In today’s competitive job landscape, most employees join a new organization with great enthusiasm which, on an average, lasts for about two years and then eventually plateaus or wanes. They either get bored and move out or try to change profiles for more challenging work. The difference between these two approaches is how engaged they are with the organization. What organizations need to do is to implement unique employee engagement ideas to build a highly-motivated workforce.
An engaged employee will look for avenues in the same organization to contribute more, while a disengaged employee will leave at the first opportunity that comes their way.
Employee engagement is one of those crucial strategies that have a direct impact on your bottom line, turnover rate, and ensures your workers remain productive and motivated. Companies with engaged employees perform 202% better than those without.
However, so much has been said about employee engagement but not enough about how to do it. The hybrid work environment makes it even more difficult to simultaneously engage employees who are working from home and from the office.
In this blog post, we’ll list down some tried and tested ideas to increase employee engagement, reiterate the importance of employee engagement, what purpose it can solve for your organization, and what metrics you can gauge employee engagement on.
Let’s start with the basics.
What is employee engagement?
Employee engagement is a concept that delineates the relationship between employees and the effort they put towards their organizations, which means higher employee engagement leads to dedicated, enthusiastic, and productive employees, while lower employee engagement or disengagement results in demotivated and disconnected employees.
Forbes describes employee engagement as “the emotional commitment the employee has to the organization and its goals.”
Here’s how an engaged employee looks:
- Enjoys helping co-workers when support is required.
- Has a good relationship with their colleagues and employers.
- Looks for new opportunities to learn and grow within the organization.
- Ensures their personal goals are aligned with the company’s goals.
- Follow up on project deadlines even if the deliverable is not within their scope.
- Puts discretionary effort to complete the task within the assigned deadline.
- Speaks positively about co-workers, employers, and the company.
As workplaces and workforces transform, we did an extensive research on what employee engagement ideas and activities work well across the globe. So, here we are putting all the innovative employee engagement ideas in an exhaustive list here so that you can bookmark it and keep coming back.
What are some employee engagement ideas?
1. Create an engaging onboarding experience
Providing a positive onboarding experience is one of the most remarkable employee engagement ideas to jump-start a new employee’s engagement journey. Managers should make the new hires feel welcome, give access to the required tools and resources, communicate expectations, help them bridge social connections, and answer their queries about the job role. You can also organize some fun activities or start a new hires club.
2. Give new hires an onboarding buddy
Another one of the many effective employee engagement ideas is providing an onboarding buddy to the new employees. It acts as a game-changer in boosting their engagement from the get go. Buddies help introduce new hires to your company and provide them with a positive experience. Other responsibilities include:
- Meeting new hires on the first day
- Introducing them to other team members
- Answering their queries about the job role
- Giving them the workplace tour
- Bridging social connections
- Building camaraderie
3. Start the week with some motivation
Plan a weekly sprint or encourage your team to create a to-do list on friday to pre-plan the following week. This will ensure that your Monday mornings are more productive than usual, and you will start the week with a sense of accomplishment and direction. Help your team plan the week in advance for added motivation.
Share your favorite quote from a book or movie you read/watched, or what you did during the weekend. Plan a Monday breakfast meeting or a group yoga session to start the week on a high note. You can also plan a monday evening out with your team – a great way to start the week on a light note.
4. Offer flexible hours
Working long hours in the office is no longer the proof of an engaged, hardworking employee. True engagement means working productively, even for five hours a day. Implementing flexible office hours can be an excellent way to boost productivity output. Flexible working hours is one of the most significant employee engagement ideas. It allows employees to have more control over their work schedules. Plus, this encourages meaningful, focused work and keeps your employees engaged and satisfied in their professional and personal lives.
5. Start the day with a team huddle
Many organizations begin the day with a staff meeting. But, you don’t need to limit your conversation to work-related topics. Use the team huddle to energize your workforce and see their engagement and productivity soar. Share important information about the organization, what you accomplished yesterday, what challenges came in your way, a joke, an inspirational quote, or recognize someone’s accomplishments.
Allow everyone to explain what they are working on or any problems they face. Not only will this bring your team closer, but it will also make them comfortable addressing their issues.
6. Provide healthy snacks
Food is always a perk. Providing easy access to healthy meals and snacks at the workplace seems like a small thing but is actually one of those employee engagement ideas that work.
