Remote employee experience (REX): basics and best practices

Nowadays, employee experience is more important than ever to HR professionals. Many HR teams aim to create and uphold an excellent employee experience to boost productivity and job satisfaction. 

With 22 million U.S. adults working from home, remote employee experience (REX) has become crucial for today’s employee experience. However, its niche nature requires a more specialised approach. 

In this article, we’ll explore remote employee experience, how to measure REX and best practices for improving remote employee satisfaction through feedback.

Remote employee experience (REX) is a comprehensive view of how remote workers feel about their experience at a company. It highlights whether employees feel valued, engaged or supported by leadership. Improving the REX for your organisation is an excellent way to drive productivity and long-term growth.

Remote employees have a completely different experience from their in-office or hybrid counterparts. Strategic planning ensures that remote employees feel connected to the team and valued for their efforts. REX has been a recent addition to the employee experience since the significant shift to remote work in 2020. 

Remote employee experience encompasses everything from employee onboarding to the end of employment with your organisation. Almost every moment at work has an impact on an employee’s feelings about the company and job satisfaction. 

Please note that remote employee experience differs significantly from digital employee experience (DEX). Digital employee experience refers to the digital tools that an employee uses in their day-to-day operations. It measures the quality of employees’ interactions with workplace technology and their opinions about it. 

Both DEX and REX contribute to the overall employee experience and help to increase team efficiency and morale. However, the digital employee experience strictly focuses on workplace technology stacks.

What are the major elements of remote employee experience? There are a handful of areas that strongly influence REX, including:

These key elements together build the foundation for a robust remote employee experience. If these elements aren’t in sync, REX may suffer at your company. 

HR contributes to creating a positive employee experience for remote workers by fostering company culture and productivity through employee experience management. Since HR professionals are responsible for employee experience management, remote employee experience also forms part of their remit.

HR teams work to ensure positive cultural experiences and interactions with colleagues and leadership, as well as seamless work technology usage. They can drive innovation in REX by providing opportunities for remote employees to share feedback. By regularly collecting and encouraging feedback, HR professionals can improve employee experience and build trust among their remote teams.

Remote employee experience is the foundation of a happy and productive remote workforce. Investing in your remote employees promotes business growth and success. A positive remote employee experience can also: 

When remote employees are satisfied in their roles, they have more motivation to perform their best. This, in turn, boosts productivity levels and enhances your company’s productivity. Satisfied employees are more productive than disengaged remote workers. 

Higher productivity means higher output, better customer experiences and increased profits for your business. 

Providing the best remote work experience possible can help you attract and retain top-tier talent, reducing turnover and attrition costs. Research shows that replacing employees can cost from half to twice an employee’s salary. Reducing attrition rates can be an effective method of saving on recruitment and hiring costs. 

Employee engagement measures how invested employees feel in a company and its success. It describes the commitment and enthusiasm a worker feels for a company. Engaged employees feel that the employee experience lives up to their expectations and are satisfied in their roles. 

Engaging employees in remote or hybrid work environments enhances profits, decreases churn and improves productivity. You can gauge remote employee engagement by using employee engagement surveys or engagement monitoring tools. 

Providing a great remote employee experience helps enhance the recruiting process for new employees. If your company is a top destination for remote workers, you’ll attract more skilled professionals. 

With remote work’s popularity, having a positive REX is essential for your hiring efforts. According to SurveyMonkey’s Workforce Survey April 2024, 28% of employees prefer remote work, which is significantly higher than the current 16% working remotely in any capacity. 

Monitoring remote employee experience can influence company workflows and overall success. To ensure that your remote employees are productive and satisfied, measure their remote employee experience by using these methods:

Employee feedback is your most valuable resource regarding remote employee experience. It means you won’t have to guess what issues may lie below the surface. By speaking directly with employees, you can gather feedback about how they perceive their day-to-day experience at work. 

Regularly sending employee feedback surveys is a great place to start with measuring REX. You can use employee experience feedback to shape the workplace experience for remote workers and track employee sentiment towards your current REX. 

