Protected: What is Employee Engagement & 10 Ways to Boost It
How to Build a Learning Culture That Drives Performance
Business leaders and Learning and Development (L&D) professionals often extol the virtues of establishing a vibrant learning culture within an organization. It’s widely recognized as a key driver of both individual and collective performance and increasingly in younger generations, the opportunity to learn and grow is the most cited reason for employees leaving/looking for a job.
In today’s rapidly changing work environment, the ability to adapt, innovate, and continuously improve is crucial to business success. Yet, building a true learning culture is easier said than done. The CIPD highlighted this in its report, Creating Learning Cultures: Assessing the Evidence, which found that while 98% of L&D practitioners aim to develop a positive culture for learning, only 36% feel they have succeeded in doing so.
One of the main challenges is that a true learning culture goes beyond simply offering training opportunities; it requires a deeply ingrained mindset and an environment where learning is valued, encouraged, and rewarded at every level. This is, of course, closely tied to other factors such as job satisfaction, engagement, and motivation. Without these intrinsic drivers, employees are unlikely to be motivated to learn and take advantage of the opportunities available to them.
What is a Learning Culture?
At its core, a learning culture is more than just offering training programmes or ticking boxes for professional development. It’s about embedding learning into the very fabric of the organization – into its values, behaviors, and daily practices. One issue is that culture is such a broad term that it can be difficult to define targeted actions or practices that work. So what exactly is a learning culture? The CIPD recognizes that there are many definitions, but the key themes that come out from them all are:
- A learning culture is about making learning a natural part of how things get done at every level – individually, within teams, and across the organization.
- This kind of culture depends on strong leadership, following a clear strategy for learning, and guiding employees toward a shared vision. Open dialogue and reflection are key to driving positive change.
- Instead of thinking of a learning culture as a massive shift, it can be more useful to think of it as creating a “learning environment.” This ties the idea to specific behaviors and practices that can be implemented, making it feel more tangible.
So what can the learning and development function do to support this?
The reality is that creating a learning culture can feel overwhelming. But by focusing on building a learning environment—where learning is integrated into everyday processes—you can make meaningful progress without the pressure of trying to achieve wholesale change overnight. Here are three practical steps L&D teams can take to start building that environment:
1. Encourage Micro-learning
We recognize that some of the most impactful learning happens through experiential, face-to-face sessions where participants can engage deeply with concepts, explore ideas together, and feel comfortable showing vulnerability. However, these kinds of sessions can be expensive and in today’s busy workplace, expecting employees to consistently find large blocks of time for development isn’t realistic.
This is where micro-learning becomes invaluable. These short, focused learning sessions fit easily into busy schedules, allowing employees to develop new skills without major disruption. Micro-learning promotes continuous development by offering bite-sized content that can be consumed at convenient times, whether during a lunch break or between meetings. Research shows that learners retain more information when it’s delivered in small, manageable chunks, reducing cognitive overload, allowing learners to absorb and recall information more effectively. By making learning an everyday habit rather than an occasional event, you embed development into the natural flow of work.
To make this happen, L&D can:
- Curate bite-sized learning resources such as short videos, articles, or quizzes.
- Leverage mobile learning platforms like Primeast’s Learn@primeast so employees can access content on the go.
- Schedule regular micro-learning sessions to keep momentum, rather than relying on one-off workshops.
2. Reward Curiosity
A key aspect of creating a learning environment is encouraging employees to take ownership of their learning. This means recognising and rewarding curiosity. When people feel that their efforts to learn and grow are valued, they’re far more likely to invest in their development. This goes beyond formal learning initiatives—it’s about celebrating those who take the initiative to seek out new knowledge and develop new skills on their own.
A culture that rewards curiosity fosters a sense of ownership and motivation among employees. It shows that learning isn’t just encouraged but is something that’s appreciated and even rewarded. Recognising and rewarding these efforts also signals to others in the organization that learning is valued:
- Creating recognition programmes that reward employees who show a commitment to learning.
- Offering development budgets or incentives for self-directed learning.
- Encouraging managers to lead by example, demonstrating their own curiosity and ongoing development.
3. Foster Peer-to-Peer Learning
Building a learning environment is not just about individual efforts—it’s about fostering a sense of shared responsibility for learning across the organization. One of the most effective ways to do this is through peer-to-peer learning. When employees share their expertise with each other, it creates a collaborative learning culture that strengthens both knowledge and team bonds.
Peer-to-peer learning can be as simple as hosting regular knowledge-sharing sessions where employees present on topics they’re skilled in or creating opportunities for cross-functional learning. The key is to create spaces where people feel comfortable sharing what they know and learning from others:
- Setting up mentoring or buddy systems where experienced employees guide others.
- Running “lunch and learn” sessions where team members can present new skills or knowledge they’ve acquired.
- Encouraging collaborative problem-solving that promotes group learning.
Additional Strategies for Building a Learning Culture
While micro-learning, rewarding curiosity, and peer-to-peer learning are essential, other strategies can further bolster your efforts:
Use Learning Analytics
Data-driven insights from learning analytics can help measure the effectiveness of training programmes and inform future learning strategies. Metrics such as completion rates, engagement levels, and post-training performance improvements can provide valuable feedback.
Psychological Safety
The CIPD report underscores the need for psychological safety in a learning culture. Employees should feel comfortable asking questions, taking risks, and admitting when they do not know something. Creating this environment requires leadership to foster openness and support.
Align Learning with Business Goals
Learning and development activities should be closely tied to the organization’s strategic objectives. This makes it clear to employees that learning is not just about personal growth but is integral to achieving business success.
Final Thoughts: Start Small, Build Big
Building a learning culture doesn’t have to be overwhelming if you think of it as a process of cultivating a learning environment. By taking small but consistent actions like promoting micro-learning, rewarding curiosity, and fostering peer-to-peer knowledge sharing, you lay the groundwork for a culture where learning is naturally integrated into daily work life.
The truth is, creating a learning culture takes time. But when learning becomes a core part of how your organization operates, the benefits are clear: increased employee engagement, stronger team collaboration, and, ultimately, improved business performance. With the right approach, L&D can be the driving force that turns learning into a shared responsibility that everyone embraces.
How to Build a Learning Culture That Drives Performance
Business leaders and Learning and Development (L&D) professionals often extol the virtues of establishing a vibrant learning culture within an organisation. It’s widely recognised as a key driver of both individual and collective performance and increasingly in younger generations, the opportunity to learn and grow is the most cited reason for employees leaving/looking for a job.
In today’s rapidly changing work environment, the ability to adapt, innovate, and continuously improve is crucial to business success. Yet, building a true learning culture is easier said than done. The CIPD highlighted this in its report, Creating Learning Cultures: Assessing the Evidence, which found that while 98% of L&D practitioners aim to develop a positive culture for learning, only 36% feel they have succeeded in doing so.
One of the main challenges is that a true learning culture goes beyond simply offering training opportunities; it requires a deeply ingrained mindset and an environment where learning is valued, encouraged, and rewarded at every level. This is, of course, closely tied to other factors such as job satisfaction, engagement, and motivation. Without these intrinsic drivers, employees are unlikely to be motivated to learn and take advantage of the opportunities available to them.
What is a Learning Culture?
At its core, a learning culture is more than just offering training programmes or ticking boxes for professional development. It’s about embedding learning into the very fabric of the organisation – into its values, behaviours, and daily practices. One issue is that culture is such a broad term that it can be difficult to define targeted actions or practices that work. So what exactly is a learning culture? The CIPD recognises that there are many definitions, but the key themes that come out from them all are:
- A learning culture is about making learning a natural part of how things get done at every level – individually, within teams, and across the organisation.
- This kind of culture depends on strong leadership, following a clear strategy for learning, and guiding employees toward a shared vision. Open dialogue and reflection are key to driving positive change.
- Instead of thinking of a learning culture as a massive shift, it can be more useful to think of it as creating a “learning environment.” This ties the idea to specific behaviours and practices that can be implemented, making it feel more tangible.
So what can the learning and development function do to support this?
The reality is that creating a learning culture can feel overwhelming. But by focusing on building a learning environment—where learning is integrated into everyday processes—you can make meaningful progress without the pressure of trying to achieve wholesale change overnight. Here are three practical steps L&D teams can take to start building that environment:
1. Encourage Micro-learning
We recognise that some of the most impactful learning happens through experiential, face-to-face sessions where participants can engage deeply with concepts, explore ideas together, and feel comfortable showing vulnerability. However, these kinds of sessions can be expensive and in today’s busy workplace, expecting employees to consistently find large blocks of time for development isn’t realistic.
This is where micro-learning becomes invaluable. These short, focused learning sessions fit easily into busy schedules, allowing employees to develop new skills without major disruption. Micro-learning promotes continuous development by offering bite-sized content that can be consumed at convenient times, whether during a lunch break or between meetings. Research shows that learners retain more information when it’s delivered in small, manageable chunks, reducing cognitive overload, allowing learners to absorb and recall information more effectively. By making learning an everyday habit rather than an occasional event, you embed development into the natural flow of work.
To make this happen, L&D can:
- Curate bite-sized learning resources such as short videos, articles, or quizzes.
- Leverage mobile learning platforms like Primeast’s Learn@primeast so employees can access content on the go.
- Schedule regular micro-learning sessions to keep momentum, rather than relying on one-off workshops.
2. Reward Curiosity
A key aspect of creating a learning environment is encouraging employees to take ownership of their learning. This means recognising and rewarding curiosity. When people feel that their efforts to learn and grow are valued, they’re far more likely to invest in their development. This goes beyond formal learning initiatives—it’s about celebrating those who take the initiative to seek out new knowledge and develop new skills on their own.
A culture that rewards curiosity fosters a sense of ownership and motivation among employees. It shows that learning isn’t just encouraged but is something that’s appreciated and even rewarded. Recognising and rewarding these efforts also signals to others in the organisation that learning is valued:
- Creating recognition programmes that reward employees who show a commitment to learning.
- Offering development budgets or incentives for self-directed learning.
- Encouraging managers to lead by example, demonstrating their own curiosity and ongoing development.
3. Foster Peer-to-Peer Learning
Building a learning environment is not just about individual efforts—it’s about fostering a sense of shared responsibility for learning across the organisation. One of the most effective ways to do this is through peer-to-peer learning. When employees share their expertise with each other, it creates a collaborative learning culture that strengthens both knowledge and team bonds.
Peer-to-peer learning can be as simple as hosting regular knowledge-sharing sessions where employees present on topics they’re skilled in or creating opportunities for cross-functional learning. The key is to create spaces where people feel comfortable sharing what they know and learning from others:
- Setting up mentoring or buddy systems where experienced employees guide others.
- Running “lunch and learn” sessions where team members can present new skills or knowledge they’ve acquired.
- Encouraging collaborative problem-solving that promotes group learning.
Additional Strategies for Building a Learning Culture
While micro-learning, rewarding curiosity, and peer-to-peer learning are essential, other strategies can further bolster your efforts:
Use Learning Analytics
Data-driven insights from learning analytics can help measure the effectiveness of training programmes and inform future learning strategies. Metrics such as completion rates, engagement levels, and post-training performance improvements can provide valuable feedback.
Psychological Safety
The CIPD report underscores the need for psychological safety in a learning culture. Employees should feel comfortable asking questions, taking risks, and admitting when they do not know something. Creating this environment requires leadership to foster openness and support.
Align Learning with Business Goals
Learning and development activities should be closely tied to the organisation’s strategic objectives. This makes it clear to employees that learning is not just about personal growth but is integral to achieving business success.
Final Thoughts: Start Small, Build Big
Building a learning culture doesn’t have to be overwhelming if you think of it as a process of cultivating a learning environment. By taking small but consistent actions like promoting micro-learning, rewarding curiosity, and fostering peer-to-peer knowledge sharing, you lay the groundwork for a culture where learning is naturally integrated into daily work life.
The truth is, creating a learning culture takes time. But when learning becomes a core part of how your organisation operates, the benefits are clear: increased employee engagement, stronger team collaboration, and, ultimately, improved business performance. With the right approach, L&D can be the driving force that turns learning into a shared responsibility that everyone embraces.
The 7 Challenges of Flattened Management Hierarchies
In our last article, we discussed how organizations could use a collaboration skills checklist to profit in the modern workplace. The modern workplace is increasingly one where management and supervisory lines are blurred or removed. These flattened management hierarchies have been shown to produce many benefits, including:
- Greater motivation placed on individuals to maximize their own performance
- People taking ownership of the decision making process, leading to greater agility and speed
- Teams becoming self-governing, reducing HR responsibilities
- People increasing their skillsets more quickly and contributing more fully to organizational performance
However, flattened management hierarchies also provide a range of challenges to the organization, its leaders, and employees.
Focusing on the challenges of flattened management hierarchies
When developing a competitive organizational structure capable of challenging in the 21st century, change management must consider needs of the business and its people. Valve Software considered its flat structure to be integral to its business strategy. Company CEO Gabe Newell said:
“When we started Valve [in 1996], we thought about what the company needed to be good at. We realized that here, our job was to create things that hadn’t existed before. Managers are good at institutionalizing procedures, but in our line of work, that’s not always good. Sometimes the skills in one generation of product are irrelevant to the skills in another generation. Our industry is in such technological, design, and artistic flux that we need somebody who can recognize that. It’s pretty rare for someone to be in a lead role on two consecutive projects.”
Here are seven challenges that are commonly faced by organizations with a lack of hierarchical structure:
1. Lack of leadership leads to motivational issues
Not everyone is a self-starter, and flatter structures thrive when its people are good self-motivators. Flat organizations are short on the management numbers to offer individual guidance and instruction.
2. Decision making processes become blurred
A more collaborative approach may require big decisions to be made by voting or consensus. This can be complicated and slow down the decision making process.
3. A lack of understanding of spheres of responsibility
When people are challenged to work in cross functional teams and on multiple projects, spheres of responsibility can become confused. There must always be some degree of supervision and delegation, but teams will commonly be self-governing to minimize the supervision needed. The real challenge here is that important issues are communicated to each team.
4. Processes and procedures lack consistency
When teams are allowed to determine their own best practices, methods of working become disassociated. This produces inconsistences in approach and employees may find it difficult to transition from one team to another.