A study shows 67% of employees are happy at their current jobs because of snacks provided to them at the office. The same study shares that millennials are 3X likely to accept a job offer from an organization that provides food. Healthy snacks could include fruits, cookies, chocolates, dry fruits, simple things like bread and spread, etc. Offices can provide healthy meals to its employees by having a canteen or kiosk in the workplace premises with subsidized prices.
Not having to worry about food, packing lunch, or even breakfast on a rushed morning, can greatly alleviate stress, especially for working women. Providing healthy food can also be a great way to balance gender scales and reduce the onus on women for providing home-cooked food. All in all, providing access to food is a great employee engagement idea, and contributes to employee happiness as well.
7. Support work-life balance
Excessive work can lead to burnout. Hence, there’s a need to provide better work-life balance to employees to keep them productive and engaged at work. This, out of all employee engagement ideas, never fails!
Work-life balance is going to be different for every employee. So, communicate with them to understand how you can help enhance it. Help them with the right resources and technology to automate the essential but mundane things, so that they can focus on the bigger picture. Encourage them not to access work outside of work hours or on weekends. Flexibility and work-life balance go hand-in-hand. Organizations need to create a culture of trust where employees can work hard but also focus on their life outside of work.
8. Have a wellness program
Your employees aren’t immune to stress. So, having an employee wellness program is a great employee engagement idea to help them unwind. It encourages your workers to be healthier, productive, and engaged. These can be anything from meditation workshops to gym memberships, from yoga classes to meal planning subscriptions, from access to mental health professionals to a family health insurance. In addition, organize fitness challenges, celebrate ‘Wellness Wednesdays,’ or host wellness week/month led by world-class experts.
9. Encourage open communication
Talk to your employees about their ideas, suggestions, and feedback. These conversations will help you stay on top of what’s going on in their professional and personal lives. Also, make sure to have effective communications tools to keep your employees connected and engaged with their coworkers and managers. Schedule regular team meetings and one-on-one catch ups.
Avoid making communication a top-down process, encourage a two-way flow of ideas. Managers need to create a safe space for employees to voice their concerns and opinions, without being judged. The easier it is for people to communicate, the more engaged they will feel.
10. Provide continual training and skill development
Employee training shouldn’t stop after the onboarding process, as they’re likely to face new technologies and challenges throughout their career. It is one of the most effective ideas for employee engagement.
Regular upskilling and training indicates that organizations are interested in developing their employees and are vested in their growth. Provide employees with a self-development budget or access to training courses.
11. Introduce gamification
Gamification is one of the virtual employee engagement ideas that helps companies boost remote employee engagement. It uses digital environments and game-like elements to help workers achieve their goals, making mundane tasks seem more interesting. The employees play a game that offers points, rewards, and status as they improve a skill, goal, or objective the organization is trying to achieve. It is one of the most fun employee engagement ideas for remote workers.
Examples include point-based quizzes to quantify learning, on-the-spot recognition certificates, interactive leaderboards to rank top-performing employees or teams, goal tracking progress bars, and so on.
12. Incentivize goals
Offer incentives to motivate and recognize employees in the workplace and boost engagement. You can implement this employee engagement idea by rewarding top-performing employees for achieving their goals and by creating a healthy competition among workers. Tickets to movies or games, shoutout on the company’s social media account or internal newsletter, e-gift cards, and referral programs are some incredible ideas that can make employees feel motivated and valued.
13. Make employee recognition a practice
Recognizing your employees for their hard work can go a long way in keeping them engaged. When a worker achieves something, congratulate them personally. Praise them in meetings for completing a project on time. Timely recognition is one of the most effective employee engagement ideas. This will enhance their self-confidence and affect their motivation, engagement, and retention. Create a personalized appreciation program based on your company’s basic values. When launching a value-based reward program, make sure everyone on your team understands what your company’s fundamental values look like in action by providing specific examples of behaviors that reflect them.
Additionally, try to understand each employee’s preferred recognition method. Some employees enjoy public recognition while some shy from being in the spotlight and might prefer a private message. Learning their preferences will help you build more meaningful reward and recognition strategies.
“The one solution to overcome your employees feeling disconnected from the company is to prioritize employee recognition. Use an online recognition tool to provide real-time viewing, commenting, and recognition for all employees. Employee appreciation, in my opinion, is the primary motivator of employee engagement. Employees who receive regular recognition from peers and superiors feel more connected, respected, and valued.”
