learn at their own pace. This enhanced flexibility allows employees to learn efficiently and retain the concepts better.

Employee Tracking

Training remote employees allows company managers and HR professionals to track their performance. Being entirely online, managers can oversee how quickly and adequately employees are learning the course modules. Online module assessments let managers know how well employees have understood the concepts and where they need to improve.

Remote Training Best Practices For Improving Motivation

Along with developing quality training materials, you need to keep employees motivated during training sessions. Let's check out some tips to do so.

Home office accessories

Major organizations provide accessories for setting up home offices for training remote employees. You can also provide laptops/desktops, mice, monitor arm, headphones, ergonomic office chair, or home office standing desk to keep employees. It will keep them happy and motivated during the training processes. Furthermore, it also helps to strengthen the bonds between managers and employees.

Create interesting training content

Make the training modules intriguing to keep the employees engaged and learn concepts quickly. Along with high-quality videos, presentations, and documents, there must be ample assessments and quizzes. You can also include real-world examples and stories to inspire employees to work harder.

Always make sure that the content is meaningful and connects with the employees.

Remote training software

Technology is your best friend while training employees remotely. Use essential work from home tools such as Microsoft Teams, Slack, Google Hangouts, and Zoom to make the training as smooth as possible. You can use Zoom for live streaming training lectures, presentations, and videos. All official communication can be conducted on Slack or Microsoft Teams.

Always make sure that the tools you use have the facility to organize virtual meets. It makes employees more connected and enhances the work culture. As a result, they feel more motivated to give their best for the organization.

Continuous Feedback

After monitoring and recognizing employee performance through training assessments, you have to talk to them about their results while training remote employees. Discuss their strengths, weaknesses, and areas where they can improve. Talk about how they can enhance their skills and learn more. Also, sort out any problems any employee might be having during remote training.

You can also take this opportunity to talk freely to employees and appreciate their efforts.

Offer responsive support  

You must always be very responsive in providing support to employees during and after the training process. It is vital as your workers might face issues regarding tools, training content, communication, or personal problems that might affect their work. If required, appoint professionals to address employee queries 24/7.

It makes the remote work environment comfortable, increases transparency and clarity in communication, and strengthens professional relationships.         

Summing Up

Gone are the days when companies used to look at their workers from just a transactional viewpoint. As a modern-day company leader or manager, you have to know the importance of investing in your staff and training remote employees. Be it some work from home equipment or incentives, keeping employees happy and motivated will enhance your business revenue in the future.

So, use the strategies discussed above to create a positive and productive work culture for all your employees.