5. A lack of recognized career progression
With fewer supervisory and management positions, there will be less opportunity for traditional career progression. Not only this, but with fewer managers to oversee projects and the work environment, high-flying employees could be passed over for promotion or recognition. This could lead to higher staff turnover.
6. Keeping on top of capabilities and abilities
While the flattened management hierarchy and new way of working will produce opportunities for self-improvement of individuals, it will be more difficult to monitor these capabilities and utilize to enhance the organization.
7. Traditional lines of communication become defunct
Finally, when people work in smaller, autonomous teams, traditional communication techniques and tools fail to ‘spread the word’. New technologies and procedures will need to be used to ensure communication is efficient and effective.
Change is difficult. It needs a strategic vision, a committed leadership, and a set of common objectives that drive employees and teams to achieve. In flattened management hierarchies, organizational leadership will necessarily need to discover new ways to motivate and manage. Best practices will be continuously iterated and will need to be communicated via appropriate channels.
In our next article in this series, we’ll examine how to motivate a millennial generation workforce as you strategize to jumpstart change.
Contact Primeast today and discover how a Change Agent Bootcamp, and coaching in Consulting and Facilitating, will help your organization take advantage of the modern, collaborative workplace.
The 7 Challenges of Flattened Management Hierarchies
In our last article, we discussed how organisations could use a collaboration skills checklist to profit in the modern workplace. The modern workplace is increasingly one where management and supervisory lines are blurred or removed. These flattened management hierarchies have been shown to produce many benefits, including:
- Greater motivation placed on individuals to maximise their own performance
- People taking ownership of the decision making process, leading to greater agility and speed
- Teams becoming self-governing, reducing HR responsibilities
- People increasing their skillsets more quickly and contributing more fully to organisational performance
However, flattened management hierarchies also provide a range of challenges to the organisation, its leaders, and employees.
Focusing on the challenges of flattened management hierarchies
When developing a competitive organisational structure capable of challenging in the 21st century, change management must consider needs of the business and its people. Valve Software considered its flat structure to be integral to its business strategy. Company CEO Gabe Newell said:
“When we started Valve [in 1996], we thought about what the company needed to be good at. We realized that here, our job was to create things that hadn’t existed before. Managers are good at institutionalizing procedures, but in our line of work, that’s not always good. Sometimes the skills in one generation of product are irrelevant to the skills in another generation. Our industry is in such technological, design, and artistic flux that we need somebody who can recognise that. It’s pretty rare for someone to be in a lead role on two consecutive projects.”
Here are seven challenges that are commonly faced by organisations with a lack of hierarchical structure:
1. Lack of leadership leads to motivational issues
Not everyone is a self-starter, and flatter structures thrive when its people are good self-motivators. Flat organisations are short on the management numbers to offer individual guidance and instruction.
2. Decision making processes become blurred
A more collaborative approach may require big decisions to be made by voting or consensus. This can be complicated and slow down the decision making process.
3. A lack of understanding of spheres of responsibility
When people are challenged to work in cross functional teams and on multiple projects, spheres of responsibility can become confused. There must always be some degree of supervision and delegation, but teams will commonly be self-governing to minimise the supervision needed. The real challenge here is that important issues are communicated to each team.
4. Processes and procedures lack consistency
When teams are allowed to determine their own best practices, methods of working become disassociated. This produces inconsistences in approach and employees may find it difficult to transition from one team to another.
5. A lack of recognised career progression
With fewer supervisory and management positions, there will be less opportunity for traditional career progression. Not only this, but with fewer managers to oversee projects and the work environment, high-flying employees could be passed over for promotion or recognition. This could lead to higher staff turnover.
6. Keeping on top of capabilities and abilities
While the flattened management hierarchy and new way of working will produce opportunities for self-improvement of individuals, it will be more difficult to monitor these capabilities and utilize to enhance the organisation.
7. Traditional lines of communication become defunct
Finally, when people work in smaller, autonomous teams, traditional communication techniques and tools fail to ‘spread the word’. New technologies and procedures will need to be used to ensure communication is efficient and effective.
Change is difficult. It needs a strategic vision, a committed leadership, and a set of common objectives that drive employees and teams to achieve. In flattened management hierarchies, organisational leadership will necessarily need to discover new ways to motivate and manage. Best practices will be continuously iterated and will need to be communicated via appropriate channels.
In our next article in this series, we’ll examine how to motivate a millennial generation workforce as you strategize to jumpstart change.
Contact Primeast today and discover how a Change management training, and coaching in Consulting and Facilitating, will help your organisation take advantage of the modern, collaborative workplace.
How to Improve Employee Experience Initiatives
Understanding Employee Experience
Employee experience is a multifaceted concept that encompasses the various interactions and perceptions an employee has with their organization throughout their tenure. It is a critical aspect of modern workplace culture, as it directly impacts employee engagement, productivity, and overall job satisfaction.
Definition of Employee Experience
Employee experience refers to the sum total of an employee’s interactions, perceptions, and feelings about their job, workplace, and employer. It includes every touchpoint, from the initial recruitment process to the exit interview, and encompasses various aspects such as company culture, technology, physical workspace, and employee benefits.
Importance of Employee Experience in the Workplace
Why is the employee experience so important? If the overall employee experience is good, then employees are likely to enjoy their job. Unhappy employees are likely to look for another job.
Employees who enjoy a great employee experience are more engaged at work. This translates into improved business outcomes: better innovation, customer satisfaction, and increased productivity ─ as well as an employer brand that attracts talent and produces higher profits.
The pandemic and the Great Resignation have accentuated the need for organizations to focus on crafting the employee experience and delivering moments that matter. It’s a wake-up call ─ an opportunity to deliver a renaissance that creates a more engaged, productive, cohesive, and loyal team.
Benefits of a Positive Employee Experience
A positive employee experience has numerous benefits that can significantly impact an organization’s bottom line. One of the main benefits is increase employee engagement.
Increased Employee Engagement
Engaged employees are more productive, motivated, and committed to their work. They are also more likely to provide excellent customer service, leading to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty. A positive employee experience is critical for driving employee engagement, as it creates a sense of belonging, purpose, and fulfillment among employees.
When employees feel valued, supported, and empowered, they are more likely to be engaged and motivated. This, in turn, leads to improved productivity, better job performance, and increased employee retention. Moreover, engaged employees are more likely to become brand ambassadors, promoting the organization’s values and mission to customers, clients, and the wider community.
By prioritizing employee experience, organizations can create a positive and productive work culture that drives business success. It is essential to recognize that employee experience is not a one-time event but an ongoing process that requires continuous effort and attention. By investing in employee experience, organizations can reap numerous benefits, including increased employee engagement, improved productivity, and better customer satisfaction.
Three Steps to Improve the Effectiveness of Employee Experience in Employee Retention Programmes
In our previous article in this four-part series, we discussed why employee experience matters. One of the major reasons is employee retention. With more than 4 in 10 employees considering leaving their job according to a Microsoft survey, it’s clearly crucial to prioritize employee experience programmes in the employee retention strategy.
However, investment into employee retention programmes will only pay dividends if organizations and their leaders help to fashion their employees’ perception of employee experience. This requires a comprehensive employee experience strategy that addresses various elements across the employee lifecycle, integrating technology and feedback mechanisms to tailor experiences to employee needs.
To do this, a three-part strategy should be followed:
Step #1: Set expectations
Employees have different expectations for their individual employee experiences. Each employee has a unique life, background, career goals, and personal values. People are motivated by factors that are personal to them, and influenced by their subjective experiences.
Employee engagement refers specifically to the level of involvement and commitment an employee has towards their work. It includes factors such as satisfaction, purpose, and alignment with organizational goals, and it ultimately impacts productivity and workforce well-being.
Therefore, it’s crucial that organizational leaders set realistic expectations on what is achievable within this context, and that these expectations align with business goals and the desire to retain employees more effectively to help achieve these goals.
At departmental and team level, managers should meet regularly with their employees to ensure that individual and team expectations align with those of the organization.
Step #2: Personalizing the day-to-day workplace experience
Within the approach laid out by an organization’s employee experience programme, managers must collaborate with their employees to deliver experiences that matter. Employee feedback is crucial in personalising workplace experiences, as it helps managers understand and act on the needs and preferences of their team. To do so, managers will need to:
Share information that helps employees see places to make improvements
First, identifying the tasks to be accomplished is key. Employee engagement surveys can be a valuable tool for gathering insights to help employees see areas for improvement. Breaking down work into small, manageable steps helps to clarify the scope. Second, having a process for managing and recording progress will allow employees to know where they stand and what is left to do. Lastly, allow employees autonomy to craft their work practices, enable risk-taking, and coach employees to learn from mistakes
Provide employees with a safe environment for discussions
It’s important for employees to feel safe when discussing sensitive subjects with others. To ensure this, it’s necessary to establish clear guidelines, encourage openness, and be transparent and honest in all communication.
Employee surveys can also be used to gather feedback in a safe and anonymous manner, providing valuable insights into the employee experience.
Provide a set of relevant choices to keep employees from being overwhelmed
One of the most crucial factors in retaining employees is to make sure they are happy and satisfied with their work. One way to do this is to provide them with a set of choices so that they are not overwhelmed by the experience ─ and to help them to tailor their employee experience so that it matches their needs and preferences.
Understanding the employee journey is essential to tailor experiences to match employee needs and preferences.
Step #3: Shape memories ─ both good and bad for a positive employee experience
Not all experiences will turn out as planned. There will be both good and bad moments. Therefore, it’s crucial that managers focus on shaping memories ─ reframing the negative and reinforcing the positive.
Measuring employee experience is essential to understand and improve employee experiences over time.
Communication is the key that unlocks the potential of workplace culture and employee experience programmes
Throughout each step, communication is crucial. It’s essential that leaders and managers understand teams and individuals to craft successful employee experiences. Therefore, employees must be given channels in which to express their opinions, perceptions, needs, and wants ─ and leaders must listen. Employee experience management is a dynamic process that requires ongoing investment and refinement throughout the employee lifecycle.
Managers must share information honestly, be courteous and attentive to feedback, provide support and guidance, and celebrate positive employee experiences.
6 Factors that affect the employee experience
As an organization builds back better, in its culture and work practices, it must consider these six factors that affect the employee experience it delivers:
- Transparency and open communication to develop greater trust
- The creation of a frictionless work environment that embeds digital experiences in a collaborative workflow
- An organizational culture of inclusion and belonging
- Leadership that promotes engagement of employees in an environment in which employees are recognized by management and peers
- Learning and development opportunities, to help employees upskill and advance their careers
- Corporate social responsibility
When an organization develops employee experience programmes that align with business goals and engage employees effectively, the benefits ripple throughout the organization ─ helping to gel teams, boost productivity, and improve employee retention.
Where do you start? Complete the Personal Values Assessment to get a comprehensive insight into your organizational culture – the insight that will help you make more effective decisions, and aid in alignment with team members and colleagues.
How Can Predictive HR Analytics Help Employee Retention?
Using Attrition and Retention Analytics to Create Proactive Retention Strategies
Businesses are using predictive HR analytics to identify the specific reasons why their employees might be considering leaving, which helps them to create more successful retention strategies.
Every staff member is different, but there are some common factors that might make them want to quit. Attrition and retention analytics can help pinpoint these factors and take a proactive approach to develop solutions to fix damaging employee turnover.
How can HR predictive analytics help companies increase employee retention
Predictive HR analytics helps HR professionals to identify at-risk employees, measure their flight risk, and predict their potential turnover. It also helps HR professionals to create more personalized retention strategies and improve the employee experience. Specifically, attrition and retention analytics helps to improve employee retention by:
Determining the causes of attrition before retention becomes a problem
One of the most common applications of HR predictive analytics is in determining the causes of employee turnover, which can be done by looking at distinct factors like compensation, work/life balance, or job satisfaction. This can help companies determine what they need to do to retain their employees before attrition becomes a problem.
Identifying what employees may be at risk of leaving
HR predictive analytics uses different methods to identify employees who are at risk of leaving, including analysing their engagement levels with the company and their performance. These methods help HR managers understand what factors have led an employee to become disengaged or dissatisfied with work, and then find ways to solve them.
Improving employee experience and engagement
By using predictive analytics, HR managers can improve engagement by determining what it is that people like and dislike about their jobs, and then using this knowledge to create specific interventions that will deliver more meaningful and engaging employee experiences, thus improving employee engagement.
Helping create better compensation and incentive programs
Focusing on predicting the future of an employee, predictive analytics in HR can help organizations understand if factors such as compensation and incentive programs, hours worked, and location are determinants of employees deciding to quit their jobs. This helps organizations create better incentives for their employees, thus reducing the likelihood that they will leave the company for other opportunities.
Using Machine Learning to spot patterns that you might miss
HR predictive analytics helps to improve employee retention by using machine learning to spot patterns that you might miss. It does this by applying machine learning algorithms to collected data and developing hypotheses on what may happen in the future based on identified patterns. This can help an organization understand their workforce, identify any issues, and make better decisions when it comes to recruitment, hiring, and retention.
How to use predictive HR analytics to reduce employee turnover
To achieve the most effective outcomes possible from HR analytics by predicting the probability of employees leaving their jobs in the future, an organization must take a strategic, step-by-step approach, collecting data to develop a predictive model that will help the organization to take pre-emptive actions and reduce employee turnover.
The five steps to using predictive HR analytics are as follows:
Step #1: Calculate the base metrics
HR must calculate current and previous base metrics across employee turnover and retention rates. The higher attrition rates rise, the fewer skilled workers an organization will have to do the work needed. Productivity and quality fall, and it is necessary to figure out how business outcomes are affected by resignation rates.
By collecting and analysing data, an organization can tweak its retention strategies according to data and not intuition.
Step #2: Collect data
Data must be collected that enables the organization to accurately calculate metrics that affect employee retention. This data will help you to identify correlations and determine personalized retention interventions for employees who are most at risk of leaving. Key factors to consider include:
- Employee engagement rates
- Retention rate per manager
- Employee lifecycles
- Voluntary and involuntary turnover
For example, an organization may track and log employee interactions, conduct pulse surveys, compile performance review statistics, identify compensation schedules, and conduct exit interviews.
Step #3: Identify attrition trends (Who is leaving, when, and why)
When an organization has identified that it has an employee retention issue, it can utilise HR analytics to identify which employees are leaving, and why employees are leaving.
