10 Fun Ways to Engage Remote Employees (With Expert Advice)

Did you know that, on average, only one in every three employees is actively engaged at work? As a manager, you must find fun ways to engage remote employees. But how?

Most remote teams stay somewhat connected with virtual meetings — but those are pretty task-oriented events that primarily focus on the work itself. If a virtual meeting is the only method you bank on, we have bad news for you. 38% of employees find weekly digital meetings exhausting, and 30% feel they contribute to stress.

So, what strategies are better?

We’ve researched, interviewed employers, and prepared a list of creative and fun virtual engagement activities. But before we start with the ways, let’s discuss the whys.

Importance of employee engagement in a remote work environment

By now, we’ve already shared a few statistics on the detrimental effects of overlooking remote employee engagement. But what are some benefits you can expect if you invest a little time and money into remote team-building? 

Here are a few of the very real benefits businesses gain when they boost remote employee engagement:

• Reduced loneliness. 25% of remote employees report loneliness — almost 10% higher than those who work in the office. Virtual employee engagement activities help remote employees overcome the so-called remoteliness.
  
• Healthier working environment. Disengaged and detached workers have a poor employee experience. They can then spread their unhappiness to colleagues, so trying remote employee engagement ideas and creating a healthy remote work culture where everyone is fully engaged is important.
  
• High productivity levels. Engaged remote teams demonstrate a 17% boost in productivity. They also skip tasks less frequently.
  
• Customer success and profitability. Higher remote employee engagement can lift customer loyalty by 10%. It’s also been proven to generate a 23% increase in profits.
  
• Better employee retention and job satisfaction. Engaged workers develop an emotional attachment to the company. They also tend to be more satisfied with their jobs, feel a stronger connection and commitment, and remain loyal. So, let’s learn how to engage your workforce and achieve overall remote employee excellence.

10 interactive and fun virtual employee engagement ideas

Now that we’ve learned about the benefits of prioritizing remote employee engagement initiatives, let’s examine some specific ideas you can iterate on.

1. Gamify work (and start with onboarding)

The biggest engagement challenge is that most work simply isn’t fun (that’s why you get paid for it). Fortunately, through gamification, you can add some excitement to the monotony of the workday.

Gamification is about adding the elements of game mechanics into work to make the employee experience more engaging and entertaining. These employee recognition ideas might come in the form of:

• Points
• Rewards
• Leaderboards
• Progress bars
• Avatars
• Badges
• Etc.
  

Max Wesman, Founder & COO of GoodHire, believes remote work gamification should begin with onboarding.

In fact, 95% of employees would like to work in gamified environments, so it’s no wonder that their engagement grows by 48%. It also comes as no surprise that 70% of the top 2,000 global employers use at least some gamification elements in their workplaces. 

In some cases, companies turn to gamification to onboard and train new hires. For example, FocusU helped HSBC create a gamified onboarding experience with challenges and quizzes.

2. Talk finances and launch financial wellness initiatives

Talking about money always feels like walking on eggshells. Discussing remote work salaries or payroll issues can be awkward, so both employers and remote employees can be reluctant to start a dialog.

But, according to Anthony Martin, Founder and CEO of Choice Mutual, it’s time to normalize financial talks in the workplace to achieve greater transparency and pave the way to a financially educated and engaged workforce. 

So, what’s a financial well-being plan? Most include the following:

• Financial education (e.g., ebooks or online courses on budget planning and savings)
• Student loan assistance
• Debt management help
• Retirement planning (401k)
• Health savings accounts (HSAs)
• Stock options
• Insurance
  

That last one is especially important. Health insurance and 401K plans are the most critical remote employee benefits for 75% of remote workers.

3. Invest in an engaging home workspace

One of the many benefits of a fully remote business is that you’ll save considerably from not having an office space — but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t help your remote teams establish their own. But how exactly?

Consider this tactic shared by Shawn Plummer, CEO of The Annuity Expert.

