The most integral part of every organization, the heart that keeps moving, the engine that keeps things running, is its employees. And the metaphorical fuel that keeps it pumping must be something that the management or the HR offers in terms of constant motivation.
Employees of the modern world look forward to celebration, motivation, validation, satisfaction, and just general nudges of happiness to help them excel at what they do. Employee engagement is a big contributor to these nudges.
Here we have a curated list of 80+ employee engagement ideas that ought to help you out with your employees and bring about a boost in employee motivation, and hence performance as well.
At a time where we are trying to give the customer the best experience throughout their whole buyer journey, we must also provide the best employee experience to the workforce throughout their whole employee lifecycle. Therefore, invest in HRMS and employee engagement platforms that can help your employees get access to their information so they can be able to tap into the knowledge base of the company.
A high-functioning, agile team needs frequent breaks for quick bouts of recharging. Even though we can’t tell our employees to take a break after every hour (even though we should), we must make sure that we reserve one day every month or so for fun activities that every employee can engage in together.
Employees working in distributed teams, more than anyone, are looking for channels where they can get acknowledged for their work and receive appreciation for their efforts. However, things are getting exceedingly more peculiar with the changing dynamics of the work models of remote and hybrid. Therefore, having appreciation programs in play, having sessions that allow you to assess performance and celebrate the same would play a pivotal role in employee engagement and motivation.
Again, having a day or series of days, or a week even, for recharging could be a big source of motivation, and quite frankly, a refreshment for the employees. An example of this team-building event could be as generic as having a football match with your team in the park in front of your workplace in the breaks, or ones where you make teams and indulge in strategic and academic games once a month.
Another source of employee engagement is one where you make sure that your team feels engaged with their coworkers and connected to the work they are expected to deliver. Therefore, if you can, you must designate one day of the month to help them focus on clearing up their individual assignments. This will also help the employees get a better look into how their efforts fit into the whole scheme of progression.
Another step towards effective employee engagement is to have a structured reward and recognition program. This program should be structured with the facilitation motives and plans for the incentives program, the fringe benefits, the bonus programs, and more.
One of the best, simplest to execute employee engagement ideas is the one where you let your employees come up with the values and beliefs they are invested in, and then, as a team, you figure out how the company’s mission is aligned with the collective vision of everyone on the team.
Another way to make sure that all your employees feel connected and engaged is to make sure you keep making little tweaks to your employee benefits list (in the favor of the employees, of course). This tells the employee that you are always invested in the happiness and job satisfaction of the employees.
Making changes to the policies, coming up with more flexible systems, and having agile plans of contingencies in place will help you win the hearts of the employees and increase the rate of job satisfaction of your employees.
Work anniversary is a pivotal step in everyone’s professional careers, it is a day to look back on the achievements and the shortcomings. Therefore, celebrate these moments by saying a few words about the employee taking the next step in their tenure and showering them with the best work anniversary wishes.
The Agile methodology encourages people to go above and beyond with their duties and put on more hats than just one when they show up to work every day. Therefore, as management, you must give your team the flexibility to keep learning, keep trying, keep taking risks, and prove themselves in multiple roles.
Another way to keep the employees engaged and keep the team morale high in the process is to keep employee appreciation a consistent thing.
Conduct wellness and health intervention sessions that can help employees balance the work-week activities with ones that will help them develop their physical and mental health.
Promote work-life balance by providing the employees flexible hours, and employee benefits that would cater to them in terms of maintaining a healthy social and family life.
Bring attention and more support to the onboarding programs so that the new joinees can feel at home with the work and the workplace and hence feel connected to their goals.
Help the employees stay engaged and motivated by making the office a more jovial and happening place to work at. Add a breakfast station, spruce up the coffee machine, or arrange the desks in a more presentable way, the idea is to give employees a change in pace and possibly something to look forward to.
Having one-on-ones with all employees is very important for the professional growth of the workforce and the growth of an org as an institution. Therefore, it is necessary to make sure that all the employees get one-on-one with their managers and get adequate feedback on their performance analytics.
Speaking of feedback sessions, it is also important to define metrics and performance, and achievements so that it is easier for the management as well as the human resources department to measure the performance and provide bonuses, compensations, and appraisals considering the same.
Make sure that all the employees have a mentor or a coach to look up to. This person will help guide the employees, learn their interests, and motivate them to work to the best of their abilities.
Meetings can be an information conduit or an information overload, it all depends on how one is conducted. Effective meetings, with a defined agenda, a speaker, and a defined time frame are an efficient way to escalate projects and relay information.
Conduct interactive brainstorming sessions to tap into the innovative sides of employees and get the creative juices flowing. Not only will this help the employees feel more engaged in the workplace, but it will also help them feel more connected to the organization and the work that they do.
After all the meetings and the brainstorming sessions are done, you will realize that the only way to make sure everyone feels included and valued is when you acknowledge everybody’s ideas and take a chance on their creative input.