Rameez Usmani
Chief Marketing Officer, PureTuber
14. Conduct pulse and employee engagement surveys
Quick pulse surveys or short employee engagement surveys are fantastic ways to know how your employees feel about working in your organization. This helps you understand where you’re going wrong and what efforts you can take to improve employee engagement. Here’s what you can ask in your surveys:
- What things did you hate or like this week about your job?
- Do you understand your company’s mission?
- How supportive is your team manager?
- Do you have the required tools and resources to succeed at your job?
- Are there any opportunities for you to learn and grow in this company?
Leena AI’s employment engagement surveys provide real-time actionable insights about the key areas you need to focus on the most. These interactive surveys are a great way to encourage employees to come forward and voice their concerns, thereby boosting your engagement rate.
15. Make the survey results known
While rolling out one survey after another is not a big deal, what matters to employees is whether anything is done based on the feedback they provided in the survey. If employees feel that these feedback surveys are only done to check the box, they will eventually lose interest in providing genuine feedback and move out.
It is thus important to publish the results of the surveys, indicate action plans based on employee feedback, and check back with employees once remedial actions have been implemented to close the loop. This makes employees feel heard and kept in the know-how of what’s happening in the organization. Measuring the effectiveness of your surveys is always a great employee engagement idea.
16. Have fun outside the office
Socializing outside of the office is another incredible yet one of the most fun employee engagement ideas. Company holiday parties, team lunches, and summer happy hours are some activities for having fun and bonding with your coworkers. Plus, they help strengthen work relationships, encourage effective communication, and boost job satisfaction among employees.
17. Support volunteer causes
Give your employees a few hours to participate in community service. Find a local charity and cause that your organization and employees can get behind and offer your support. Or, you can allow your team to choose a cause they’re passionate about. This helps employees feel purpose-driven and that they’re making a difference in and outside the workplace.
18. Be a leader, not a boss
Leaders are always responsible for helping their team accomplish their goals by supporting them, creating a positive environment, and exhibiting a high degree of professionalism. Managers should align their teams with the company’s vision and goals, trust your team, and allow them to take ownership. Good leaders ensure a higher level of employee engagement in their teams, while a bad manager is the biggest reason for employee disengagement and attrition.
19. Leverage video conferencing
To help your remote workforce connect better every day, encourage the use of video conferencing. Employees should not feel a meeting is just about sharing and discussing figures. Daily meetings, one-on-one catch-ups, and weekly team collaborations could be turned into engaging sessions fostering team interaction through video interactions.
20. Encourage social interaction
Encouraging your remote workforce every now and then to work from a co-working space is one the best employee engagement ideas. HRs or managers could also introduce bi-monthly catch-ups outside the office for better team bonding. Such an environment is crucial for making employees feel like a part of the team, and fostering unity among the team.
21. Pay for a visit to the hometown
Support your remote workforce in paying a visit to their hometown by reimbursing their travel expense. This will help remarkably in cementing the relationship between employees and the organization. This is one of the effective employee engagement ideas that promises to never fail.
22. Lunch with the leadership
For enterprises consisting of thousands of employees, it becomes even more important for the leadership to connect with the workforce. Therefore, activities such as team lunches with the leadership team, social interactions outside the office, and even off-site with the leadership team are necessary to bridge the gap between employees and the management.
23. Keep in touch
Another simple idea for increasing employee engagement is to keep in touch with your termed employees. Organizations could plan reunions of certain departments or employees that retired in a particular year and let their existing and ex-employees know that they care for them and value them.
24. Encourage top-down management
Leaders of the organization set the tone of the company’s culture. For most employees, the leaders and the organization are one. As a result, it is crucial for leaders to communicate very clearly the goals and vision of the organization to the employees and to listen to the feedback and opinion of their employees regularly.
25. Align the job with the org-wide vision
Show your employees that their daily tasks contribute to the overall mission of the organization. It is one of the best employee engagement ideas that bring clarity to your employees. This will boost their investment in the success of the organization and not make them feel like a cog in the wheel.
26. Promote accountability
Organizations should value employees that bring high morale to the work environment. Letting employees take full responsibility for their job is one of the best employee engagement ideas of building trust. If the employees feel their organization trusts them completely regarding their job and its responsibilities, they will indeed work with incredible dedication.