Look at home office budgets offered to remote employees at different companies:

• Hotjar: one-time stipend of €2,500 (topped up €500 per year).
• Zendesk: complete reimbursement for cell phone and internet plans and home office equipment.
• Webflow: $500 as a one-time budget to use within 90 days
• Commsor: $3,000 (one-time)
• OysterHR: Laptop + $1,500 equipment stipend
• Appcues: $1,000 WFH stipend + additional $500 yearly for work-related tech tools
• DNSFilter: $800 (one-time)
• The Earth Species Project: $4,000 work-from-home stipend

4. Celebrate diversity and hear remote employees’ voices

Can you boast a healthy company culture where everyone can communicate freely and openly without bullying or harassment? A toxic workplace culture bolstered by bullying, harassment, and discrimination is not only morally disheartening, but it also leads to low engagement levels and fear of speaking up. 

Fortunately, companies like Kaiser Permanente work hard to prioritize Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) efforts. As one of the leading healthcare providers in the US, Kaiser supports over 12 million patients across over 700 facilities. However, unlike many other companies, over 70% of their employees are female and/or people of color.

They’ve also been lauded by groups like the Human Rights Campaign Foundation for their progressive approach to LGBTQ+ rights and currently boast a perfect score as of 2022. They’ve also been progressive in providing healthcare plans that support gender-affirming care, surgery referrals, and more for trans patients. 

Suppose you want to make diversity and inclusion a strength of your business. In that case, Senior Vice President of National Equity Ronald L. Copeland is the one helping Kaiser continue to push boundaries. 

5. Organize contests and tournaments with valuable prizes

A friendly competition is another superb strategy for remote employee engagement.

“Virtual competitions and contests are fun and engaging ways to enhance communication and collaboration in remote teams. They also spur healthy rivalry and encourage remote workers to perform at their best. The best part? There are many ideas: a photo/video/costume contest, a talent show, a cooking challenge, a game tournament, and others.”

— Jerry Han
CMO | PrizeRebel

Han also provides a list of remote employee appreciation gifts for such virtual tournaments and contests:

• Gift card or voucher (Uber, Netflix, or Amazon gift cards)
• One free PTO day
• Personalized snack box (Remote Breakroom, Boxybite, SnackNation)
• Ticket or tour (Disneyland ticket or Airbnb virtual cultural tour)
• Membership or subscription (Adobe Creative Cloud membership or Audible subscription)
• Online course (Udemy, Skillshare, LinkedIn Learning)
• Motivating sales incentives for remote sales teams

6. Encourage frequent breaks

Taking breaks is the absolute #1 method for a more engaged, productive, and mentally healthy remote team. Stephan Baldwin, Founder of Assisted Living, explains why breaks are crucial:

Baldwin suggests incorporating micro- and macro-breaks into the schedules of remote employees in addition to regular meal breaks for lunch or coffee.

Micro-break

Micro-breaks are short, voluntary breaks taken during the workday. Some examples are:

• Standing up every hour
• Walking around the room
• Exercising
• Stretching
• Napping
  

Regarding the latter, daily short naps for 10-20 minutes prevent grogginess, improve mood, and can also increase daily productivity by 2.3 percent.

Macro-break

Macro-breaks are longer breaks, usually lasting one or several days. For example, one day off or an X-day productivity detox can help your remote workers fully recharge and return to work enthusiastically.

It can also be a digital detox, where you unplug from the Internet and electronic devices and try relaxation and calming techniques like meditation, aromatherapy, or massage.

7. Host virtual team buildings

That’s what remote employees want – 36% would eagerly participate in weekly team-building activities. However, they hate Zoom happy hours as a team-building exercise. Take it from Tom Golubovich, Head of Marketing & Media Relations at Ninja Transfers.

He suggests unique and fun virtual team-building activities like:

• Laughter yoga
• Virtual happy hours
• Gaming session
• Virtual employee engagement games
• Home tour
• Cooking class
• Virtual campfire
• Improv show
• Movie or book club
• Digital escape room
  

For example, the marketing team at Vertex Inc. had an incredible virtual adventure when solving a thrilling virtual murder mystery together.

(Source)

You can also put your heads together and develop your own remote employee engagement activities catering to your team’s unique interests. 

8. Implement virtual water coolers

One of the biggest complaints about remote work environments is that employees don’t really get the opportunity to know their remote coworkers. If you feel like your team lacks connection, fear not. It may take some extra effort, but it is possible to build genuine connections by simulating water cooler chats, breaks, and other in-person encounters.