This may be achieved by performing an analysis of resignation data to determine which factors are increasing or decreasing resignations. Is it departmentally biased (perhaps there is an issue with a manager)? Are people leaving because of compensation (you may have failed to keep pace with market salaries)? Is there a pattern of employees leaving after a specific tenure in their jobs (perhaps you don’t provide sufficient learning, development, and career advancement opportunities)?
Step #4: Flag employees who are at risk of leaving
Not all employee resignations are bad, but it is better to reduce high employee turnover rates. Many resignations could be avoided by applying the knowledge you have gained from data collection and analysis to the development of retention strategies. You can focus on those groups of employees who are most at risk, as predicted by this analysis. Every resignation that can be avoided is money saved on hiring and training.
Step #5: Perform a focused intervention
Interventions must be focused on developing strategies that tackle the root causes of employee turnover, and on retaining key employees. By understanding the reasons why people are quitting ─ such as burnout, work relationships, the need for flexibility, compensation, lack of career advancement, etc. ─ an organization can personalize its retention policies and strategies to department, teams, and individual employees as warranted.
The bottom line
Your organization can use HR analytics to help identify employee retention issues and develop strategies to reduce employee turnover. The data you collect and analyze will help you focus on the underlying employee retention issues, and to find solutions before they cause real problems.
This data-driven approach removes bias and saves time and money in the HR function, enabling more precise retention strategies to be created and personalized ─ there is no one-size-fits-all solution to retention issues. It will also help to embed the C-suite support that is critical to the effectiveness of employee retention strategy.
To learn how our leadership coaching programs can help your leaders and managers lead more effectively as you combat the Great Resignation, contact Primeast today.
Line Managers as Champions of Learning
In the current unpredictable and disrupted business climate, line managers play a critical role in developing their team members to be able to deal successfully with their challenges. Line managers are the frontline connection between business strategy and operational execution and having well developed people is critical to effective implementation. Sadly, in our experience, for a range of reasons, they are not always set up for success or engaged enough to see learning as an organizational imperative.
Studies from a number of notable institutions and organizations have identified a couple of dominant reasons for this:
- Too busy: challenging business climate, pressure from senior leaders to focus exclusively on activities that directly drive profitable growth. These can mean that long-term growth through the development of people and their individual talents takes a back seat.
- Not my job: over time many organizations have developed cultures, and it’s often in the unwritten rules, that learning is seen as HR or L & D’s job. People go away from the workplace, they get trained, a miracle occurs; and they come back to the workplace transformed.
Leaving this situation unchallenged within any organization should not be an option. The consequence of leaving the issue unaddressed potentially affects the long-term organizational health, retention of talent and overall performance.
Primeast is a certified Kirkpatrick Partners consultancy and helps organizations develop a learning culture and derive better value from their investments in learning. Here are 10 practical tips to help start making progress:
Develop THEM as Champions of Learning
HR and senior leadership should commit some time and money to educating line managers as to why their role as Champions of Learning is vital to organizational growth. Also, you need to ensure line mangers themselves are well trained and have good personal experience of the benefits of learning.
Engage them to make learning the norm
The role of learning needs to become part of culture, not just another process. Once line managers feel the value of learning, they are much more likely to become Champions of Learning. Old school Scientific Management (Taylorism), where employees just learn to do one task and managers just mange the repeated execution of that task is no longer good enough.
Define the need and the measurement
HR and senior leadership need to help line managers by providing clear guidance on what the organization expects in terms of people development. Vague objectives and statements aren’t sufficient. Line managers need to understand what behaviors, mindset and practice will make a positive impact on Leading Business Indicators (micro-measures that show things are on track to hit bigger objectives). All this needs to feature in role definitions and personal objectives too.
Help line managers to understand team member development needs
Part of the journey of turning line managers into Champions is developing their ability to recognize development needs in their team members and colleagues. They need to be able to recognize patterns and trends in what they see going on around them. Then by using their coaching skills and Deconstructive Dialogue (Kegan and Lahey) they can work them to find the best way forward. Of course, training may not actually be the right solution.
Many line managers will say they are too busy with workload to be responsible for developing their people. HR and senior leaders need to consider how they re-engineer the way they work to create this capacity. Many of the world’s most cutting-edge businesses, such as Google and Apple have built time into workflows to allow for innovation and people development.
Options, options, options
Once line managers have capacity and personal skills, they will begin to know their people much better and what each person’s learning preferences are. It’s the role of HR to provide a range of options for development. This means creating a blended suite of learning solutions. Technology may provide rich and cost-effective ways of learning content, it’s not the panacea. Human evolution is slower than technological evolution, so if organizations want effective learning, they have to accommodate a variety of needs; then let their Champions be stewards of the best choices.
Make communication omnidirectional
Take steps to include the value of learning as a ‘golden thread’ in internal communications whether that’s strategic, operational or peer to peer.
Create a common language around learning
HR and learning have long been a haven of jargon. The best organizations use clear, understandable language surrounding learning that is meaningful for the whole organization top to bottom. The better people understand the more likely they are to act in a way that contributes to progress.
In the 70:20:10 learning process, the true value comes in the 70
As part of their development line managers need to understand what workplace-based options are available to them to recommend to their people. These may be used as experiences for people to practise and implement things they’e been taught in formal learning; they may just be a potentially meaningful experience, such as organising or facilitating a meeting or being part of high-profile project team.
Invite and encourage feedback
Alongside all of the above, meaningful feedback loops built in to the system will contribute to the development of the organizational learning mindset and processes. Feedback needs to be seen as an opportunity and if appropriate for making positive moves toward business objectives, acted upon as soon as is practical.
Creating a Cultural Action Plan to Improve the Employee Experience
Winning Hearts and Minds to Motivate Employee Engagement
Every company has a culture. It is the values, beliefs, and behaviors of employees and management. The culture sets the tone for how people work, interact with each other, and what they do on a day-to-day basis.
Organisations are beginning to realize that their culture is what drives their success.
A strong culture is crucial to the employee experience, improving motivation, happier employees who are more productive, and the delivery of superior customer experiences that drive revenues.
The question is, how do you create an organizational culture plan that will deliver all of this and more?
Create the conditions to attract and retain the best talent
It may be something of a cliche, but your people are the heart of your organization. Your success depends upon the talent you attract and retain. Therefore you must take steps to create exceptional employer branding that achieves the goal of increasing and improving your human talent. To do so, you must:
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- Articulate an inspiring purpose
An inspiring purpose is a vision for your organization that helps you make decisions and inspires your people to achieve your goals. It can be anything from a simple statement about who you are or what your values are, to developing a complex plan of how to live out your values in the world.
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- Share a vision for how to manifest your purpose
Employees will be able to work with more passion and dedication if they understand why they are doing what they do. Organisations that do not have a clear and compelling vision for how to manifest their purpose will struggle to retain talent, grow revenue, or maintain profitability.
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- Train your leaders in effective employee engagement
Leaders should focus on how to keep their employees engaged and happy. They need to make sure that they are not just focusing on their own personal agenda and instead have a servant-leader mindset towards their employees, and are adept at keeping everyone’s hearts and minds focused on how much they love your organization.
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- Measure your teams’ performance and understand their expectations
It is important to put structures in place that allow you to have a good understanding of what your team’s expectations are. This will help you understand where they are coming from and the best way to design employee experiences. As you do so, you should also measure their performance to monitor how well your strategies are working.
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- Help teams develop the characteristics of a growth mindset
Create opportunities for employees to improve their knowledge and capabilities, inspiring them to develop a growth mindset that helps them achieve more than they think they could. This is a positive approach, focusing on new learning, innovative ideas, and the willingness to take on challenges.
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- Help people feel valued and appreciated
When people feel valued and appreciated, they are more likely to be motivated to do better work
Steps to Getting Your Game Plan Together
Let’s start creating a cultural plan by getting your game plan together with these six steps:
Step #1: Human capital culture creation
The importance of human capital culture creation is that it helps to shape an organization’s identity. It also helps to create a unified sense of purpose and direction within an organization. It can also help with recruitment and retention efforts. This process may also have some negative impacts on both employees and employers if not done properly.
Step #2: Strategic plan ─ goal and priority setting
Strategic planning is a process of defining the direction, scope, and objectives of an organization. It also sets out the strategies and actions to achieve these objectives. This process helps organizations in identifying their strengths and weaknesses, setting goals and priorities, and evaluating progress.
Step #3: Values and behaviors development work
Values and behaviors development work is one of the most important aspects of human development. It is necessary for the individual to have a healthy self-image, a sense of purpose, and an understanding of their own strengths. Focus on skills such as emotional intelligence, goal setting, time management, empathy, responsibility, and more. This type of work helps individuals develop the skills that are necessary for them to be successful in their personal lives as well as in their professional lives.
Step #4: Leadership engagement development work
The goal of leadership engagement development work is to develop leadership skills to have a positive impact on an organization. It helps leaders and managers to grow in their roles, develop new skills and take on new responsibilities. This can be done through coaching, mentoring, and other development processes.
Step #5: Socialising the work in the larger organization
An organization’s success depends on the cohesion of its employees and how well they collaborate. One way to achieve this is by socialising the work, helping people to understand each other’s roles, and fostering feelings of belonging to an organization which is more akin to being part of a family.
Step #6: Define and employ metrics to measure your culture
Employing metrics to measure culture is a crucial step toward creating a culture that will drive success. Some metrics that you may use include:
- Employee engagement
- Employee satisfaction
- Employee turnover rates
- Customer satisfaction
- Customer retention rates
Benefits of having a new organizational culture plan
The new organizational culture plan should be a combination of company values and the employees’ needs. It is a way to get everyone on board, and it should be able to help you achieve your goals.
A new organizational culture plan will help you to understand what your values are and how they align with the business’s vision. It will also help you to understand how your organization is currently operating and what type of culture would be best for it.
The benefits of developing an organizational culture plan that is designed to enhance the employee experience include:
- Greater employee retention
- Increased profit per employee
- Increased performance
- Decreased time to recruit open positions
- Increased emotional engagement agility and morale
Takeaway ─ Take stock and ask the following questions
As you design and develop your culture plan, it’s crucial to ensure that it remains on track to deliver the envisaged benefits. As you take stock of your existing culture and design your new culture plan, ask yourself the following questions:
- Do we shelter toxic leaders?
- Do we have the right people in the right places?
- Do our leaders have the skills to lead these changes?
- How strong was our culture before the pandemic?
- Is our work environment transactional?
- Are our benefits aligned with employee priorities?
- Employees want career paths and development opportunities. Can we provide it?
- How are we building a sense of community?
- Are we preserving processes and procedures that are no longer valid?
An organization’s culture will affect the way it does business. A good culture is one that is inclusive and encourages teamwork among employees. A bad culture will tear apart a company from the inside out, creating an environment where employees are not happy to be at work.
How is your current culture doing? When was the last time you measured your employee engagement, and discussed employee experience and its place in the equation?
Fast-forward five years. Where do you see yourself and your organization? Will you be able to look back and see your current challenges as the greatest gift?
Where do you start? Complete the Personal Values Assessment to get a comprehensive insight into your organizational culture – the insight that will help you make more effective decisions, and aid in alignment with team members and colleagues.
How to Engage Remote Employees: 12 Strategies
Evolving Employee Engagement Strategy for the Evolution of Work
The question of how to engage remote employees is one that will continue to be at the top of management meetings. Remote work isn’t a passing trend, it’s the new norm. A 2023 study by McKinsey found that 98 million U.S. workers have the option to work remotely at least part of the time, and globally, hybrid work is expected to grow by 20% over the next five years.
This shift brings undeniable benefits: greater flexibility, access to a wider talent pool, and improved work-life balance. But it also introduces a challenge: how do we keep remote employees engaged, connected, and motivated when they’re no longer sharing the same physical space?
The risk? Many organizations deliver a remote employee experience that feels isolating, leaving employees disengaged and disconnected from company culture. And disengagement has a cost:
- Companies with highly engaged employees experience 23% higher profitability (Gallup, 2023).
- Disengaged employees cost organizations an estimated $450–$550 billion per year in lost productivity (HBR).
Traditional engagement strategies—team lunches, office perks, and casual watercooler chats—aren’t enough in a remote-first world. Today’s remote employees expect more:
✔ A leader who acts as a coach and helps them reach their potential.
✔ A clear sense of purpose that aligns with their personal values.
✔ Ongoing feedback, employee recognition, and career growth opportunities.
✔ A work environment that supports well-being and work-life balance.
So, why do so many remote engagement strategies fail? Because they’re seen as an HR initiative run by HR professionals, rather than an organizational priority. Engagement isn’t just an HR function, it’s a leadership function. It’s managers, supervisors, and executives who set the tone for engagement every day.
In this guide, we’ll outline 12 actionable strategies to help your organization engage remote employees to foster connection, build motivation, and develop long-term commitment.
Understanding Remote Employee Engagement
Remote employee engagement isn’t just about logging in on time and hitting deadlines. It’s about how connected, motivated, and invested remote employees feel in their work, their team, and the organization as a whole.
With remote employees engaged, they bring energy, creativity, and commitment to their roles. They contribute ideas, support colleagues, and actively push the organization forward. When they aren’t? You’ll see it in missed opportunities, lower employee morale, and higher turnover.
But engagement feels different in a remote world. Without an office environment to create natural moments of connection, remote employees can start to feel like they’re working for a company rather than with one. That’s a crucial difference.
So, what makes a remote employee feel engaged?
- A sense of belonging: They feel part of something bigger, not just a name on a screen.
- A connection to leadership: They see and hear from leaders regularly, not just in formal meetings.
- A voice in the company: Their ideas, opinions, and contributions are acknowledged.
- A clear growth path: They know how they can develop, even without the visibility of an office setting.
Traditional engagement tactics don’t always translate to remote work. A well-stocked breakroom or after-work drinks can’t replace meaningful connection and purpose.
The key?
Building engagement into the fabric of your culture, not treating it as an add-on.
1. Optimize your onboarding process
First impressions set the tone. A strong onboarding process introduces employees to systems and processes of course, but it also makes them feel valued, included, and excited from day one.
For remote employees, this is even more critical. Without an office environment to naturally absorb company culture, a disjointed or impersonal onboarding experience can leave them feeling disconnected before they’ve even begun.