27. Allow internal mobility
Employees who wish to explore new strides in their career must feel supported by their organization. In case an employee feels that they are better suited for a role in a different department, the organization should provide them with internal mobility and allow them to pursue their passion. This employee engagement idea also helps remarkably in increasing the retention rate.
28. Build a culture of emotional intelligence
It is important to build a work culture where employees do not refrain from expressing their emotions regarding burnout, inequality, or skill development. Do not build a ‘yes’ mindset where employees are only expected to follow. Encourage the managers to consider the schedule of their subordinates before assigning more tasks. In simple terms, build a culture where ideas and opinions are always met with an open mind.
29. Hand out customized goodies
Employees always appreciate efforts that exhibit the organization’s concern towards them. By personalizing giveaways and rewards for work anniversaries and performance achievements you can motivate your employees’ morale. There are customizable products available in numerous categories such as apparel, fitness gear, electronics, and more.
30. Promote creativity and innovation
Encouraging creativity and innovation should be the top priority of the management. Your employees should be able to pursue their creative talents openly. HR leaders can propose adding a creativity code to the organization’s policies and advocate it strongly to the staff to employ it. Allowing employees to induce creativity into their daily tasks can lead to the inception of some great business ideas.
31. Let employees set their own goals
Create a goal-setting system that allows employees the opportunities to set their own goals. Your employees are more likely to be intrinsically motivated toward the goals that they set for themselves. A good starting point will be to allow your employees to create a list of goals or projects they want to complete for the upcoming year or quarter.
32. Introduce a 20 percent program
Google is the first organization to introduce the 20 percent program to its employees. It means that employees can spend 20 percent of their daily time doing whatever they feel is going to add more value to the organization. That said, the most recent product innovations that Google cites as having their origins in “20-percent time”.
33. Communicate your CSR strategies
It is crucial for the organization to indicate how their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives are serving a bigger purpose. Your employees can be a part of the upcoming CSR employee engagement ideas they believe in, as well as in developing and implementing initiatives. A bit of corporate goodwill goes a long way in making employees feel like they can be part of something meaningful.
34. Provide networking opportunities
Provide networking opportunities to your employees by encouraging formal and informal interactions both inside and outside the office. HRs can promote inter-department lunches, and internal hackathons, and send employees to industry conferences or exhibits.
35. Conduct strength assessment
A strength-based assessment helps employees learn about themselves and grow their strengths. The assessment measures internal and external emotional and behavioral competencies of employees that enhance their ability to develop relationships, deal with stress, and promote optimal development. It is one of the most effective employee engagement ideas that promise to boost the levels of engagement.
36. Your employees deserve a break
Breaks are important to revive, be it a short break or a long break. Your employees deserve to take short breaks during their workday as eating lunch at the workstation or sitting for long hours does not promote a healthy work environment. As important short breaks are to promote a healthy work culture it is also important that your employees step away from work for a few days and take a vacation. HRs should keep a tab on the leaves availed by their employees and identify any patterns that indicate employee burnout.
37. Promote Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Your employees must feel that the organization welcomes members of all castes, colors, creeds, and religions. And having a workplace that focuses on diversity, instills equity, and provides an inclusive environment where employees feel like they belong is crucial to building employee engagement among the workforce.
38. Small gestures create a big impact
Practicing a ritual of celebrating your employees’ birthdays, work anniversaries, and other work-related achievements promotes a sense of belonging. HRs can also encourage giving away silly trophies once a week to promote a culture of fun among employees. Additionally, a small gesture such as allowing your employees to take a power nap after their lunch break can create a notable impact on their productivity levels.
39. Promote team collaborations
Team collaboration is one employee engagement idea that remains untapped in many organizations. Bringing together employees of different teams or departments to work together on a project allows them to learn new skills and explore new areas they might wish to pursue in the future. It is one of the most effective employee engagement ideas that promise to boost the levels of engagement. Such lateral movement also allows organizations to retain their best talent by offering growth opportunities within the organization.
40. Change the face of work meetings
Work meetings should not be restricted to a conference room or even the premises of the workplace. Start your work week with a healthy breakfast at a local restaurant and discuss your weekly tasks over a healthy meal. A change in the environment might also assist employees shift their viewpoint. Such employee engagement ideas will aid in the bonding of your team members as well as management.