Make sure that all the employees have their job descriptions on the front and center all the time so that their goals are aligned to the company’s vision and to their tasks are only contributing to the success of the company.
Track workload to ensure that no one from the workforce is overworked and hence falls prey to burnout.
While gaining creative insight from your team and acknowledging ideas is an adequate plan, employee engagement can be made even richer by actually putting employee ideas into motion to watch out for what works.
Take chances on the creative ideas presented by the workforce by opening the floor for innovative inputs at defined periods of time so that people look forward to these sessions and retain good ideas to present later.
Allow separations to be an amicable experience for everyone by throwing the employees going away parties for wishing them farewell.
Work anniversaries are pivotal moments in the lives of employees; therefore, it is important to acknowledge and celebrate these days and appreciate the employees for their tenure of service.
Another employee engagement example that can help motivate the workforce is setting, and then celebrating milestones. This will help the team look forward to tangible goals and celebrating milestones will help everyone stay engaged and feel connected to their work.
Feedback is the stepping stone towards effective improvement of an individual, and here, it would contribute to the progression of the whole organization. Therefore, schedule timely feedback sessions that come with conclusive outcomes.
Whenever you introduce a new policy or a new technology to the workforce, make sure that you have a team of change-enablers with you who can implement the new agendas and become advocates for the same.
Take time to understand the needs and demands of the employees by conducting comprehensive, topical, and frequent employee surveys.
Create a place of work where everyone feels empowered to be themselves. You must do this by celebrating diversity and differences and enabling people to feel proud of who they are and where they come from.
Burnout is a serious problem that needs attention. Therefore, make sure to indulge the employees in new projects, new processes, and new practices so that everyone stays rejuvenated through and through.
Engagement activities and events are a great opportunity for employees to connect. However, it is wise to sometimes take the party outside so that everyone can bond casually in a more relaxed setting.
Set talent analytical metrics to help employees with constructive and actionable feedback.
Encourage employees to come up with strategies to make work smoother and the processes more streamlined.
Conduct helpful and informative workshops to help the employees be aligned with the beliefs and values of the company.
Make sure to keep a connection between the employers, management, and the employees consistent so that the workforce stays inspired and has great mentors to look up to.
On the anniversary of the organization, or a look back session, take time to appreciate every function, every department of the team by listing achievements.
This one speaks for itself. Instead of making the employees’ beliefs align with the company’s, this is a way in which the organization can align with the interests of the employees and support the causes they find value in.
Indulge with the employees and engage them through different clubs where they believe that they belong and perform activities that pertain to their individual interests.
Conduct events frequently and play the kind of activities and games that reinforce employee trust with coworkers. Team building activities are ideal for these kinds of events.
Invite third-party employee engagement teams to help them spend an entire day getting to know one another as a person. This will strengthen the connection that the employees feel with the team.
Again, dedicate events trying to get everyone to understand all the important functions of your business. This will help everyone understand how they all have an integral role to play to keep the organization working in full steam.
Another step you can take to ensure employee engagement is to delegate responsibilities judiciously so that everyone is clear on their responsibilities and feels like a willing participant in achieving the collective goals.
For distributed teams, on-premise, and hybrid teams alike, distribute healthy goods to ensure that the employees are snacking the right way. This is one of the best employee engagement ideas which is both simplistic and wholesome.
Conduct safe places for mindfulness interventions so you can direct the workforce’s attention towards the importance of mental and emotional health. Go a step ahead and offer help to the employees by integrating your recourses with wellness centers and healthcare experts.
Make sure that the employer/management stays tethered to the people in the field by facilitating regular one-on-ones between both parties.
Take time to understand and know all cultures and try to build a work environment that is all-inclusive and diverse. Outdoor parties, collages of pictures all around, internal communication, are all things that will help you achieve inclusion at the workplace through employee engagement.
Another way to keep all employees engaged is to celebrate the little moments in life. Celebrate notable days like anniversaries, birthdays, and holidays with the workforce so that everyone gets to feel special once in a while.
Set metrics for performance and allow the employees to track performance so that motivation can be an intrinsic part of what they bring to their work every day.
Run initiatives, by taking input from the workforce on how to maintain work-life balance. Set guidelines that empower employees to take breaks, use their time judiciously, and use their paid leaves for mindful activities and resting.
A way to ensure that your employees know that you care about them is to display amicable behavior when they think of exiting and making a move with their career. One way to do this is to take time to appreciate the employees’ contribution to the company and enlist their achievements through the years and another is to throw thoughtful farewell parties for them, preferably on their last day.
Employee engagement occurs slow and steady, one of the most basic places that it stems from are coffee breaks. These can help the workforce break the tandem, bring nuance to the routine, talk and ease their minds, and also, added benefit, stay awake for the rest of the day.