So, how do you make remote onboarding impactful?
- Get the logistics sorted early. Nobody wants to spend their first day filling out forms or waiting for IT support. Ensure paperwork is completed in advance, and that they have all the tools they need (laptop, logins, software, etc) and are ready to go.
- Create structured introductions. Assign a buddy or mentor, schedule 1:1s with key team members, and make leadership visible early on.
- Immerse them in culture, not just information. A well-designed onboarding portal or welcome session should go beyond company policies. Showcase your values, success stories, and what makes your organization unique.
- Make it interactive. Pre-recorded videos and documents have their place, but nothing beats real conversations. Virtual coffee chats, team Q&As, or even an informal ‘meet the team’ call can make a huge difference.
- Check in—then check in again. Onboarding should never be a one-week process. Regular follow-ups in the first 30, 60, and 90 days help ensure new hires feel supported and engaged.
When done well, onboarding is more about than getting remote employees up to speed, It’s about setting them up for long-term success and connection with your organization.
2. Connect remote employees to your mission
People want more than a paycheck. They want purpose.
When employees understand how their work contributes to a bigger vision, they feel more invested in what they do. But in a remote setting, where day-to-day tasks can feel isolated, it’s easy for that connection to fade.
How do you ensure remote employees feel aligned with your mission?
- Make your vision visible. Don’t let your company’s purpose live in a forgotten slide deck. Reinforce it in meetings, company updates, and everyday conversations.
- Show, don’t tell. A mission statement means little if it’s not reflected in leadership actions. Remote Employees should see company values in decisions, behaviors, and recognition.
- Tie individual roles to the bigger picture. Help remote employees see how their work drives impact. Share real stories of how projects, ideas, and contributions are shaping the organization.
- Encourage leadership storytelling. People connect with people. When leaders share their personal connection to the mission, it fosters a stronger sense of belonging and purpose.
A strong mission is a guiding force that shapes culture, engagement, and commitment. Keep it front and centre.
3. Foster effective communication and listening
In a remote environment, where body language and casual office chats are absent, the way leaders and teams communicate can make or break engagement.
How do you make communication truly effective for remote teams?
- Listen first, speak second. Remote employees want to feel heard, not just informed. Active listening: acknowledging concerns, asking follow-up questions, and acting on employee feedback will help build trust.
- Adapt communication styles. Some remote employees thrive on video calls; others prefer written updates. Use a mix of synchronous (real-time) and asynchronous (on-demand) communication to suit different preferences.
- Make meetings meaningful. Avoid status updates that could be an email. Instead, use meetings for discussions, collaboration, and decision-making.
- Clarify, don’t assume. In remote settings, ambiguity leads to misalignment. Be clear on expectations, next steps, and responsibilities to avoid unnecessary confusion.
- Encourage informal interactions. Not every conversation should be about work. Creating space for casual chats through virtual coffee breaks, Slack channels, or check-ins, helps maintain social bonds.
Great communication keeps teams aligned, engaged, and motivated, no matter where they are.
4. Regular check-ins: Go beyond work in conversations to build more meaningful relationships
A quick “How’s everything going?” isn’t a check-in. Meaningful check-ins are about building relationships, understanding challenges, and showing genuine care.
For remote employees, regular touchpoints help replace the informal office interactions that naturally build connection. But the key? They can’t only be about work.
How to make check-ins count:
- Be consistent, not just reactive. Don’t wait for a problem to arise. Schedule regular one-to-ones to stay connected.
- Talk about the person, not just the job. Ask about challenges, wins, career goals, and well-being.
- Listen more than you speak. Check-ins are a space for remote employees to be heard. Give them room to share.
- Act on feedback. If an remote employee raises a concern or idea, follow up. Trust is built when people see their input leads to action.
- Keep it human. Not every conversation needs an agenda. Sometimes, a casual “How’s your week going?” is enough to show you care.
Meaningful check-ins improve engagement, strengthen trust, motivation, and long-term commitment.
5. Provide a space for ideas to feel appreciated and acknowledged
In a traditional office, ideas can spark in casual moments, over coffee, in passing conversations, or during impromptu brainstorms. But in a remote setting, where interactions are more structured, those organic opportunities often disappear. That’s why intentionality matters when it comes to fostering innovation and making employees feel heard.
The best organizations create an environment where sharing them feels natural. This starts with giving remote employees different ways to contribute. Not everyone feels comfortable speaking up in meetings, so alternative channels, like Slack discussions, anonymous suggestion forms, or smaller group sessions, help ensure every voice has a space.
But sharing an idea is only half the equation. Remote Employees also need to feel like their contributions matter. A simple acknowledgment, whether through public recognition, leadership follow-up, or a direct response, reinforces that input is valued.
And when an idea is implemented? Celebrate it. Highlighting real examples of employee-driven change not only motivates the individual but encourages others to engage, too.
Finally, follow-through is essential. Nothing shuts down engagement faster than sharing an idea and hearing nothing back. Even if an idea isn’t feasible, close the loop with a response. Explain why or suggest an alternative. This keeps employees invested in the process. When people feel heard, they stay engaged.
6. Keep open lines of communication
Remote work removes the small, everyday moments of connection. No hallway chats, no spontaneous coffee breaks, no quick desk drop-ins. Without these, communication can become purely transactional, focused only on tasks and deadlines. And when that happens, engagement suffers.
We must find ways to make remote work more social and keep remote workers engaged. Keep our lines of communication open and deliver a ‘water cooler experience’ using technology.
One company we know set up a separate slack channel for people to share recipes. This worked so well that they set up other channels, to enable people to join in social conversations as if they were at work. Crucially, the employees administer these channels themselves.
As we build out communication capabilities, we must take advantage of technology to:
- Develop a centralized communication tool across all teams
- Optimize your communication technology to better support your employees
- Go beyond work in our conversations to build more meaningful relationships
7. Create a customized inclusion experience and promote relationship building
Inclusion isn’t a one-time initiative, a workshop, or a policy. It’s something employees should feel every day, in every interaction. But in remote teams, it’s easy for inclusion to slip. Some voices dominate meetings, decisions get made in private Slack messages, and those in different time zones or backgrounds can feel like they’re on the outside looking in.
So how do you create a truly inclusive remote culture?
Start by designing meetings that give everyone a voice. That means structured turn-taking in discussions, using tools like anonymous idea boards, and actively inviting quieter remote team members to contribute. A well-run meeting ensures that inclusion isn’t about who speaks the loudest but about ensuring everyone is heard.
Then, think about visibility. Remote workforce often means employees only interact with their immediate teams. Break those silos by creating cross-functional project groups, rotating leadership in team meetings, and encouraging knowledge-sharing across departments. When employees see diverse perspectives in action, inclusion becomes part of the culture, not just a goal.
Finally, don’t underestimate the power of shared stories. Encourage employees to share their experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives—whether in team meetings, internal newsletters, or informal chats. And for leaders? Sharing their own stories, including struggles and vulnerabilities, can create an atmosphere where employees feel safe to be themselves.
8. Provide a mentally safe environment for employees
Ever had an idea in a meeting but held back, worried it might not land well? That hesitation signals low psychological safety. The fear of speaking up, making mistakes, or challenging ideas.
In a remote setting, where interactions are fewer, that fear can feel even bigger.
Psychological safety means remote employees feel comfortable contributing, questioning, and taking risks without fear of judgment or backlash. So how do you build it?
- Lead with vulnerability. When managers admit mistakes or ask for feedback, they show that openness isn’t just encouraged, it’s expected.
- Reward curiosity, not just results. Ask, “What did we learn from this?” instead of focusing on what went wrong. A culture that treats mistakes as learning opportunities fosters innovation.
- Create structured space for input. Use anonymous Q&A, pre-meeting idea submissions, or round-robin discussions to ensure all voices are heard.
- Model active listening. Simple responses like “That’s a great point. What do others think?” or “Let’s explore that idea further” encourage discussion instead of shutting it down.
- Recognize contributions, not just outcomes. Acknowledging effort and insight, even if an idea doesn’t move forward, reinforces that speaking up is valued.
When employees know they can share openly without fear, they engage more, collaborate better, and push the organization forward in ways that truly matter.
9. Support Work-Life Balance in Meaningful Ways
Remote work was supposed to bring better work-life balance. But for many, it’s done the opposite. By blurring the boundaries between work and home, it’s lead to longer hours, more burnout, and the feeling of always being on.
It’s not enough to say “We support work-life balance.” Remote Employees need to see it in action. Here’s how:
- Set clear expectations around availability. Just because remote work is flexible doesn’t mean employees should feel obligated to respond at all hours. Define core working hours and respect personal time.
- Lead by example. When leaders take breaks, log off on time, and avoid sending late-night emails, they give employees permission to do the same.
- Encourage real breaks. A ‘working lunch’ isn’t a break. Neither is answering emails on holiday. Normalize stepping away, whether for a walk, a gym session, or simply time offline.
- Offer autonomy, not just policies. Some employees work best in structured schedules; others thrive with flexibility. Instead of rigid rules, empower employees to manage their time in a way that works for them.
- Check in, without micromanaging. A simple “How’s your workload?” shows employees their well-being matters. But balance is key. Trust employees to manage their work without constant oversight.
When work-life balance is practiced, not just promised, employees are more engaged, more productive, and more likely to stick around.
10. Provide Opportunities for Growth and Development
Nothing disengages an employee faster than feeling stuck. Without clear opportunities for growth, remote workers can start to feel like they’re just going through the motions. When that happens, they’re more likely to look elsewhere.
Growth doesn’t just mean promotions. In today’s flatter organizations, career progression is often about skill-building, exposure to new challenges, and personal development. The best companies create multiple pathways for growth, such as:
- Ongoing learning opportunities – Access to online courses, certifications, and industry events keeps employees learning and evolving.
- Stretch assignments – Give employees the chance to take on new challenges, lead projects, or work cross-functionally to expand their skill set.
- Mentorship and coaching – Connecting employees with mentors, inside or outside the organization, provides guidance and inspiration for career growth.
- Career mapping conversations – Regular check-ins about aspirations help employees see a future within the company, rather than feeling like they need to leave to grow.
11. Recognise and reward your remote employees’ effort
The importance of recognizing employees’ efforts is not limited to just managers. We should develop a culture in which employees themselves should also take the time to appreciate the work of their colleagues. This will help remote employees feel connected to the organization and its culture.
Feeling valued isn’t a “nice-to-have”, it’s a fundamental driver of engagement. Yet in remote settings, recognition can often fall by the wayside. Without a manager walking past their desk to say “Great job on that project,” employees can start to wonder if their efforts are even noticed.
The solution? Make recognition a habit, not an afterthought.
- Be specific. A generic “Good job” is forgettable. Acknowledging exactly what someone did well (“Your presentation really clarified our strategy – great work!”) makes it meaningful.
- Celebrate in the right way. Some employees appreciate public recognition, while others prefer a private thank-you. Knowing how people like to be recognized makes a difference.
- Use multiple channels. Shoutouts in team meetings, a Slack kudos channel, or even a handwritten note. Variety keeps recognition fresh and impactful.
- Tie recognition to values. Highlighting how an employee’s work aligns with company values reinforces a sense of purpose and belonging.
- Don’t wait. Recognition shouldn’t be reserved for annual reviews or big milestones. A quick, timely acknowledgment has a far greater impact.
When employees know their contributions matter, they’re more engaged, more motivated, and more likely to go above and beyond. Recognition isn’t just a feel-good gesture. It’s a key ingredient in a thriving remote culture
12. Rethink Leadership Approach for Remote Engagement
The shift to remote and hybrid work hasn’t just changed where we work, it’s changed how leaders need to lead. The traditional model of “managing by presence” no longer works. Leaders can’t rely on casual office drop-ins or visual cues to gauge engagement. Instead, they must be intentional, proactive, and people-focused.
So what does great leadership look like in a remote world?
- Trust over control. Micromanagement kills engagement. Set clear expectations, then give employees the autonomy to deliver results in their own way.
- Empathy as a core skill. Remote work brings unique challenges; loneliness, blurred boundaries, and digital fatigue. Great leaders check in, not just on progress, but on people.
- Frequent, meaningful communication. Regular updates, transparent decision-making, and open-door policies (even virtually) keep employees connected to leadership.
- Leading by example. When leaders take breaks, log off on time, and prioritize well-being, it signals to employees that they can do the same.
- Creating connection. Strong leadership isn’t just about driving performance; it’s about fostering a culture where employees feel seen, heard, and valued, even from a distance.
Leadership has always shaped engagement, but in a remote world, it’s more important than ever. The best leaders don’t just manage from a distance, they lead with trust, empathy, and a vision that keeps employees connected, inspired, and engaged.
Measuring and Evaluating Remote Engagement
You can’t improve what you don’t measure. Understanding how engaged your remote employees are and what’s driving or hindering that engagement, requires more than just gut feeling.
The best organisations take a data-driven approach to employee engagement, using key metrics to track progress and make informed decisions.
How to Measure Remote Employee Engagement
Employee Engagement Surveys – Regular pulse surveys help gauge sentiment, track trends over time, and uncover hidden issues. The key? Ask the right questions. Instead of vague inquiries like “Are you happy at work?”, focus on specifics:
❓ Do you feel recognised for your work?
❓ Do you have the tools and support you need to succeed remotely?
❓ How connected do you feel to your team and the company’s mission?
Productivity & Performance Metrics – Engagement isn’t just about how employees feel, it’s also reflected in their output, collaboration, and willingness to go above and beyond. Are remote teams hitting goals? Are employees actively contributing ideas and innovations?
Retention & Turnover Rates – A sudden increase in resignations can signal deeper engagement issues. Tracking why employees leave, and more importantly, why they stay, helps identify strengths and gaps in your engagement strategy.
Feedback & Recognition Metrics – Recognition drives engagement, but is it happening consistently? Tracking how often managers provide feedback, how frequently employees receive praise, and how peer recognition is used can highlight whether appreciation is embedded in your culture.
eNPS (Employee Net Promoter Score) – This single-question metric asks employees:
❓ “On a scale from 0-10, how likely are you to recommend this company as a great place to work?”
High scores indicate strong engagement, while lower scores reveal potential concerns that need to be addressed.