41. Invest in an employee experience platform
Workplace loneliness and feeling alienated from coworkers are growing more as the shift to remote and hybrid work environments becomes more prominent than ever before. Many businesses now rely on technology to keep their employees engaged. Providing a virtual platform for teams to create relationships is one of the critical employee engagement ideas to boost employee satisfaction. Employees have a built-in community at work, but if they don’t have real access to that community, the feeling of isolation can be worsened. A work environment in which employees feel empowered by having access to the information they require eventually leads to a higher performing, more efficient organization in which everyone’s voice is heard.
42. Find your employee’s passion
Do your employees like mountain biking? Do they have a personal blog? Do they wish to travel around the world next summer? Learn about the interests of your team and help achieve it by helping plan their year and helping them single out time to pursue their interests. It is one of the most promising employee engagement ideas. It will help you connect with them and demonstrate that you are interested in their hobbies.
43. Company value-based employee recognition
While most organizations have core beliefs, few can claim to live up to them. Create an employee recognition program connected with your firm core values so peers may applaud each other for living up to them if you want to be the exception. Create a personalized appreciation program based on your company’s basic values. When launching a value-based reward program, make sure everyone on your team understands what your company’s fundamental values look like in action by providing specific examples of behaviors that reflect them.
44. Holiday with the leaders
It is critical to bridge the gap between employees and company leaders in order to increase employee engagement. Try to organize a business offsite where at least one of the company leaders can attend. This allows employees to see the personal side of their leader and helps them build a connection with them. It is one of the most impactful employee engagement ideas that promise to work.
45. Invite an in-office motivational speaker
Another innovative employee engagement idea is to bring in a motivational speaker to freshen up the workday or kick off Monday with some inspiration. To boost interoffice connections, perhaps your company would benefit from a creativity workshop or a team-building lecture. Employees will be appreciative of the opportunity to grow and learn from professionals, and they will emerge more energized and focused as a result of these experiences.
46. Throw going-away parties
Exiting employees are never a pleasant sight, but by arranging a going-away party, you can add a dash of fun to the process and make their last working day unforgettable. This allows employees to say their goodbyes properly and avoid burning bridges when they leave. It also demonstrates to the remaining employees that their efforts and contributions to the organization are respected and appreciated.
47. Start a learning club
In order to increase employee engagement, encourage your employees to find new ways of learning. Create a learning club in which employees choose books or films relating to their jobs for everyone to enjoy. Choose a day when everyone gathers in a conference room to talk about the item and its significance for your work. It is one of the most effective employee engagement ideas that promise to boost the levels of engagement.
48. Bring in a specialist to train
Relying solely on engagement tools may not yield the desired results. So you need to add a human touch by inviting a corporate anthropologist to evaluate your firm and your workforce with the end objective of boosting employee engagement. The offered by the expert recommendations can then be applied using the engagement tools that you have purchased. It is one of the best employee engagement ideas that promises engagement.
49. Encourage brainstorm sessions
Hold completely open brainstorming sessions in which you throw out boundaries and toss around some new ideas. Start the conversation by bringing up an aspect of your business that you would like to enhance. Create a few ground rules to keep these brainstorming sessions constructive. Encourage staff to keep their minds open and to avoid closing down other people’s ideas with derisive laughter, negative automatic responses, and skeptical questioning, which can stifle the flow of ideas.
50. Welcome new ideas
Your employees most likely have numerous ideas that could benefit the organization. They may, however, be unable to share them or feel hesitant to share them. Hold a quarterly show-and-tell where employees can exhibit tools, information, and ideas that they believe will benefit the organization.
51. Include employees in big business strategies
Build teams of employees from various departments to be a part of new business strategies that need responsibilities outside of their normal scope of work. They will not only get to know people they do not work with on a daily basis, but they will also learn from one another while they work on important projects.
52. Host regular Potlucks
Hosting a potluck lunch at the office is an innovative employee engagement idea to bring team members together over a shared goal: eating! And who doesn’t enjoy eating? Potlucks, by definition, have a social component. Working together to set the table, and conversing while enjoying culinary delights can help team members bond. HRs can also host a few icebreaker games during lunch to add an extra degree of fun.
53. Promote themed outfit days
Themed work days are a novel method to encourage fun participation among your workforce. Even if they are already dressed casually as remote workers, allow them to feel connected to their peers by pushing everyone to adopt certain wardrobe themes on specific days.
