Jim Ebert is a Project Manager and Principal Scrum Master at ThreeWill. He has over 30 years of experience as a business and technology leader with demonstrated success in managing and delivering mission-critical projects and initiatives.
My coworker Will Holland recently wrote a blog on Three Benefits to Improving Employee Engagement.
The key benefit areas he calls out are:
- Increased retention – engaged employees are more likely to stick around.
- Increased productivity – engaged employees perform better and are more productive.
- Increased customer satisfaction – engaged employees are more motivated to provide excellent customer service.
But in order to achieve a high level of employee engagement, Will also notes in another blog – What is a “Digital Employee Experience” and How Do I Build One? – you need to provide a digital environment where people feel enabled, engaged, and empowered no matter where they are. It’s not as much about physical space and presence anymore.
And for me, that’s where remote work comes into play, which is very important to my level of employee engagement and experience.
I have always wanted to live near the beach. I grew up in a small town in northwestern Pennsylvania (hint: think oil drilling and “Colonel Edwin L. Drake”; it may surprise you). But as early as when I was 5 or 6 years old, we would go down to the beach in Ocean City, Maryland every few years, and that’s when and where the beach bug hit me. But because of the companies where I’ve worked, remote work was not an option. So, I had to remain landlocked. Yes, COVID changed remote work for almost everyone during the pandemic, but as you see or are now reading in the news, many companies are now requiring their employees to return to the office.
I’m fortunate enough now to work for an organization – ThreeWill – where remote work is still possible. In fact, through our use of Microsoft 365 technologies, we were already set up well digitally for remote work even before the pandemic. So, when it did hit, it was just a matter of communicating and collaborating using Microsoft Teams, OneDrive for Business, and other Microsoft 365 cloud tools. The only thing different was the day-to-day physical presence of each other. But Microsoft Teams’ video conferencing handled that well, and I never felt out of touch with anyone, including our clients.
So after having gone through this pandemic experience and seeing how it was also working for a couple of other co-workers living in different states, I began to think that maybe I could make my life goal of living near the beach a reality.
Well, I just took the leap! After 27 years of living in Atlanta, Georgia, I moved to Panama City Beach, Florida. Let me tell you, any move is stressful, but moving after such a long time in one place, and to another state to boot: Yikes! But having our Microsoft 365 digital ecosphere and capabilities already in place, and by having a company culture that doesn’t shy away from remote working, I still feel completely “engaged” with my company and coworkers.
I am now an example of our company tagline “Helping Employees Thrive Using Microsoft Technologies”. And I can say that my level of employee engagement and experience is very high.
So, if you’re currently (or considering) leveraging the Microsoft 365 platform for your organization, you’re already on the right path by looking into the leading digital employee experience platform available. And if you’re looking for a partner to help you make sense of all that M365 has to offer and what makes sense for you, we’re here to help guide you along your journey.
CONTACT THREEWILL TODAY TO BEGIN YOUR EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE JOURNEY!