At Hubstaff, one of the ways we do this is with Slack. We’ve set up a number of channels where remote team members can share: 

• Their favorite movies
• The music they’re listening to
• Vacation photos
• Family milestones 
• Recipes and dishes they’ve cooked

Additionally, we plan quarterly virtual retreats where we get together for escape rooms, cooking classes, city tours, video games, and more. 

9. Fitness challenges

Did you know that over 70% of employees cited improved job satisfaction after participating in a work-related wellness program? Working as a team to set and achieve fitness goals can help teams improve energy levels, reduce stress, increase productivity, and build better relationships. 

The best part? It’s easy for remote teams to do. Here are some ideas of how you can start prioritizing employee health and well-being for your remote team: 

• Set goals. Set distance goals for runners, bikers, swimmers, or anyone else on your team. Work towards these totals by sharing individual progress and inspiring one another.
  
• Host a class. Teach a class with some basic stretching, yoga, jogging on a treadmill, or anything else your team likes to do. You could even hire a company to host virtual fitness events.
  
• Share progress. Create a fitness Slack channel and encourage teams to share progress, their hiking adventures, or anything else they’re doing to stay in shape. You could even set up a small rewards system for high achievers. 

Encourage participation, but be sure to present a healthy culture around fitness and respect that each person’s goals will be different. It’s important to remember that fitness isn’t for everyone, so don’t push teams too hard. 

Fortunately, this next idea tends to be a fan favorite. 

10. Virtual happy hour

“Beer is God’s proof that he loves us and wants us to be happy.” – Ben Franklin. 

While there is suspicion as to whether or not Ben Franklin actually uttered these exact words, I personally wouldn’t want to change it. After all, you wouldn’t want to squander the advice of a man who was one of the most prolific inventors, writers, scientists, and political minds of all time.

All jokes aside, a work happy hour is a great way for remote teams to loosen up, get to know one another, and leave the stress of the workweek behind them. In fact, 74% of employees are more likely to attend happy hours if they have a stressful day. 

Hosting a remote work happy hour is arguably even simpler than an in-person one. Just come up with an agreed-upon time, pick your favorite virtual meeting app, turn the cameras on, and crack open a drink.

Of course, like with the fitness idea, not everyone on your team is a drinker (or feels comfortable throwing a few back with coworkers). A great idea to combat this is to make your happy hour one that’s inviting to all people and their preferred beverages. 

That said if you really want to go the extra mile, pick a cocktail each week and appoint a mixologist to teach everyone how to make it. The best part? Non drinkers can make a non-alcoholic version of the drink and still be part of the fun.

No matter how you do it or what drinks are involved, happy hour is about building camaraderie, having some laughs, and finding some work-related peace of mind. As long as you don’t lose sight of what it’s really about, it’s sure to be a great time. 

Bonus: Remote employee engagement tools

With these ten tips, hopefully, you’ll find some ways to spark a bit more engagement from your remote employees. However, it’s also worth addressing if you’re using the correct tools to improve employee engagement, incentivize team bonding, and increase employee morale. 

Here’s a full list of remote worker tools and software for employee engagement:

• To onboard with gamification: iSpring Learn, Eloomi, Seppo.io
• To recognize achievements: Motivosity, Awardco, Bonusly 
• To chat informally: CoffeePals, Sococo,  Watercoolerapp.tech
• To organize virtual team buildings: Gingerbread Games, GooseChase, Gatheround, Quizbreaker
• To bring a team closer despite physical distance: Gather.Town, Roam Cloud HQ, SpatialChat
• To collect remote employee feedback: CultureMonkey, Qualtrics, TINYpulse
• To track productivity and time: Hubstaff, Time Doctor, Harvest
  

You can easily measure remote employee engagement with Hubstaff, capturing the highlights and fluctuations in activity and work time in real time. You can also:

• Track time and convert it to timesheets
• Create custom invoices and work orders
• Download 20+ detailed reports for time, activity, and more
• Utilize 30+ integrations with industry-leading apps Slack, PayPal, and Asana.

The final word on engaging remote staff

Remote employee engagement goes far beyond virtual meetings, but you can find the right strategies and tools for building an engaged remote workforce. Follow the above tips and leverage work-from-home software to boost employee engagement and manage more successful remote teams.

Hubstaff is there for your team’s success. Give it a try and see how you can keep remote employees engaged and productive.

Have any tips we may have missed for creating a culture of engaged employees? We’d love to hear from you.