54. Bring your pet to work day
Employees are more likely to feel valued members of an organization when they believe their management aims to create a pleasant and engaging environment. Taking your pet to work is a simple chance for team building. You may increase team member engagement by having them introduce their colleagues to important members of their families with no effort or investment. It is one of the most fun employee engagement ideas to adopt.
55. Family day in the office
Family Day is a wonderful social event where employees can get to know one other better than they would in the regular office routine. Meeting each other’s families will allow them to form new friendships and strengthen existing ones, resulting in “horizontal” ties that will spread throughout the family unit.
56. Game nights
In-office or virtual gaming nights are excellent employee engagement ideas to promote team bonding while also providing an opportunity for everyone to unwind after work. You can play a variety of fascinating games, and offering a fun evening can truly create the impression that you care about the well-being of your entire staff.
57. Provide competitive health insurance
Excellent insurance packages are a must for your employees. Certain packages will be more useful than others depending on the demographics of your employees, so consider the composition of your staff. A full coverage on employee medical insurance, as well as competitive contribution rates for family coverage, to ensure that everyone in their company receives the medical attention they require without financial stress.
58. Build a strong employer brand
An employer brand is an essential part of employee engagement since it represents the organization’s image to both future and present employees. It includes a company’s mission, values, culture, and personality. A positive employer brand conveys the message that the company is a good employer and a fantastic place to work. Promoting your employer brand effectively can have a wide-ranging impact on your firm. It aids in employee recruitment, hiring/interviewing, and retention.
59. Organize anxiety workshops
Allow your staff to discuss their workplace anxieties and how to deal with them. An expert can lead the workshop, and employees can discover new methods to be more comfortable in the workplace. Hosting such seminars once or twice a month might have a big impact on your employees’ mental health. It will also show your staff how much the organization values and cares for them.
60. Don’t adopt a one-size-fits-all approach
If you want to establish an extraordinary, high-performing workforce, you will take the time to create customized employee engagement strategies for each team, department, and employee tenure. You are accountable for providing your employees with the tools they need to succeed and assisting them in reaching, if not exceeding, their full potential. If you take this responsibility seriously, they will be a lot more driven to give it their all.
61. Allow a “Well” Day
Everyone needs a sick day, so why not encourage your workforce to take a “well” day if they’ve outperformed expectations? Many businesses are apparently abandoning the standard yearly leave and sick leave systems in favor of a pool of paid time off that employees can use whenever they want. Of course, this should be closely regulated to ensure that the concept is not exploited. However, it may be the ideal incentive for staff who work late at night or on weekends.
62. Nap times
Feeling drowsy at work can reduce productivity, and people will eventually spend more time focused on ways to feel refreshed. Instead, allowing employees to take 15 to 30-minute power naps can improve their working memory, or their capacity to focus attention on one activity while remembering other activities. Consider including this unique employee engagement idea in your next engagement effort.
63. Practice what you preach
Employee engagement is as much about providing people with meaningful work as it is about establishing an atmosphere in which they may experience engagement on a daily basis. If your organization’s managers aren’t passionate about their employees or aren’t interested in their own roles, it will be difficult for any person reporting to them to stay motivated. Leaders should set a good example by bringing the same passion and energy to their jobs that they expect from their people.
64. 15 minutes daily meditation
The job can be a stressful and fast-paced setting. The degree to which people are mindful at work is referred to as workplace mindfulness. Encouraging your employees to practice meditation for at least 15-30 minutes daily will certainly have implications on employees psychological and emotional well-being. Improvements in task dedication and enjoyment of work are also advantages of practicing mindfulness in the workplace. It is fresh and one of the most impactful employee engagement ideas that work.
65. Have team photos
Display images of your team on a wall or in frames around the office. Group photos, fun photos, event photos, or random photos taken when no one was looking. It is a cultural factor that can promote and support work connections and employee engagement.
66. Avoid micromanagement
Nobody loves the feeling of being micromanaged. Employees should be held responsible, but they also want to know that you recruited them because you believe in their talents. Micromanagement may seem as degrading to your personnel who regard themselves as trusted, responsible team members. Allowing bosses to routinely loom over them, peering over their heads at their progress, should not undermine their self-confidence. Set some targets, give them some guidance, and basically allow them the freedom to get the work done efficiently.
67. Measure happiness time to time
Another one of the many employee engagement ideas to adopt is measuring employee happiness. It is critical to analyze employees’ satisfaction levels in order to determine where your company stands in terms of happiness, uncover patterns, and learn how to improve. Employee happiness may be measured via feedback surveys, one-on-one interviews, anonymous polls, and even stay and leave interviews.