Taking the team outdoors for gatherings and get-togethers is nice, however, hiking trips bring a whole another element to the table. These hiking trips promote friendship, teamwork and help people to get to know each other in a more organic setting.
Welcome employees, or rather, new joinees with open arms and make sure that they have the right inspiration to shadow and look up to. While you welcome everyone on board with some impactful welcome messages for new employees, you must also set up mentorship programs to couple up these rookies with people who have been in the industry long enough to be giving the new employees some much-needed guidance.
Make sure that the management is aware of the passions of the employees and supports them enough to encourage these employees so, kick-off passion projects of their own.
Fill up the office walls with pictures of employees, teams, and departments from various outdoor functions, parties, and events.
While you conduct events and more, make sure to add games to these that would allow employees to explore the interests, and likes & dislikes of the people from around the office. You can play team-centric trivia games to enable the same.
Another great way to engage employees is to know and interact with their hidden talents. Encourage workers to come forth with their talents and put them on display.
In today’s era, where knowledge is the most prominent currency, it is important that we empower employees to learn more and be trained for more. Therefore, you must facilitate learning programs for all your employees to keep them engaged and to help them consistently learn new things.
Another employee engagement idea would be to celebrate every employee’s personal triumphs. Try to acknowledge and celebrate events where an employee completes an important academic course, when they achieve something as a family, or whenever they hit some big personal milestone.
Place policies in motion that support employees during mishaps, injuries, sickness, and bereavement to showcase the organization’s unconditional support.
Whenever the organization hits a key milestone, make it a point to celebrate it with the whole team. This will help you enable inclusion at the workplace and foster an environment of motivation and encouragement.
An ideal work environment is where communication is the strength behind togetherness. And this communication as well as employee engagement can be made better by balancing communication on the two pillars of one-on-one conversations and group discussions for all employees.
While events and activities are an amazing way to engage all employees, you can make it an even more memorable experience for all by incorporating funny employee awards to the event.
As distributed teams fall out of touch with the workplace, don’t allow them to fall in touch with the simplicity of the conversations they used to have with their colleagues. Organize “Wine from Home” sessions for your team (preferably on Fridays) so that they can let loose and indulge in casual conversations with one another.
On special occasions like joining, birthdays, and work anniversaries, try to give out official merchandise to your team. These customized gifts are appreciated by all, give people a feeling of togetherness and belonging, and will help you with company branding in the process.
Schedule trivia and quiz sessions to take away the Monday blues of the team.
Make the employees shuffle their seats once a week so that everybody gets to go sitting around the office and hence engage with different people more frequently.
Allow everyone to adopt the leadership role by telling them to conduct meetings. You can appoint a new person to be in-charge of the meetings every day.
A creative way to ensure employee engagement is to ban all emails. This way, everyone would have to find newer, not to mention, more personal ways to talk to one another. This will inevitably bring people closer together.
I an effort to get people to understand everybody’s job roles a little better, and in an initiative to promote cross-functional, agile culture within the team, play the game of “a day in the life of” where employees get to step into the job roles of their coworkers.
Allow people to mingle and self-govern their movements in a way that they get to learn about all the scope that their career has in store for them. To do that, you must keep reminding them of their capabilities, give them room to make creative decisions, and support their interests in other projects than the ones that are assigned to them.
Even though employee appreciation that comes from management and the HR department is invaluable and highly motivating, recognition coming from peers can prove to be even more encouraging. Therefore, a great employee engagement idea would be to promote a culture where peers come together to lift one another up.
Another way to ensure employee engagement within the organization would be to motivate employees to work towards the collective goals of the team by incentivizing and adding benefits that will entice them to do better.
Dedicate one day where everyone sits away from their usual coworkers, they interact the most with. Make it so the marketing team is sat with the product team, the customer support team sits with your sales team, and more like this is going on so that people get to intermingle and get to understand all job roles a little better.
Keep a day aside where no one sits at their normal desks or at their usual chairs. In fact, no one sits on any chairs. Find a place to sit, pick up a bean bag, the carpet, a rug, the tables, or the floor. It is sit-on-anything-but-the-chair-day.
For the New Year's Eve, or the work anniversary, or even the company anniversary, encourage the workforce to set individual goals for themselves. Better yet, sit down after a while and discuss where they are in the process of achieving those goals.
Another one in our list of employee engagement ideas is one wherein everyone cooks a little something and brings it into the office to share with their coworkers. This will help strengthen the comradery and bring people closer together.
Employee engagement carries as much importance in the workplace as the employees do. It is the drive, the source of motivation, and the incentive that keeps everyone going. However, it is in your hands to pick up the best ideas to bring about effective employee engagement that brings about positive changes like higher productivity, workforce satisfaction, and retention. We’re hoping that implementing one (or, preferably more) of these 80+ employee engagement ideas will help you bring about that much-needed change you are looking to bring at work.