How do you promote employee engagement and well-being during remote work or hybrid models?

I lead a truly global team in many time zones. I make sure to keep standing 1:1, bi-weekly team meetings, team huddles and management meetings on our calendars and make time for regular 1:1 skip level meetings as well to ensure I keep a personal connection with everyone. Not just my direct reports. We kick off every huddle with music and keep these meetings more fun and personal and reserve the team and management meetings for content, updates and more "business" related items since we don't get a chance to pass each other in the hall or have lunch together. We use Microsoft Teams for just in time updates and celebrate birthdays and anniversaries as a team as well.

During team meetings and huddles we will frequently change up the programming and do something fun. I have the team managers come up with games for everyone to participate in virtually and at holiday time we had a virtual team scavenger hunt that included singing, costumes and more. There were tons of laughs and we had a chance to mix the teams up so folks could partner with team members they didn't typically work with. We try to incorporate something like this at least 1 time a month or every other month and it seems to go a long way with morale!

When goal planning for the year, we of course go through a top down goal setting exercise but I always ask my team members to add one item on their objectives that is just for them. What is it they want to ensure they accomplish this year? What do they want to learn or try? Is there a project or COE they would like to gain exposure to? We have a huge library of learning available for our teams and if they can't find something they are interested in there I also encourage them to look through LinkedIn and other learning opportunities to encourage their learning journeys.

Rest and boundaries are key. I have teams in the US, India, Philippines and more. Sometimes I have big ideas at weird hours and I don't want to forget so I make sure that if I am sharing anything I let the team know I am not expecting a response - it is for a future discussion placeholder. Also, when I know people have been killing it with long days or huge projects, giving some comp time, half days or early release on days where there aren't huge initiatives going on goes a long way. I trust my team to manage their time. I am here if they need me but I also think everyone needs time to recharge and to make sure they feel like their energy is balanced between work and home.

Our company sponsored an event this week on wellbeing and stress management. I made sure I used our team time this week as our own department to review the topics in the meeting, open up for discussion and encourage self care. Our health and mental well being as individuals and as a team always comes first. Everything else is secondary. I encourage members of our team to reach out to me or their managers, each other, professionals or friends to lean on. We are on this journey together and by sharing our stories we often realize others are on or have been on a similar journey. Others insights and support can help teammates through challenging times and not feel they are alone in their experience.