From Measurement to Action
Collecting engagement data is only half the equation. The real value comes from acting on what you learn.
- Identify trends. If engagement dips in a certain department or time period, dig into the why.
- Communicate results transparently. Employees should see that their feedback leads to real change.
- Iterate and refine. Engagement isn’t static. Regular evaluation ensures your strategies stay relevant and effective.
When engagement is measured, understood, and acted upon, remote teams don’t just function, they thrive.
Are you a Snowplough Employer?
Many of us will have heard of the millennial generation referred to as ‘Snowflakes’ and the ‘Snowflake Generation’. In this context the suggestion is that they are in some ways less resilient and more prone to taking offence than previous generations. The other, more relevant suggestion is that they swan around under the naive impression that they’re special, beautiful and unique with a strong sense of entitlement. But isn’t that what older generations always say about the following generations?
There are other possible ways of looking at this perceived ‘Snowflakery’.
Perhaps being “prone to take offence†is perceived from their strong personal belief in fair play and their commitment to creating a better community for all. This may lead to an unwillingness to tip their cap to the status quo and to challenge even the smallest negative behaviors in our society. In a VUCA world being turned upside-down by global political and environmental challenges, is it any wonder that this generation is seriously concerned about the world they have inherited from their parents? Maybe they are justifiably keen to do a better job for future generations and to do it in their own way.
On the flip side of this discussion is the question How did we create a Snowflake Generation?
Well yes of course they have ‘Snowplough Parents’ who spend all their time smoothing out life for their precious offspring. In doing so they rob them of the opportunities to grow and learn from the ups and downs of life. Equally it could be said they ploughed a clear furrow of values and a willingness to challenge that status quo for their offspring. This is the generation of CND, Green Peace, Civil Rights Movement, “second-wave” feminist cause, and much more.
Snowflakes at work
If we translate this into the world of work, do we try to steer our employees’careers for them? In effect, are we ‘snowplough’ employers? Or do we encourage them to own their own careers and support them to navigate the world of work, learning from its many ups and downs. The millennial generation generally choose the latter. They change jobs frequently and move quickly when they get disillusioned. For them, the size of the paycheque is somewhat less important than the perceived value of the work to improve themselves and contribute to the broader community.
The snowflake generation and snow plough employers were discussed at length at a recent Primeast Talent Forum in Dublin. We were exploring the challenge, brought by our hosts ESB: ‘How to source, grow and retain technical talent – who can develop the future skills that currently don’t exist but will be critical to our future as a business’. Denis Kelly was in the forum ‘hotseat’ feeling the melting snow and Clive Wilson was facilitating. In relation to the challenge, Denis suggested that the days of the snowplough employer were numbered. This was a new term for many in the room, including Clive, but it was a very helpful metaphor.
Snowplough employer?
The snowplough employer is the one that takes control, smooths out the bumps they see ahead because they believe they know future roles that are needed to build new capabilities and the ‘right’career path for each of their employees. This paternalistic approach may have worked in the past but in a world enveloped in a ‘VUCA fog’, such certainty is more likely to steer careers onto the rocks. All our business environments are changing at an increasing pace, technology is allowing new players to enter previously protected markets rapidly and, whilst there is much data on key trends, there is also far more uncertainty. The key to success going forward will be agility and adaptability and they will not come from ‘one size fits all’ traditional development approaches. But, rather than feeling downbeat about the challenges we face, our All Ireland Talent Forum of some twenty professionals from a wide range of industries agreed that the role of the employer is to present the challenge as exciting and meaningful. This a world where people can bring their unique skill-sets, talents and curiosity into play for the benefit of all stakeholders. The contribution of the employer being to help people unlock their full potential and take personal ownership of their career journeys.
Instead of designing career paths for employees, leaders and managers need to inspire people with the excitement of the challenge and support them to recognize, develop and use their talents to grasp emerging future opportunities. Instead of being snow plough managers or even career-controllers, they need to move into the role of the career coach, facilitator and ‘leaders by example’.
Of course, managers don’t change overnight. The journey from ‘reactive manager’ to ‘creative leader’ is beautifully described in Scaling Leadership by Bob Anderson and Bill Adams. Their statement (on page 169) says it all:
“It is hard to change deeply grooved patterns in how we show up every day in our lives, and our leadership.”
‘Scaling Leadership’ also introduces powerful diagnostics based on thorough research to help leaders navigate the journey. Clive Wilson is one of an increasing number of Primeast Leadership Circle Profile Certified Practitioners.Click here to read more about the power of the Leadership Circle Profile.
To push the metaphor just one stage further, we need to be ready for quite a snowstorm in the years to come. Remember, each snowflake is totally unique but when they come together in numbers they can totally transform our landscape if you get our drift!
For fun, here are a few interesting quotes going back to 1700: proof that people have always complained about young adults
Co-written by Denis Kelly, Manager Engineering Capability Development at ESB and Clive Wilson, writer, keynote speaker, facilitator and coach at Primeast.
To start a conversation about building the capability of your leaders speak to a member of our team on +44 (0) 1423 531083 or email [email protected].
What is Facilitation & How to Excel at it
There are many business leaders who may feel they have a good handle on what it means to be a skilled facilitator, having the experience of leading meetings, engaging with staff and generally being key decision-makers that like to get things done.
However, when it comes to appreciating the nuanced role of the facilitator, and what these individuals can bring to their business, some may be lacking the in-depth understanding that is required to truly have an impact.
What is a facilitator and why are they important?
Many people might think that the facilitator is simply the leader of a meeting; the person who choreographs the discussion and ensures each topic up for debate is successfully covered…a true facilitator can do so much more than this.
What many people fail to understand is that the role of the facilitator is not to be a decision-maker (indeed, having to be actively involved in making decisions within a session can diminish their effectiveness), but instead it is to encourage all other participants to share their knowledge, thoughts and insight to further a specific goal.
Developing the right skills is therefore essential to success in the art of facilitation, and these include the ability to think on your feet, engage with others on their terms, adapt quickly to new situations and understand the path to progress lies in collaboration.
Ultimately, the facilitator should be viewed as a conduit for knowledge rather than a bringer of knowledge themselves, while also acting as guardian of the process that will drive business forward.
Becoming an excellent facilitator requires skill…
The key to becoming an excellent facilitator rests in understanding how to get the most out of people and to ensure everyone is encouraged to have their say in a fair and constructive manner. This can be easier said than done, however, and key to this is the ability to productively manage the overall dynamic of any meeting of minds.
Some of the most important elements in this process are the ability to:
- Effectively manage dysfunction and ensure a cohesive discussion that is open to all involved
- Bring participants back on topic should the discussion begin to wander off point
- Build consensus among those involved to ensure a productive end to the session
- Optimising energy and understanding when it might be time to take a break and allow the creative juices to rekindle
- Managing the phases of a meeting – understanding when to move forward and to push for progress
…and a clear understanding of the process is essential, here it is:
Prepare like a master
The facilitator must adequately prepare to be a leader in any meeting or session they chair, and this requires the development of a number of key attributes. These include in-depth design and planning of the itinerary of any meeting, as well understanding the key goals that this session is hoping to achieve.
A skilled facilitator will be able to set a clear agenda and relay this information to all involved. In addition, they must develop strong presentation skills and an air of authority that ensures all participants will willingly follow their lead. Setting out clear ground rules at the outset of any meeting is equally important and these should be prepared in advance.
Appropriate participation
During the meeting itself, the role of the facilitator becomes one of overseer and organiser. They should be able to direct the flow of a meeting, but not necessarily have a direct impact on what is being said or discussed. As previously mentioned, it is not the role of the facilitator to have all the answers; instead, they act as an adjudicator and director to get the best out of others.
This attention to service to the group rather than having all attention directed to themselves manifests in a number of ways. These include the ability to focus the group on the important questions and ideas up for debate (avoiding detours of thought); providing the tools to help participants process the topics up for discussion; providing questions and interventions to ensure fuller answers, and; capturing and recording the moment to enable all those in attendance to focus solely on the agenda at hand.
Closing the session with clear actions
Perhaps the most important stage in any meeting or discussion, the end of the session is the time when the facilitator can ensure they are adding the greatest value. Individuals taking part in a meeting must be aware of not only what has been talked about during their time together, but also what is now expected to happen next. This is where the facilitator comes into their own.
A skilled facilitator will ensure that no-one leaves their time together without having a clear understanding of their responsibilities moving forward. This can be as simple as providing a summary of what was discussed and setting out a future plan of action that people clearly understand. Overall, it is essential to remember that time spent in any meeting is ultimately fruitless if it does not lead to action. This is where the facilitator should take charge.
Effective facilitation keeps focus and forward momentum to achieve lasting change
In the end, those businesses that understand the impact that skilled facilitation can bring are the ones that are most likely to achieve forward momentum when seeking to achieve their goals.
By providing a focus on the bigger picture and ensuring this is kept in sight at all times, during meetings, seminars, work groups and conferences, the facilitator is the individual businesses should entrust to keep projects, plans and ambitious goals on track if they hope to achieve lasting organizational change.
Find out more about the impact of skilled facilitation and the important skill of listening in this article blog, ‘The power of generative listening’.
Warwick Abbott is a founding director of Primeast and his passion is supporting change management through relationship building and expert facilitation.
We invite you to start a conversation about your leadership development or the development challenges and opportunities for your organization, you can email him directly here. Or call Primeast on +44 (0)1423 531083.
How to Improve Employee Experience Initiatives
Understanding Employee Experience
Employee experience is a multifaceted concept that encompasses the various interactions and perceptions an employee has with their organisation throughout their tenure. It is a critical aspect of modern workplace culture, as it directly impacts employee engagement, productivity, and overall job satisfaction.
Definition of Employee Experience
Employee experience refers to the sum total of an employee’s interactions, perceptions, and feelings about their job, workplace, and employer. It includes every touchpoint, from the initial recruitment process to the exit interview, and encompasses various aspects such as company culture, technology, physical workspace, and employee benefits.
Importance of Employee Experience in the Workplace
Why is the employee experience so important? If the overall employee experience is good, then employees are likely to enjoy their job. Unhappy employees are likely to look for another job.
Employees who enjoy a great employee experience are more engaged at work. This translates into improved business outcomes: better innovation, customer satisfaction, and increased productivity ─ as well as an employer brand that attracts talent and produces higher profits.
The pandemic and the Great Resignation have accentuated the need for organisations to focus on crafting the employee experience and delivering moments that matter. It’s a wake-up call ─ an opportunity to deliver a renaissance that creates a more engaged, productive, cohesive, and loyal team.
Benefits of a Positive Employee Experience
A positive employee experience has numerous benefits that can significantly impact an organisation’s bottom line. One of the main benefits is increase employee engagement.
Increased Employee Engagement
Engaged employees are more productive, motivated, and committed to their work. They are also more likely to provide excellent customer service, leading to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty. A positive employee experience is critical for driving employee engagement, as it creates a sense of belonging, purpose, and fulfillment among employees.
When employees feel valued, supported, and empowered, they are more likely to be engaged and motivated. This, in turn, leads to improved productivity, better job performance, and increased employee retention. Moreover, engaged employees are more likely to become brand ambassadors, promoting the organisation’s values and mission to customers, clients, and the wider community.
By prioritising employee experience, organizations can create a positive and productive work culture that drives business success. It is essential to recognise that employee experience is not a one-time event but an ongoing process that requires continuous effort and attention. By investing in employee experience, organisations can reap numerous benefits, including increased employee engagement, improved productivity, and better customer satisfaction.
Three Steps to Improve the Effectiveness of Employee Experience in Employee Retention Programmes
In our previous article in this four-part series, we discussed why employee experience matters. One of the major reasons is employee retention. With more than 4 in 10 employees considering leaving their job according to a Microsoft survey, it’s clearly crucial to prioritise employee experience programmes in the employee retention strategy.
However, investment into employee retention programmes will only pay dividends if organisations and their leaders help to fashion their employees’ perception of employee experience. This requires a comprehensive employee experience strategy that addresses various elements across the employee lifecycle, integrating technology and feedback mechanisms to tailor experiences to employee needs.
To do this, a three-part strategy should be followed:
Step #1: Set expectations
Employees have different expectations for their individual employee experiences. Each employee has a unique life, background, career goals, and personal values. People are motivated by factors that are personal to them, and influenced by their subjective experiences.
Employee engagement refers specifically to the level of involvement and commitment an employee has towards their work. It includes factors such as satisfaction, purpose, and alignment with organizational goals, and it ultimately impacts productivity and workforce well-being.
Therefore, it’s crucial that organisational leaders set realistic expectations on what is achievable within this context, and that these expectations align with business goals and the desire to retain employees more effectively to help achieve these goals.
At departmental and team level, managers should meet regularly with their employees to ensure that individual and team expectations align with those of the organisation.
Step #2: Personalising the day-to-day workplace experience
Within the approach laid out by an organisation’s employee experience programme, managers must collaborate with their employees to deliver experiences that matter. Employee feedback is crucial in personalising workplace experiences, as it helps managers understand and act on the needs and preferences of their team. To do so, managers will need to:
Share information that helps employees see places to make improvements
First, identifying the tasks to be accomplished is key. Employee engagement surveys can be a valuable tool for gathering insights to help employees see areas for improvement. Breaking down work into small, manageable steps helps to clarify the scope. Second, having a process for managing and recording progress will allow employees to know where they stand and what is left to do. Lastly, allow employees autonomy to craft their work practices, enable risk-taking, and coach employees to learn from mistakes
Provide employees with a safe environment for discussions
It’s important for employees to feel safe when discussing sensitive subjects with others. To ensure this, it’s necessary to establish clear guidelines, encourage openness, and be transparent and honest in all communication.
Employee surveys can also be used to gather feedback in a safe and anonymous manner, providing valuable insights into the employee experience.
Provide a set of relevant choices to keep employees from being overwhelmed
One of the most crucial factors in retaining employees is to make sure they are happy and satisfied with their work. One way to do this is to provide them with a set of choices so that they are not overwhelmed by the experience ─ and to help them to tailor their employee experience so that it matches their needs and preferences.
Understanding the employee journey is essential to tailor experiences to match employee needs and preferences.
Step #3: Shape memories ─ both good and bad for a positive employee experience
Not all experiences will turn out as planned. There will be both good and bad moments. Therefore, it’s crucial that managers focus on shaping memories ─ reframing the negative and reinforcing the positive.
