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Gaining trust of remote employees

Victoria

I work for a company who have staff based at HQ as well as a number of staff who work remotely all over the world. My Directors are wanting me to have informal chats with all staff members to find out about what motivates them, what their pain points are, what the company is doing well and what it can improve. I know from experience that when HR comes calling for a chat, staff members are more than likely to clam up. I am looking for some advice on how to approach this and also how to approach it in a way that it is not sounding like I am trying to get information from them. 

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  • I think you can build relationships via email, but that you have to soften the formality of the medium with a long term approach. Remembering someone's birthday and sending a non-template message, following up on an absence/wedding/illness/parent's operation/child's assembly or issue in someone's life that you've remembered, or just checking in informally - it takes time, but you can show that you care, and that HR is not a bureaucratic machine but a department that looks after the organisation by looking after its employees. Much easier to do in person, but distance just demands a different approach, that's all. Once the relationship is there, you can more easily ask about the issues your organisation is trying to address.

    Appreciate that you may not have the timeline on this occasion to make it work for this project, in which case I'd do as much face to face work as possible - and visits might seem extravagant when there are virtual options available, but where they're possible I'd definitely see them as a good investment.
  • in reply to Nina Waters
    Hi Nina,

    Thanks for this advice, yes, the challenge will be building the relationship but we have the means available to build the relationship remotely.

    I am aware that this will be more of a long term project so need to manage Directors expectations that we may not get the answers we are looking for first time around.

    Thanks again :)
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  • in reply to Nina Waters
    Hi Nina,

    Thanks for this advice, yes, the challenge will be building the relationship but we have the means available to build the relationship remotely.

    I am aware that this will be more of a long term project so need to manage Directors expectations that we may not get the answers we are looking for first time around.

    Thanks again :)
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