68. Promote 360 degree feedback system
360-degree feedback is an employee evaluation approach that allows each employee to get performance assessment from their supervisor or manager as well as four to eight peers, reporting employees, colleagues, and, in some situations, customers. 360 feedback surveys may help managers and leaders in companies gain a better grasp of how others see their strengths and faults.
69. Keep trying new ideas
Constantly experiment with new employee engagement ideas and initiatives to increase employee engagement in the firm. Continue to use any recognized successful engagement techniques, but don’t be hesitant to try new methods as well. Fresh ideas frequently lead to insightful findings that may be leveraged to create a more engaging experience for everyone.
70. Make information easily accessible
Ensure that your employees have easy access to all necessary information, such as company policies, perks, holidays, career development, and so on. Organizations might invest in a virtual HR assistant to handle day-to-day personnel concerns to provide easy access to information. Routine employee concerns can be immediately answered with the assistance of a virtual employee assistant available 24/7. A virtual assistant puts information at the fingertips of employees and makes it simple for your team to access and update knowledge from anywhere.
71. Create a creative work environment
Offices have progressed from their humble beginnings as white-collar industrial floors. The modern workplace is far less conventional and much more personalized. They desire convenience, inventiveness, and adaptability. They want all the comforts of home, as well as a comprehensive menu of facilities and cutting-edge technology. And most of the time, they receive all of those things.
72. Create a succession strategy
Succession planning is probably as critical for your company’s future as employee engagement and retention. Because of today’s competitive employment landscape, you may not always be able to hire the individuals your company requires to flourish. The demand for competent personnel and experienced leaders frequently outnumbers the supply.
73. Provide a lifestyle budget
Encourage your staff to take up new activities or to pursue existing ones by providing a lifestyle budget. Allowing budgets to spend on books, devices, exercise equipment, office chairs, and so on. Again, communication is the key here. Talk to your employees and find out what they want and need. Determine what would make their life simpler and cost them less money.
74. Pay in accordance with industry norms
Top talent is always in high demand, and they understand their value. Employees know what they want and how to obtain it, whether it’s wages, incentives, or additional perks. Stay informed on competitive pay ranges to develop an excellent package that will attract top personnel. With the emergence of the gig economy and remote working, new avenues for talent to locate and connect with employment have emerged.
75. Celebrate personal achievements
Employee milestones like as promotions, birthdays, marriages, and retirements are just a few instances of what might be celebrated with your employees. These anniversaries are an excellent occasion to demonstrate your support for their ever-expanding personal and professional aspirations.
76. Offer floating vacations
Provide flexible time off options to make your workers feel appreciated. A floating holiday may be paid or unpaid, depending on corporate policy. Employees can utilize it in place of a public holiday and often pick the days they wish to take off at their leisure (e.g., religious holiday, special events, birthdays). A floating holiday benefit may provide employees with flexibility, boost team morale, and promote diversity and inclusion at your organization.
77. Organize sporting activities
Form teams in the office and organize a fun game of soccer, basketball, softball, or volleyball. This can be done at a nearby park or on business land. A shared experience that is outside of routine day-to-day work fosters rapport among colleagues and instills a strong sense of purpose, as well as the health benefits of exercise!
Summing Up
Keeping your employees engaged seems like an uphill task, especially during onboarding. However, just increasing their engagement levels during onboarding isn’t enough. It requires consistent efforts on the part of the organization to keep their employees engaged as long as they’re working in your company.
To implement employee engagement ideas faster and efficiently, companies need to leverage intelligent automation and AI solutions. Using employee engagement software can help them gather insights and feedback from employees, conduct surveys, and leverage analytics to transform their experiences. Plus, it enables you to listen to every worker and resolve their issues before they become a part of your company culture.
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What is employee engagement?
Employee engagement is a workplace strategy that aims to increase an employee’s emotions and emotional commitment to the firm, their job responsibilities, their position within the company, their coworkers, and the corporate culture. Employees that are engaged identify with the business’s goals and connect their personal ambitions with those of the organization.
What is the purpose of employee engagement?
The purpose of employee engagement is to guarantee that employees are dedicated to their organization’s goals and values, and that they are driven to contribute to organizational success while also improving their personal feeling of well-being. An “engaged” employee is said to have a combination of preceding management principles, including work satisfaction, organizational commitment, job participation, and emotions of empowerment. It is an idea with more than the sum of its components.