Measuring employee experience is essential to understand and improve employee experiences over time.
Communication is the key that unlocks the potential of workplace culture and employee experience programmes
Throughout each step, communication is crucial. It’s essential that leaders and managers understand teams and individuals to craft successful employee experiences. Therefore, employees must be given channels in which to express their opinions, perceptions, needs, and wants ─ and leaders must listen. Employee experience management is a dynamic process that requires ongoing investment and refinement throughout the employee lifecycle.
Managers must share information honestly, be courteous and attentive to feedback, provide support and guidance, and celebrate positive employee experiences.
6 Factors that affect the employee experience
As an organisation builds back better, in its culture and work practices, it must consider these six factors that affect the employee experience it delivers:
- Transparency and open communication to develop greater trust
- The creation of a frictionless work environment that embeds digital experiences in a collaborative workflow
- An organisational culture of inclusion and belonging
- Leadership that promotes engagement of employees in an environment in which employees are recognised by management and peers
- Learning and development opportunities, to help employees upskill and advance their careers
- Corporate social responsibility
When an organisation develops employee experience programmes that align with business goals and engage employees effectively, the benefits ripple throughout the organisation ─ helping to gel teams, boost productivity, and improve employee retention.
Where do you start? Complete the Personal Values Assessment to get a comprehensive insight into your organisational culture – the insight that will help you make more effective decisions, and aid in alignment with team members and colleagues.
How Can Predictive HR Analytics Help Employee Retention?
Using Attrition and Retention Analytics to Create Proactive Retention Strategies
Businesses are using predictive HR analytics to identify the specific reasons why their employees might be considering leaving, which helps them to create more successful retention strategies.
Every staff member is different, but there are some common factors that might make them want to quit. Attrition and retention analytics can help pinpoint these factors and take a proactive approach to develop solutions to fix damaging employee turnover.
How can HR predictive analytics help companies increase employee retention
Predictive HR analytics helps HR professionals to identify at-risk employees, measure their flight risk, and predict their potential turnover. It also helps HR professionals to create more personalised retention strategies and improve the employee experience. Specifically, attrition and retention analytics helps to improve employee retention by:
Determining the causes of attrition before retention becomes a problem
One of the most common applications of HR predictive analytics is in determining the causes of employee turnover, which can be done by looking at distinct factors like compensation, work/life balance, or job satisfaction. This can help companies determine what they need to do to retain their employees before attrition becomes a problem.
Identifying what employees may be at risk of leaving
HR predictive analytics uses different methods to identify employees who are at risk of leaving, including analysing their engagement levels with the company and their performance. These methods help HR managers understand what factors have led an employee to become disengaged or dissatisfied with work, and then find ways to solve them.
Improving employee experience and engagement
By using predictive analytics, HR managers can improve engagement by determining what it is that people like and dislike about their jobs, and then using this knowledge to create specific interventions that will deliver more meaningful and engaging employee experiences, thus improving employee engagement.
Helping create better compensation and incentive programs
Focusing on predicting the future of an employee, predictive analytics in HR can help organisations understand if factors such as compensation and incentive programs, hours worked, and location are determinants of employees deciding to quit their jobs. This helps organisations create better incentives for their employees, thus reducing the likelihood that they will leave the company for other opportunities.
Using Machine Learning to spot patterns that you might miss
HR predictive analytics helps to improve employee retention by using machine learning to spot patterns that you might miss. It does this by applying machine learning algorithms to collected data and developing hypotheses on what may happen in the future based on identified patterns. This can help an organisation understand their workforce, identify any issues, and make better decisions when it comes to recruitment, hiring, and retention.
How to use predictive HR analytics to reduce employee turnover
To achieve the most effective outcomes possible from HR analytics by predicting the probability of employees leaving their jobs in the future, an organisation must take a strategic, step-by-step approach, collecting data to develop a predictive model that will help the organisation to take pre-emptive actions and reduce employee turnover.
The five steps to using predictive HR analytics are as follows:
Step #1: Calculate the base metrics
HR must calculate current and previous base metrics across employee turnover and retention rates. The higher attrition rates rise, the fewer skilled workers an organisation will have to do the work needed. Productivity and quality fall, and it is necessary to figure out how business outcomes are affected by resignation rates.
By collecting and analysing data, an organisation can tweak its retention strategies according to data and not intuition.
Step #2: Collect data
Data must be collected that enables the organisation to accurately calculate metrics that affect employee retention. This data will help you to identify correlations and determine personalised retention interventions for employees who are most at risk of leaving. Key factors to consider include:
- Employee engagement rates
- Retention rate per manager
- Employee lifecycles
- Voluntary and involuntary turnover
For example, an organisation may track and log employee interactions, conduct pulse surveys, compile performance review statistics, identify compensation schedules, and conduct exit interviews.
Step #3: Identify attrition trends (Who is leaving, when, and why)
When an organisation has identified that it has an employee retention issue, it can utilise HR analytics to identify which employees are leaving, and why employees are leaving.
This may be achieved by performing an analysis of resignation data to determine which factors are increasing or decreasing resignations. Is it departmentally biased (perhaps there is an issue with a manager)? Are people leaving because of compensation (you may have failed to keep pace with market salaries)? Is there a pattern of employees leaving after a specific tenure in their jobs (perhaps you don’t provide sufficient learning, development, and career advancement opportunities)?
Step #4: Flag employees who are at risk of leaving
Not all employee resignations are bad, but it is better to reduce high employee turnover rates. Many resignations could be avoided by applying the knowledge you have gained from data collection and analysis to the development of retention strategies. You can focus on those groups of employees who are most at risk, as predicted by this analysis. Every resignation that can be avoided is money saved on hiring and training.
Step #5: Perform a focused intervention
Interventions must be focused on developing strategies that tackle the root causes of employee turnover, and on retaining key employees. By understanding the reasons why people are quitting ─ such as burnout, work relationships, the need for flexibility, compensation, lack of career advancement, etc. ─ an organisation can personalise its retention policies and strategies to department, teams, and individual employees as warranted.
The bottom line
Your organisation can use HR analytics to help identify employee retention issues and develop strategies to reduce employee turnover. The data you collect and analyse will help you focus on the underlying employee retention issues, and to find solutions before they cause real problems.
This data-driven approach removes bias and saves time and money in the HR function, enabling more precise retention strategies to be created and personalised ─ there is no one-size-fits-all solution to retention issues. It will also help to embed the C-suite support that is critical to the effectiveness of employee retention strategy.
To learn how our leadership coaching programs can help your leaders and managers lead more effectively as you combat the Great Resignation, contact Primeast today.
Creating a Cultural Action Plan to Improve the Employee Experience
Winning Hearts and Minds to Motivate Employee Engagement
Every company has a culture. It is the values, beliefs, and behaviours of employees and management. The culture sets the tone for how people work, interact with each other, and what they do on a day-to-day basis.
Organisations are beginning to realize that their culture is what drives their success.
A strong culture is crucial to the employee experience, improving motivation, happier employees who are more productive, and the delivery of superior customer experiences that drive revenues.
The question is, how do you create an organisational culture plan that will deliver all of this and more?
Create the conditions to attract and retain the best talent
It may be something of a cliche, but your people are the heart of your organisation. Your success depends upon the talent you attract and retain. Therefore you must take steps to create exceptional employer branding that achieves the goal of increasing and improving your human talent. To do so, you must:
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- Articulate an inspiring purpose
An inspiring purpose is a vision for your organisation that helps you make decisions and inspires your people to achieve your goals. It can be anything from a simple statement about who you are or what your values are, to developing a complex plan of how to live out your values in the world.
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- Share a vision for how to manifest your purpose
Employees will be able to work with more passion and dedication if they understand why they are doing what they do. Organisations that do not have a clear and compelling vision for how to manifest their purpose will struggle to retain talent, grow revenue, or maintain profitability.
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- Train your leaders in effective employee engagement
Leaders should focus on how to keep their employees engaged and happy. They need to make sure that they are not just focusing on their own personal agenda and instead have a servant-leader mindset towards their employees, and are adept at keeping everyone’s hearts and minds focused on how much they love your organisation.
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- Measure your teams’ performance and understand their expectations
It is important to put structures in place that allow you to have a good understanding of what your team’s expectations are. This will help you understand where they are coming from and the best way to design employee experiences. As you do so, you should also measure their performance to monitor how well your strategies are working.
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- Help teams develop the characteristics of a growth mindset
Create opportunities for employees to improve their knowledge and capabilities, inspiring them to develop a growth mindset that helps them achieve more than they think they could. This is a positive approach, focusing on new learning, innovative ideas, and the willingness to take on challenges.
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- Help people feel valued and appreciated
When people feel valued and appreciated, they are more likely to be motivated to do better work
Steps to Getting Your Game Plan Together
Let’s start creating a cultural plan by getting your game plan together with these six steps:
Step #1: Human capital culture creation
The importance of human capital culture creation is that it helps to shape an organisation’s identity. It also helps to create a unified sense of purpose and direction within an organisation. It can also help with recruitment and retention efforts. This process may also have some negative impacts on both employees and employers if not done properly.
Step #2: Strategic plan ─ goal and priority setting
Strategic planning is a process of defining the direction, scope, and objectives of an organisation. It also sets out the strategies and actions to achieve these objectives. This process helps organisations in identifying their strengths and weaknesses, setting goals and priorities, and evaluating progress.
Step #3: Values and behaviours development work
Values and behaviours development work is one of the most important aspects of human development. It is necessary for the individual to have a healthy self-image, a sense of purpose, and an understanding of their own strengths. Focus on skills such as emotional intelligence, goal setting, time management, empathy, responsibility, and more. This type of work helps individuals develop the skills that are necessary for them to be successful in their personal lives as well as in their professional lives.
Step #4: Leadership engagement development work
The goal of leadership engagement development work is to develop leadership skills to have a positive impact on an organisation. It helps leaders and managers to grow in their roles, develop new skills and take on new responsibilities. This can be done through coaching, mentoring, and other development processes.
Step #5: Socialising the work in the larger organisation
An organisation’s success depends on the cohesion of its employees and how well they collaborate. One way to achieve this is by socialising the work, helping people to understand each other’s roles, and fostering feelings of belonging to an organisation which is more akin to being part of a family.
Step #6: Define and employ metrics to measure your culture
Employing metrics to measure culture is a crucial step toward creating a culture that will drive success. Some metrics that you may use include:
- Employee engagement
- Employee satisfaction
- Employee turnover rates
- Customer satisfaction
- Customer retention rates
Benefits of having a new organisational culture plan
The new organisational culture plan should be a combination of company values and the employees’ needs. It is a way to get everyone on board, and it should be able to help you achieve your goals.
A new organisational culture plan will help you to understand what your values are and how they align with the business’s vision. It will also help you to understand how your organisation is currently operating and what type of culture would be best for it.
The benefits of developing an organisational culture plan that is designed to enhance the employee experience include:
- Greater employee retention
- Increased profit per employee
- Increased performance
- Decreased time to recruit open positions
- Increased emotional engagement agility and morale
Takeaway ─ Take stock and ask the following questions
As you design and develop your culture plan, it’s crucial to ensure that it remains on track to deliver the envisaged benefits. As you take stock of your existing culture and design your new culture plan, ask yourself the following questions:
- Do we shelter toxic leaders?
- Do we have the right people in the right places?
- Do our leaders have the skills to lead these changes?
- How strong was our culture before the pandemic?
- Is our work environment transactional?
- Are our benefits aligned with employee priorities?
- Employees want career paths and development opportunities. Can we provide it?
- How are we building a sense of community?
- Are we preserving processes and procedures that are no longer valid?
An organisation’s culture will affect the way it does business. A good culture is one that is inclusive and encourages teamwork among employees. A bad culture will tear apart a company from the inside out, creating an environment where employees are not happy to be at work.
How is your current culture doing? When was the last time you measured your employee engagement, and discussed employee experience and its place in the equation?
Fast-forward five years. Where do you see yourself and your organisation? Will you be able to look back and see your current challenges as the greatest gift?
Where do you start? Complete the Personal Values Assessment to get a comprehensive insight into your organisational culture – the insight that will help you make more effective decisions, and aid in alignment with team members and colleagues.
Line Managers as Champions of Learning
In the current unpredictable and disrupted business climate, line managers play a critical role in developing their team members to be able to deal successfully with their challenges. Line managers are the frontline connection between business strategy and operational execution and having well developed people is critical to effective implementation. Sadly, in our experience, for a range of reasons, they are not always set up for success or engaged enough to see learning as an organisational imperative.
Studies from a number of notable institutions and organisations have identified a couple of dominant reasons for this:
- Too busy: challenging business climate, pressure from senior leaders to focus exclusively on activities that directly drive profitable growth. These can mean that long-term growth through the development of people and their individual talents takes a back seat.
- Not my job: over time many organisations have developed cultures, and it’s often in the unwritten rules, that learning is seen as HR or L & D’s job. People go away from the workplace, they get trained, a miracle occurs; and they come back to the workplace transformed.
Leaving this situation unchallenged within any organisation should not be an option. The consequence of leaving the issue unaddressed potentially affects the long-term organisational health, retention of talent and overall performance.
Primeast is a certified Kirkpatrick Partners consultancy and helps organisations develop a learning culture and derive better value from their investments in learning. Here are 10 practical tips to help start making progress:
Develop THEM as Champions of Learning
HR and senior leadership should commit some time and money to educating line managers as to why their role as Champions of Learning is vital to organisational growth. Also, you need to ensure line mangers themselves are well trained and have good personal experience of the benefits of learning.
Engage them to make learning the norm
The role of learning needs to become part of culture, not just another process. Once line managers feel the value of learning, they are much more likely to become Champions of Learning. Old school Scientific Management (Taylorism), where employees just learn to do one task and managers just mange the repeated execution of that task is no longer good enough.
Define the need and the measurement
HR and senior leadership need to help line managers by providing clear guidance on what the organisation expects in terms of people development. Vague objectives and statements aren’t sufficient. Line managers need to understand what behaviours, mindset and practice will make a positive impact on Leading Business Indicators (micro-measures that show things are on track to hit bigger objectives). All this needs to feature in role definitions and personal objectives too.
