Employee engagement activities & ideas that work: get your team deeply involved

Employee engagement activities & ideas that work: get your team deeply involved

June 25, 2024
Anna Mikhaleva
by Anna Mikhaleva, Product Owner
Staff motivation, creativity, and productivity impact the company’s success. The reality is that only 34% of employees are engaged in the workplace. Enhanced corporate culture can increase this number, so let’s explore several effective activities for virtual teams and on-site workers that help improve engagement.

What is employee engagement?

Employee engagement reflects a person’s commitment to their job and the efforts they are ready to invest in achieving business goals. Engagement activities in companies may differ based on the niche and more narrow aspects like current particular bottlenecks.
Sometimes, revising a compensation policy is enough to raise engagement. Indeed, often, there is also the need for initiatives contributing to an advanced sense of belonging and recognition.

Why employee engagement matters

Increased or sufficient employee engagement affects multiple domains. First, it decreases negative attitudes toward the company and absenteeism. It also improves retention, helping to save resources on hiring and training new staff. These and many other factors result in the fact that high engagement can make businesses 21% more profitable.

Types of employee engagement activities

Two major types are activities in the office and virtual activities. Initiatives in both groups target various areas, such as professional growth, personal development, health, and work-life balance. Common ones include celebrations, benefit programs, and more transparent communication. Even office ergonomics can influence engagement rates by promoting social connections and ensuring attention to well-being, which affects productivity.

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12 best ideas for employee engagement

Try some of these corporate activities to improve employee engagement. Later, you can optimize them or choose other ideas according to initial results.
Celebrate professional and personal events
Encourage celebrating birthdays, promotions, and other happy life events. Some occasions may require only warm messages and congratulations, while it may be suitable to throw a party for others. Also, remember that every professional win is important enough to be celebrated. Whether it’s exceeding the quarterly plan or making successful steps to improve collaboration within the teams, which brought visible results, it can be acknowledged. It may also be a good idea to host a yearly awards night.
Suggest team-building activities
One way to organize such events is through thematic team-building seminars or coaching sessions. However, voluntary company outings can be equally effective. Informal communication not only strengthens personal bonds but, with proper planning, can improve teamwork too. Book clubs, speaking clubs, and movie nights with following discussions help find common ground in values and vision.
Launch theme days
Theme days are not necessarily unusual and fun events during off-hours. They can also include casual Fridays, lunch catering on a certain weekday, wellness days with indoor or outdoor activities, pet days, etc. Discuss possible options with the teams to learn more about their preferences.
Send a company newsletter
It can be a brief weekly digest or a long monthly informal report. Such a newsletter may or may not include major business goals and successes, but it always highlights employees’ achievements and important events, from birthdays to photos from recent team-building activities.
Organize surveys and collect feedback
The simplest way to gather feedback and ideas is by placing a suggestion box in the office or creating an anonymous online form. However, with HR platforms, especially the ones using AI in talent management, you can create more specific surveys and make the most from analyzing their results.
Support employee wellness
This area covers numerous options, from healthy snacks in the office to online employee activities like virtual fitness classes. A company can also offer reimbursement for mental health or sports expenses, provide a budget for setting up a home office, and organize workshops about maintaining a healthy work environment and preventing burnout.
Create mentorship initiatives
When you use both external and internal sources of recruitment, you not only expand the number of candidates but also work on employee engagement. Consider implementing a “New hire’s buddy” program or set up mentorship opportunities. This way, a company can fill the gaps faster and save time and resources on recruiting and training.
Implement learning opportunities
A well-thought onboarding is only one element of a comprehensive learning system. Consider planning more in-depth job training, allocate a budget for educational expenses, and choose a talent marketplace platform to organize this process better.
Advocate for attending conferences
Attending conferences as visitors or speakers contributes to professional and personal growth. A person gets an opportunity to network, advance their skills, and learn industry trends. Discussing this experience promotes communication within a team and knowledge sharing, and, in general, such initiatives boost loyalty to the company.
Encourage sharing interests
In addition to sharing professional insights, employees may be willing to talk about their hobbies. You can try innovative activities like interviews, webinars, or lunch-and-learn events. The topics may vary, so if someone wants to talk about effective time management techniques or a wise way to organize personal finance, this can be a good choice too.
Establish employee development routes
According to a survey, only 29% of employees are satisfied with their career growth options. This can be a sign to examine the existing career pathing in the company and improve or completely update it. When employees know about available opportunities and how to achieve the new stage in their professional journey, they become more proactive and responsible.
Simplify communication
You can use all possible recruiting tips and tricks to find the most productive and enthusiastic employees, but if they don’t know who can help in particular situations, these efforts become fruitless. In the case of new hires, ensure proper onboarding and mentoring. Then, team-building can help. Note that any actions that make communication easier and more transparent are some of the most important activities during work from home.

In conclusion

Various in-office and remote activities can help improve employee engagement, eventually resulting in better business achievements and profitability. One thing to remember is that it’s important to not only implement such initiatives but also measure their effectiveness through HR analytics and adjust the whole plan accordingly, considering the company’s needs.
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