What are the key elements of employee engagement?
Certain variables increase employee engagement, and leaders must focus on incorporating these components into the workplace to get the most out of their staff.
- Enhance your general well-being
- Make your work meaningful.
- Utilize employee strengths
- Create relationships that encourage participation.
- Recognize accomplishments in a sincere manner.
- Monitor progress
What are some fun ideas for employee engagement?
Here is an exhaustive list of employee engagement ideas that work.
- Create an engaging onboarding experience
- Give new hires an onboarding buddy
- Start the week with some motivation
- Offer flexible hours
- Start the day with a team huddle
- Provide healthy meals
- Support work-life balance
- Have a wellness program
- Encourage open communication
- Provide continual training and skill development
- Introduce gamification
- Incentivize goals
- Make employee recognition a practice
- Conduct pulse and employee engagement surveys
- Make the survey results known
- Have fun outside the office
- Support volunteer causes
- Be a leader, not a boss
- Leverage video conferencing
- Encourage social interaction
- Pay for a visit to the hometown
- Lunch with the leadership
- Keep in touch
- Encourage top-down management
- Align the job with the org-wide vision
- Encourage accountability
- Allow internal mobility
- Hand out customized goodies
- Build a culture of emotional intelligence
- Let employees set their own goals
- Promote creativity and innovation
- Introduce a 20 percent program
- Communicate your CSR strategies
- Networking opportunities
- Conduct strength assessment
- Your employees deserve a break
- Promote Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
- Small gestures create a big impact
- Promote team collaborations
- Change the face of work meetings
- Invest in an employee experience platform
- Find your employee’s passion
- Company value-based employee recognition
- Holiday with the leaders
- Invite an in-office motivational speaker
- Throw going-away parties
- Start a learning club
- Bring in a specialist to train
- Encourage brainstorm sessions
- Welcome new ideas
- Include employees in big business strategies
- Host regular Potlucks
- Promote themed outfit days
- Bring your pet to work day
- Family day in the office
- Game nights
- Provide competitive health insurance
- Build a strong employer brand
- Anxiety workshops
- Don’t adopt a one-size-fits-all approach
- Allow a “Well” Day
- Nap times
- Practice what you preach
- 15 minutes daily meditation
- Have team photos
- Avoid micromanagement
- Measure happiness time to time
- Promote 360 degree feedback system
- Keep trying new ideas
- Create a creative work environment.
- Organize sporting activities
- Create a succession strategy.
- Provide a lifestyle budget
- Pay in accordance with industry norms
- Celebrate personal achievements
- Offer floating vacations
- Make information easily accessible
Why is employee engagement important?
Employee engagement is critical for all businesses since it helps to establish a better work culture, minimize employee turnover, enhance productivity, improve work and customer connections, and affect corporate revenues.
How to keep employees engaged?
Improving engagement does not have to be a difficult task. Many tiny actions can add up to make a big effect.
- Continue reading to learn Fellow’s 7 tactics to keep staff engaged:
- Encourage their personal growth.
- Make psychological safety a priority.
- Encourage staff teamwork and collaboration.
- Recognize and praise your team members for their efforts.
- Provide employees with the tools and resources they need to succeed.
- Encourage inventiveness.
- Plan frequent one-on-one encounters.
What are the benefits of employee engagement?
Employee engagement activities have become a significant part of long-term business success strategies. More and more organizations have come to appreciate the benefits of employee engagement activities and here’s why:
- Increased employee safety
- Happier employees
- Increased work satisfaction
- Better employee health
- Better work-life balance
- Lower absenteeism
- Higher retention
- Increased loyalty
- Better customer service
- Higher work quality
- Increased productivity
- Higher sales
What are the key elements of employee engagement?
There are five crucial elements of employee engagement that a company needs to build an engaged workforce. Let’s check these out:
- Leadership
- Communication
- Culture
- Rewards and recognition
- Corporate social responsibility
What is the purpose of employee engagement?
Employees that are engaged believe in what they are doing and who they work for, therefore they always act in ways that benefit their businesses. So, how does employee engagement affect things?
- Align employees with the company goals and values
- Improve the sense of wellbeing
- Improve workplace conditions
- Understand your employees’ attitude
- Employee motivation
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