Help line managers to understand team member development needs
Part of the journey of turning line managers into Champions is developing their ability to recognise development needs in their team members and colleagues. They need to be able to recognise patterns and trends in what they see going on around them. Then by using their coaching skills and Deconstructive Dialogue (Kegan and Lahey) they can work them to find the best way forward. Of course, training may not actually be the right solution.
Many line managers will say they are too busy with workload to be responsible for developing their people. HR and senior leaders need to consider how they re-engineer the way they work to create this capacity. Many of the world’s most cutting-edge businesses, such as Google and Apple have built time into workflows to allow for innovation and people development.
Options, options, options
Once line managers have capacity and personal skills, they will begin to know their people much better and what each person’s learning preferences are. It’s the role of HR to provide a range of options for development. This means creating a blended suite of learning solutions. Technology may provide rich and cost-effective ways of learning content, it’s not the panacea. Human evolution is slower than technological evolution, so if organisations want effective learning, they have to accommodate a variety of needs; then let their Champions be stewards of the best choices.
Make communication omnidirectional
Take steps to include the value of learning as a ‘golden thread’ in internal communications whether that’s strategic, operational or peer to peer.
Create a common language around learning
HR and learning have long been a haven of jargon. The best organisations use clear, understandable language surrounding learning that is meaningful for the whole organisation top to bottom. The better people understand the more likely they are to act in a way that contributes to progress.
In the 70:20:10 learning process, the true value comes in the 70
As part of their development line managers need to understand what workplace-based options are available to them to recommend to their people. These may be used as experiences for people to practise and implement things they’e been taught in formal learning; they may just be a potentially meaningful experience, such as organising or facilitating a meeting or being part of high-profile project team.
Invite and encourage feedback
Alongside all of the above, meaningful feedback loops built in to the system will contribute to the development of the organisational learning mindset and processes. Feedback needs to be seen as an opportunity and if appropriate for making positive moves toward business objectives, acted upon as soon as is practical.
How to Engage Remote Employees: 12 Strategies
Evolving Employee Engagement Strategy for the Evolution of Work
The question of how to engage remote employees is one that will continue to be at the top of management meetings. Remote work isn’t a passing trend, it’s the new norm. A 2023 study by McKinsey found that 98 million U.S. workers have the option to work remotely at least part of the time, and globally, hybrid work is expected to grow by 20% over the next five years.
This shift brings undeniable benefits: greater flexibility, access to a wider talent pool, and improved work-life balance. But it also introduces a challenge: how do we keep remote employees engaged, connected, and motivated when they’re no longer sharing the same physical space?
The risk? Many organisations deliver a remote employee experience that feels isolating, leaving employees disengaged and disconnected from company culture. And disengagement has a cost:
- Companies with highly engaged employees experience 23% higher profitability (Gallup, 2023).
- Disengaged employees cost organisations an estimated $450–$550 billion per year in lost productivity (HBR).
Traditional engagement strategies—team lunches, office perks, and casual watercooler chats—aren’t enough in a remote-first world. Today’s remote employees expect more:
✔ A leader who acts as a coach and helps them reach their potential.
✔ A clear sense of purpose that aligns with their personal values.
✔ Ongoing feedback, employee recognition, and career growth opportunities.
✔ A work environment that supports well-being and work-life balance.
So, why do so many remote engagement strategies fail? Because they’re seen as an HR initiative run by HR professionals, rather than an organisational priority. Engagement isn’t just an HR function, it’s a leadership function. It’s managers, supervisors, and executives who set the tone for engagement every day.
In this guide, we’ll outline 12 actionable strategies to help your organisation engage remote employees to foster connection, build motivation, and develop long-term commitment.
Understanding Remote Employee Engagement
Remote employee engagement isn’t just about logging in on time and hitting deadlines. It’s about how connected, motivated, and invested remote employees feel in their work, their team, and the organisation as a whole.
With remote employees engaged, they bring energy, creativity, and commitment to their roles. They contribute ideas, support colleagues, and actively push the organisation forward. When they aren’t? You’ll see it in missed opportunities, lower employee morale, and higher turnover.
But engagement feels different in a remote world. Without an office environment to create natural moments of connection, remote employees can start to feel like they’re working for a company rather than with one. That’s a crucial difference.
So, what makes a remote employee feel engaged?
- A sense of belonging: They feel part of something bigger, not just a name on a screen.
- A connection to leadership: They see and hear from leaders regularly, not just in formal meetings.
- A voice in the company: Their ideas, opinions, and contributions are acknowledged.
- A clear growth path: They know how they can develop, even without the visibility of an office setting.
Traditional engagement tactics don’t always translate to remote work. A well-stocked breakroom or after-work drinks can’t replace meaningful connection and purpose.
The key?
Building engagement into the fabric of your culture, not treating it as an add-on.
1. Optimise your onboarding process
First impressions set the tone. A strong onboarding process introduces employees to systems and processes of course, but it also makes them feel valued, included, and excited from day one.
For remote employees, this is even more critical. Without an office environment to naturally absorb company culture, a disjointed or impersonal onboarding experience can leave them feeling disconnected before they’ve even begun.
So, how do you make remote onboarding impactful?
- Get the logistics sorted early. Nobody wants to spend their first day filling out forms or waiting for IT support. Ensure paperwork is completed in advance, and that they have all the tools they need (laptop, logins, software, etc) and are ready to go.
- Create structured introductions. Assign a buddy or mentor, schedule 1:1s with key team members, and make leadership visible early on.
- Immerse them in culture, not just information. A well-designed onboarding portal or welcome session should go beyond company policies. Showcase your values, success stories, and what makes your organisation unique.
- Make it interactive. Pre-recorded videos and documents have their place, but nothing beats real conversations. Virtual coffee chats, team Q&As, or even an informal ‘meet the team’ call can make a huge difference.
- Check in—then check in again. Onboarding should never be a one-week process. Regular follow-ups in the first 30, 60, and 90 days help ensure new hires feel supported and engaged.
When done well, onboarding is more about than getting remote employees up to speed, It’s about setting them up for long-term success and connection with your organisation.
2. Connect remote employees to your mission
People want more than a paycheck. They want purpose.
When employees understand how their work contributes to a bigger vision, they feel more invested in what they do. But in a remote setting, where day-to-day tasks can feel isolated, it’s easy for that connection to fade.
How do you ensure remote employees feel aligned with your mission?
- Make your vision visible. Don’t let your company’s purpose live in a forgotten slide deck. Reinforce it in meetings, company updates, and everyday conversations.
- Show, don’t tell. A mission statement means little if it’s not reflected in leadership actions. Remote Employees should see company values in decisions, behaviours, and recognition.
- Tie individual roles to the bigger picture. Help remote employees see how their work drives impact. Share real stories of how projects, ideas, and contributions are shaping the organisation.
- Encourage leadership storytelling. People connect with people. When leaders share their personal connection to the mission, it fosters a stronger sense of belonging and purpose.
A strong mission is a guiding force that shapes culture, engagement, and commitment. Keep it front and centre.
3. Foster effective communication and listening
In a remote environment, where body language and casual office chats are absent, the way leaders and teams communicate can make or break engagement.
How do you make communication truly effective for remote teams?
- Listen first, speak second. Remote employees want to feel heard, not just informed. Active listening: acknowledging concerns, asking follow-up questions, and acting on employee feedback will help build trust.
- Adapt communication styles. Some remote employees thrive on video calls; others prefer written updates. Use a mix of synchronous (real-time) and asynchronous (on-demand) communication to suit different preferences.
- Make meetings meaningful. Avoid status updates that could be an email. Instead, use meetings for discussions, collaboration, and decision-making.
- Clarify, don’t assume. In remote settings, ambiguity leads to misalignment. Be clear on expectations, next steps, and responsibilities to avoid unnecessary confusion.
- Encourage informal interactions. Not every conversation should be about work. Creating space for casual chats through virtual coffee breaks, Slack channels, or check-ins, helps maintain social bonds.
Great communication keeps teams aligned, engaged, and motivated, no matter where they are.
4. Regular check-ins: Go beyond work in conversations to build more meaningful relationships
A quick “How’s everything going?” isn’t a check-in. Meaningful check-ins are about building relationships, understanding challenges, and showing genuine care.
For remote employees, regular touchpoints help replace the informal office interactions that naturally build connection. But the key? They can’t only be about work.
How to make check-ins count:
- Be consistent, not just reactive. Don’t wait for a problem to arise. Schedule regular one-to-ones to stay connected.
- Talk about the person, not just the job. Ask about challenges, wins, career goals, and well-being.
- Listen more than you speak. Check-ins are a space for remote employees to be heard. Give them room to share.
- Act on feedback. If an remote employee raises a concern or idea, follow up. Trust is built when people see their input leads to action.
- Keep it human. Not every conversation needs an agenda. Sometimes, a casual “How’s your week going?” is enough to show you care.
Meaningful check-ins improve engagement, strengthen trust, motivation, and long-term commitment.
5. Provide a space for ideas to feel appreciated and acknowledged
In a traditional office, ideas can spark in casual moments, over coffee, in passing conversations, or during impromptu brainstorms. But in a remote setting, where interactions are more structured, those organic opportunities often disappear. That’s why intentionality matters when it comes to fostering innovation and making employees feel heard.
The best organisations create an environment where sharing them feels natural. This starts with giving remote employees different ways to contribute. Not everyone feels comfortable speaking up in meetings, so alternative channels, like Slack discussions, anonymous suggestion forms, or smaller group sessions, help ensure every voice has a space.
But sharing an idea is only half the equation. Remote Employees also need to feel like their contributions matter. A simple acknowledgment, whether through public recognition, leadership follow-up, or a direct response, reinforces that input is valued.
And when an idea is implemented? Celebrate it. Highlighting real examples of employee-driven change not only motivates the individual but encourages others to engage, too.
Finally, follow-through is essential. Nothing shuts down engagement faster than sharing an idea and hearing nothing back. Even if an idea isn’t feasible, close the loop with a response. Explain why or suggest an alternative. This keeps employees invested in the process. When people feel heard, they stay engaged.
6. Keep open lines of communication
Remote work removes the small, everyday moments of connection. No hallway chats, no spontaneous coffee breaks, no quick desk drop-ins. Without these, communication can become purely transactional, focused only on tasks and deadlines. And when that happens, engagement suffers.
We must find ways to make remote work more social and keep remote workers engaged. Keep our lines of communication open and deliver a ‘water cooler experience’ using technology.
One company we know set up a separate slack channel for people to share recipes. This worked so well that they set up other channels, to enable people to join in social conversations as if they were at work. Crucially, the employees administer these channels themselves.
As we build out communication capabilities, we must take advantage of technology to:
- Develop a centralised communication tool across all teams
- Optimise your communication technology to better support your employees
- Go beyond work in our conversations to build more meaningful relationships
7. Create a customised inclusion experience and promote relationship building
Inclusion isn’t a one-time initiative, a workshop, or a policy. It’s something employees should feel every day, in every interaction. But in remote teams, it’s easy for inclusion to slip. Some voices dominate meetings, decisions get made in private Slack messages, and those in different time zones or backgrounds can feel like they’re on the outside looking in.
So how do you create a truly inclusive remote culture?
Start by designing meetings that give everyone a voice. That means structured turn-taking in discussions, using tools like anonymous idea boards, and actively inviting quieter remote team members to contribute. A well-run meeting ensures that inclusion isn’t about who speaks the loudest but about ensuring everyone is heard.
Then, think about visibility. Remote workforce often means employees only interact with their immediate teams. Break those silos by creating cross-functional project groups, rotating leadership in team meetings, and encouraging knowledge-sharing across departments. When employees see diverse perspectives in action, inclusion becomes part of the culture, not just a goal.
Finally, don’t underestimate the power of shared stories. Encourage employees to share their experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives—whether in team meetings, internal newsletters, or informal chats. And for leaders? Sharing their own stories, including struggles and vulnerabilities, can create an atmosphere where employees feel safe to be themselves.
8. Provide a mentally safe environment for employees
Ever had an idea in a meeting but held back, worried it might not land well? That hesitation signals low psychological safety. The fear of speaking up, making mistakes, or challenging ideas.
In a remote setting, where interactions are fewer, that fear can feel even bigger.
Psychological safety means remote employees feel comfortable contributing, questioning, and taking risks without fear of judgment or backlash. So how do you build it?
- Lead with vulnerability. When managers admit mistakes or ask for feedback, they show that openness isn’t just encouraged, it’s expected.
- Reward curiosity, not just results. Ask, “What did we learn from this?” instead of focusing on what went wrong. A culture that treats mistakes as learning opportunities fosters innovation.
- Create structured space for input. Use anonymous Q&A, pre-meeting idea submissions, or round-robin discussions to ensure all voices are heard.
- Model active listening. Simple responses like “That’s a great point. What do others think?” or “Let’s explore that idea further” encourage discussion instead of shutting it down.
- Recognise contributions, not just outcomes. Acknowledging effort and insight, even if an idea doesn’t move forward, reinforces that speaking up is valued.
When employees know they can share openly without fear, they engage more, collaborate better, and push the organisation forward in ways that truly matter.
9. Support Work-Life Balance in Meaningful Ways
Remote work was supposed to bring better work-life balance. But for many, it’s done the opposite. By blurring the boundaries between work and home, it’s lead to longer hours, more burnout, and the feeling of always being on.
It’s not enough to say “We support work-life balance.” Remote Employees need to see it in action. Here’s how:
- Set clear expectations around availability. Just because remote work is flexible doesn’t mean employees should feel obligated to respond at all hours. Define core working hours and respect personal time.
- Lead by example. When leaders take breaks, log off on time, and avoid sending late-night emails, they give employees permission to do the same.
- Encourage real breaks. A ‘working lunch’ isn’t a break. Neither is answering emails on holiday. Normalise stepping away, whether for a walk, a gym session, or simply time offline.
- Offer autonomy, not just policies. Some employees work best in structured schedules; others thrive with flexibility. Instead of rigid rules, empower employees to manage their time in a way that works for them.
- Check in, without micromanaging. A simple “How’s your workload?” shows employees their well-being matters. But balance is key. Trust employees to manage their work without constant oversight.
When work-life balance is practiced, not just promised, employees are more engaged, more productive, and more likely to stick around.