Using employee engagement monitoring tools helps maximise engagement among workers. These tools collect feedback, analyse survey results, offer recognition activities and provide engagement apps for connecting remote employees. Use scalable employee engagement software to streamline performance management and employee check-ins. 

Some key performance indicators (KPIs) that can help HR leaders measure remote employee experience include:

Measuring employee experience is the first step to improving REX. You won’t know where to start unless you gather the proper data and feedback from remote employees. 

Cofounded by Slack, the Remote Employee Experience Index (REI) is an assessment tool for businesses to assess the overall experience of their remote workforce. It provides a structured framework for evaluating and addressing the unique challenges and opportunities associated with remote work, ultimately contributing to the success and wellbeing of the remote workforce.

With the REI, organisations can track and use remote workforce data to make informed decisions and improve their remote employee experience strategy. It includes surveys and assessments that capture feedback from remote employees about their work environment, interactions, resources and job satisfaction. 

Improving remote employee experience takes a strategic and tailored approach. HR professionals can use a handful of techniques to enhance REX. Here are some top methods and information about why they work: 

Employee experience gaps are the differences between what employees expect their workplace experience to be and their reality. Closing experience gaps and more closely aligning your REX with employee expectations will greatly improve the overall experience of work. Employee feedback surveys, suggestion boxes or one-to-one conversations can help you find experience gaps. 

According to a Kincentric survey, 49% of employees feel their organisation isn’t delivering on the promised experience. Many employees are missing the care and compassion that they felt from employers during the pandemic. Although the pandemic required special circumstances, there are ways in which your company can continue to close experience gaps. 

By addressing the emotional and practical needs of their remote employees, companies can uphold their commitment to fostering a supportive and nurturing work environment.

Updating your remote onboarding experience can greatly improve employee satisfaction. To ensure that remote employees are getting the onboarding and training they need, send out surveys to gather feedback. 

Utilise employee feedback to adjust and optimise the remote onboarding experience. Survey your employees to determine which areas need improvement to provide the best possible onboarding and training experience. 

An optimised onboarding experience properly prepares remote employees to collaborate with their teams and sets the tone for what REX will be like at your company. 

A remote workplace should be seamless for work-from-home employees. Ensure that remote employees have access to the technology stack they need to do their jobs. This technology stack includes communication tools, specialised digital platforms, workflow management tools and more. 

Team communication and collaboration are major parts of REX. For remote employees to feel connected while working from home, they must have easy ways to communicate with each other. Use tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams and Google Workspace to bridge the gap between your remote workers. 

Training and support for remote workers ensure that they are fully equipped to do their jobs to the best of their abilities. Remote workers may or may not have held remote positions before and might need help adjusting. 

Training and support programmes for remote workers teach best practices to help create a strong digital workforce. Investing in training, from teaching workflow management to providing tech support for work devices, improves team productivity and output.

Employee recognition can significantly improve the remote employee experience. It fosters a sense of appreciation and belonging among remote workers, helping to combat feelings of isolation and disconnection. Recognising remote employees’ efforts and achievements can also increase motivation, job satisfaction and loyalty towards the company. 

Moreover, employee recognition boosts morale by helping remote workers feel more connected and engaged, ultimately enhancing the remote work environment.

Continuous optimisation of your remote employee experience will keep employees satisfied and motivated over time. Once they are hired, remote employees may initially find your company’s REX satisfactory. However, how do you maintain their experience? The answer: continuous improvement.  

By using SurveyMonkey survey templates, you can collect feedback from remote employees to enhance their experience. Continuously updating your REX using employee feedback is the best way to improve the overall employee experience. 

Consistent and timely feedback is essential to help companies establish and maintain a top-notch employee experience. By regularly gathering feedback and monitoring engagement, companies can identify areas for improvement and support their teams as their systems and processes evolve. 

All of the efforts outlined above can contribute to a positive work environment and a more satisfying remote experience for your employees. 

Learn how SurveyMonkey can help boost your REX and employee engagement.