10. Provide Opportunities for Growth and Development
Nothing disengages an employee faster than feeling stuck. Without clear opportunities for growth, remote workers can start to feel like they’re just going through the motions. When that happens, they’re more likely to look elsewhere.
Growth doesn’t just mean promotions. In today’s flatter organisations, career progression is often about skill-building, exposure to new challenges, and personal development. The best companies create multiple pathways for growth, such as:
- Ongoing learning opportunities – Access to online courses, certifications, and industry events keeps employees learning and evolving.
- Stretch assignments – Give employees the chance to take on new challenges, lead projects, or work cross-functionally to expand their skill set.
- Mentorship and coaching – Connecting employees with mentors, inside or outside the organisation, provides guidance and inspiration for career growth.
- Career mapping conversations – Regular check-ins about aspirations help employees see a future within the company, rather than feeling like they need to leave to grow.
11. Recognise and reward your remote employees’ effort
The importance of recognising employees’ efforts is not limited to just managers. We should develop a culture in which employees themselves should also take the time to appreciate the work of their colleagues. This will help remote employees feel connected to the organisation and its culture.
Feeling valued isn’t a “nice-to-have”, it’s a fundamental driver of engagement. Yet in remote settings, recognition can often fall by the wayside. Without a manager walking past their desk to say “Great job on that project,” employees can start to wonder if their efforts are even noticed.
The solution? Make recognition a habit, not an afterthought.
- Be specific. A generic “Good job” is forgettable. Acknowledging exactly what someone did well (“Your presentation really clarified our strategy – great work!”) makes it meaningful.
- Celebrate in the right way. Some employees appreciate public recognition, while others prefer a private thank-you. Knowing how people like to be recognised makes a difference.
- Use multiple channels. Shoutouts in team meetings, a Slack kudos channel, or even a handwritten note. Variety keeps recognition fresh and impactful.
- Tie recognition to values. Highlighting how an employee’s work aligns with company values reinforces a sense of purpose and belonging.
- Don’t wait. Recognition shouldn’t be reserved for annual reviews or big milestones. A quick, timely acknowledgment has a far greater impact.
When employees know their contributions matter, they’re more engaged, more motivated, and more likely to go above and beyond. Recognition isn’t just a feel-good gesture. It’s a key ingredient in a thriving remote culture
12. Rethink Leadership Approach for Remote Engagement
The shift to remote and hybrid work hasn’t just changed where we work, it’s changed how leaders need to lead. The traditional model of “managing by presence” no longer works. Leaders can’t rely on casual office drop-ins or visual cues to gauge engagement. Instead, they must be intentional, proactive, and people-focused.
So what does great leadership look like in a remote world?
- Trust over control. Micromanagement kills engagement. Set clear expectations, then give employees the autonomy to deliver results in their own way.
- Empathy as a core skill. Remote work brings unique challenges; loneliness, blurred boundaries, and digital fatigue. Great leaders check in, not just on progress, but on people.
- Frequent, meaningful communication. Regular updates, transparent decision-making, and open-door policies (even virtually) keep employees connected to leadership.
- Leading by example. When leaders take breaks, log off on time, and prioritise well-being, it signals to employees that they can do the same.
- Creating connection. Strong leadership isn’t just about driving performance; it’s about fostering a culture where employees feel seen, heard, and valued, even from a distance.
Leadership has always shaped engagement, but in a remote world, it’s more important than ever. The best leaders don’t just manage from a distance, they lead with trust, empathy, and a vision that keeps employees connected, inspired, and engaged.
Measuring and Evaluating Remote Engagement
You can’t improve what you don’t measure. Understanding how engaged your remote employees are and what’s driving or hindering that engagement, requires more than just gut feeling.
The best organisations take a data-driven approach to employee engagement, using key metrics to track progress and make informed decisions.
How to Measure Remote Employee Engagement
Employee Engagement Surveys – Regular pulse surveys help gauge sentiment, track trends over time, and uncover hidden issues. The key? Ask the right questions. Instead of vague inquiries like “Are you happy at work?”, focus on specifics:
❓ Do you feel recognised for your work?
❓ Do you have the tools and support you need to succeed remotely?
❓ How connected do you feel to your team and the company’s mission?
Productivity & Performance Metrics – Engagement isn’t just about how employees feel, it’s also reflected in their output, collaboration, and willingness to go above and beyond. Are remote teams hitting goals? Are employees actively contributing ideas and innovations?
Retention & Turnover Rates – A sudden increase in resignations can signal deeper engagement issues. Tracking why employees leave, and more importantly, why they stay, helps identify strengths and gaps in your engagement strategy.
Feedback & Recognition Metrics – Recognition drives engagement, but is it happening consistently? Tracking how often managers provide feedback, how frequently employees receive praise, and how peer recognition is used can highlight whether appreciation is embedded in your culture.
eNPS (Employee Net Promoter Score) – This single-question metric asks employees:
❓ “On a scale from 0-10, how likely are you to recommend this company as a great place to work?”
High scores indicate strong engagement, while lower scores reveal potential concerns that need to be addressed.
From Measurement to Action
Collecting engagement data is only half the equation. The real value comes from acting on what you learn.
- Identify trends. If engagement dips in a certain department or time period, dig into the why.
- Communicate results transparently. Employees should see that their feedback leads to real change.
- Iterate and refine. Engagement isn’t static. Regular evaluation ensures your strategies stay relevant and effective.
When engagement is measured, understood, and acted upon, remote teams don’t just function, they thrive.
Are you a Snowplough Employer?
Many of us will have heard of the millennial generation referred to as ‘Snowflakes’ and the ‘Snowflake Generation’. In this context the suggestion is that they are in some ways less resilient and more prone to taking offence than previous generations. The other, more relevant suggestion is that they swan around under the naive impression that they’re special, beautiful and unique with a strong sense of entitlement. But isn’t that what older generations always say about the following generations?
There are other possible ways of looking at this perceived ‘Snowflakery’.
Perhaps being “prone to take offence†is perceived from their strong personal belief in fair play and their commitment to creating a better community for all. This may lead to an unwillingness to tip their cap to the status quo and to challenge even the smallest negative behaviours in our society. In a VUCA world being turned upside-down by global political and environmental challenges, is it any wonder that this generation is seriously concerned about the world they have inherited from their parents? Maybe they are justifiably keen to do a better job for future generations and to do it in their own way.
On the flip side of this discussion is the question How did we create a Snowflake Generation?
Well yes of course they have ‘Snowplough Parents’ who spend all their time smoothing out life for their precious offspring. In doing so they rob them of the opportunities to grow and learn from the ups and downs of life. Equally it could be said they ploughed a clear furrow of values and a willingness to challenge that status quo for their offspring. This is the generation of CND, Green Peace, Civil Rights Movement, “second-wave” feminist cause, and much more.
Snowflakes at work
If we translate this into the world of work, do we try to steer our employees’ careers for them? In effect, are we ‘snowplough’ employers? Or do we encourage them to own their own careers and support them to navigate the world of work, learning from its many ups and downs. The millennial generation generally choose the latter. They change jobs frequently and move quickly when they get disillusioned. For them, the size of the paycheque is somewhat less important than the perceived value of the work to improve themselves and contribute to the broader community.
The snowflake generation and snow plough employers were discussed at length at a recent Primeast Talent Forum in Dublin. We were exploring the challenge, brought by our hosts ESB: ‘How to source, grow and retain technical talent – who can develop the future skills that currently don’t exist but will be critical to our future as a business’. Denis Kelly was in the forum ‘hotseat’ feeling the melting snow and Clive Wilson was facilitating. In relation to the challenge, Denis suggested that the days of the snowplough employer were numbered. This was a new term for many in the room, including Clive, but it was a very helpful metaphor.
Snowplough employer?
The snowplough employer is the one that takes control, smooths out the bumps they see ahead because they believe they know future roles that are needed to build new capabilities and the ‘right’career path for each of their employees. This paternalistic approach may have worked in the past but in a world enveloped in a ‘VUCA fog’, such certainty is more likely to steer careers onto the rocks. All our business environments are changing at an increasing pace, technology is allowing new players to enter previously protected markets rapidly and, whilst there is much data on key trends, there is also far more uncertainty.
The key to success going forward will be agility and adaptability and they will not come from ‘one size fits all’ traditional development approaches. But, rather than feeling downbeat about the challenges we face, our All Ireland Talent Forum of some twenty professionals from a wide range of industries agreed that the role of the employer is to present the challenge as exciting and meaningful. This a world where people can bring their unique skill-sets, talents and curiosity into play for the benefit of all stakeholders. The contribution of the employer being to help people unlock their full potential and take personal ownership of their career journeys.
Instead of designing career paths for employees, leaders and managers need to inspire people with the excitement of the challenge and support them to recognise, develop and use their talents to grasp emerging future opportunities. Instead of being snow plough managers or even career-controllers, they need to move into the role of the career coach, facilitator and ‘leaders by example’.
Of course, managers don’t change overnight. The journey from ‘reactive manager’ to ‘creative leader’ is beautifully described in Scaling Leadership by Bob Anderson and Bill Adams. Their statement (on page 169) says it all:
“It is hard to change deeply grooved patterns in how we show up every day in our lives, and our leadership.”
‘Scaling Leadership’ also introduces powerful diagnostics based on thorough research to help leaders navigate the journey. Clive Wilson is one of an increasing number of Primeast Leadership Circle Profile Certified Practitioners.Click here to read more about the power of the Leadership Circle Profile.
To push the metaphor just one stage further, we need to be ready for quite a snowstorm in the years to come. Remember, each snowflake is totally unique but when they come together in numbers they can totally transform our landscape if you get our drift!
For fun, here are a few interesting quotes going back to 1700: proof that people have always complained about young adults
Co-written by Denis Kelly, Manager Engineering Capability Development at ESB and Clive Wilson, writer, keynote speaker, facilitator and coach at Primeast.
To start a conversation about building the capability of your leaders speak to a member of our team on +44 (0) 1423 531083 or email [email protected].
What is Facilitation & How to Excel at it
There are many business leaders who may feel they have a good handle on what it means to be a skilled facilitator, having the experience of leading meetings, engaging with staff and generally being key decision-makers that like to get things done.
However, when it comes to appreciating the nuanced role of the facilitator, and what these individuals can bring to their business, some may be lacking the in-depth understanding that is required to truly have an impact.
What is a facilitator and why are they important?
Many people might think that the facilitator is simply the leader of a meeting; the person who choreographs the discussion and ensures each topic up for debate is successfully covered…a true facilitator can do so much more than this.
What many people fail to understand is that the role of the facilitator is not to be a decision-maker (indeed, having to be actively involved in making decisions within a session can diminish their effectiveness), but instead it is to encourage all other participants to share their knowledge, thoughts and insight to further a specific goal.
Developing the right skills is therefore essential to success in the art of facilitation, and these include the ability to think on your feet, engage with others on their terms, adapt quickly to new situations and understand the path to progress lies in collaboration.
Ultimately, the facilitator should be viewed as a conduit for knowledge rather than a bringer of knowledge themselves, while also acting as guardian of the process that will drive business forward.
Becoming an excellent facilitator requires skill…
The key to becoming an excellent facilitator rests in understanding how to get the most out of people and to ensure everyone is encouraged to have their say in a fair and constructive manner. This can be easier said than done, however, and key to this is the ability to productively manage the overall dynamic of any meeting of minds.
Some of the most important elements in this process are the ability to:
- Effectively manage dysfunction and ensure a cohesive discussion that is open to all involved
- Bring participants back on topic should the discussion begin to wander off point
- Build consensus among those involved to ensure a productive end to the session
- Optimising energy and understanding when it might be time to take a break and allow the creative juices to rekindle
- Managing the phases of a meeting – understanding when to move forward and to push for progress
…and a clear understanding of the process is essential, here it is:
Prepare like a master
The facilitator must adequately prepare to be a leader in any meeting or session they chair, and this requires the development of a number of key attributes. These include in-depth design and planning of the itinerary of any meeting, as well understanding the key goals that this session is hoping to achieve.
A skilled facilitator will be able to set a clear agenda and relay this information to all involved. In addition, they must develop strong presentation skills and an air of authority that ensures all participants will willingly follow their lead. Setting out clear ground rules at the outset of any meeting is equally important and these should be prepared in advance.
Appropriate participation
During the meeting itself, the role of the facilitator becomes one of overseer and organiser. They should be able to direct the flow of a meeting, but not necessarily have a direct impact on what is being said or discussed. As previously mentioned, it is not the role of the facilitator to have all the answers; instead, they act as an adjudicator and director to get the best out of others.
This attention to service to the group rather than having all attention directed to themselves manifests in a number of ways. These include the ability to focus the group on the important questions and ideas up for debate (avoiding detours of thought); providing the tools to help participants process the topics up for discussion; providing questions and interventions to ensure fuller answers, and; capturing and recording the moment to enable all those in attendance to focus solely on the agenda at hand.
Closing the session with clear actions
Perhaps the most important stage in any meeting or discussion, the end of the session is the time when the facilitator can ensure they are adding the greatest value. Individuals taking part in a meeting must be aware of not only what has been talked about during their time together, but also what is now expected to happen next. This is where the facilitator comes into their own.
A skilled facilitator will ensure that no-one leaves their time together without having a clear understanding of their responsibilities moving forward. This can be as simple as providing a summary of what was discussed and setting out a future plan of action that people clearly understand. Overall, it is essential to remember that time spent in any meeting is ultimately fruitless if it does not lead to action. This is where the facilitator should take charge.
Effective facilitation keeps focus and forward momentum to achieve lasting change
In the end, those businesses that understand the impact that skilled facilitation can bring are the ones that are most likely to achieve forward momentum when seeking to achieve their goals.
By providing a focus on the bigger picture and ensuring this is kept in sight at all times, during meetings, seminars, work groups and conferences, the facilitator is the individual businesses should entrust to keep projects, plans and ambitious goals on track if they hope to achieve lasting organisational change.
Find out more about the impact of skilled facilitation and the important skill of listening in this article blog, ‘The power of generative listening’.
Warwick Abbott is a founding director of Primeast and his passion is supporting change management through relationship building and expert facilitation.
We invite you to start a conversation about your leadership development or the development challenges and opportunities for your organisation, you can email him directly here. Or call Primeast on +44 (0)1423 531083.