Imagine buying tickets to a symphony. The date arrives, and the theater is packed. However, when the show starts, a series of discordant notes ring out.
You scan the group. The brass section seems to be playing with purpose. The strings don’t seem very motivated, although if you just focus on the concertmaster, she’s playing beautifully. Is it just you, or are players missing from the percussion section?
When people aren’t engaged in their work, everyone, and the company they belong to, loses. Sheet music gets mixed up, someone misses the bus, or their individual talents are lost in the fray.
On the other hand, when everyone feels valued and connected to their purpose, it’s easier to focus and create great things. Today, we’ll learn more about how employee engagement ideas can help you achieve this.
What is employee engagement?
Employee engagement refers to the level of commitment, motivation, and enthusiasm someone brings to their work. Engaged employees feel confident in their purpose and emotionally connected to the organization's success.
Here are five things fully engaged employees have in common:
- They feel bonded to their coworkers and company
- They know how their work directly impacts the collective
- They’re proud of their work and know how to improve or adjust when necessary
- They want to do their best and meet new goals
- They’re recognized by others at work and feel seen and valued
Why is employee engagement important?
Employee engagement is one of the biggest factors affecting both a company's success and an employee's success.
Disengaged employees are more likely to be dissatisfied with their jobs overall. It also harms their personal well-being and professional development. For the company, this can lead to suboptimal outcomes, higher turnover, and bumpy operations.
How to improve employee engagement
To properly engage with their work, employees need three things:
1. Clear objectives.
Employees should begin each day knowing what’s expected of them. Without this, they have to second-guess themselves. That makes their work feel less connected to company goals.
2. Tools and resources.
You wouldn’t feel very confident building a house without a hammer. Employees who feel they have the resources to do their best work connect more with their work.
3. Time to shine.
Employees want to play to their strengths and make use of what they excel at. This also helps them get the recognition they need for positive reinforcement.
With basic needs met, use some of our employee engagement ideas. You can maximize engagement benefits and build a culture where people are proud of what they do and the successful company they do it for.
Employee engagement ideas for personalized recognition
Anyone can be nice. It’s easy to say, “Good job.” Meaningful, authentic recognition looks different. It’s honest, displays trust, and shows interest in employees.
1. Customize communication
Is someone easiest to reach in chat due to their workflow/job demands? Does someone avoid eye contact in person but provide lively, detailed responses via email? What about learning styles–are employees in your industry more likely to be visual learners?
All of this matters when you're trying to engage someone. It takes extra effort, but it signals mutual respect, which is necessary to bond an employee to an organization.
2. Increase autonomy
Employees who feel they have no control are more likely to disengage and go on autopilot. They may see opportunities to innovate or optimize, but have no space to do so.
Competent employees should be able to make decisions about their work. Simple things, like letting them weigh in on goals and deadlines for their projects, increase ownership and engagement.
3. Ask the right questions
Intentionally interacting with employees and soliciting their input is essential to engagement. We hear a lot that employees need opportunities to ask leadership and management questions, but their side should count, too.
Questions like “Do you have everything you need for this project?” “What do most people get wrong about your role?” and more invite an individual’s perspective and ensure they feel heard. Get 50 check-in questions for various occasions.
Inexpensive employee engagement ideas
Budgets aren’t a barrier to improving employee engagement. Making connections, defining the community’s purpose, and hyping everyone up cost little to nothing.
4. Create networking opportunities
Large organizations would benefit from increasing cross-departmental internal networking. It provides insight into parts of the company's work that some people are unfamiliar with. A holistic view deepens employees' connection to their employer.
Connecting employees with professionals you know outside the company also offers several benefits. Employees can learn new techniques and philosophies that improve their work. They can feel as though they are growing in their roles even without a promotion.
5. Emphasize core values
What are the company’s core values? Are they aspirational or operational? Start leading with core values in mind, build them into interactions with employees, and always share ways they can exemplify them at work.
For instance, a leader who upholds inclusivity as a core value listens to everyone. They provide equitable solutions and call out biases. Their employees will be encouraged to do the same, creating a respectful, supportive environment where the right people feel they belong.
6. Set the tone first thing in the morning
Company chants and cheers can be corny, yes. Done right, they can also be motivational rituals that subconsciously bond teams and help them kick off the day with enthusiasm.
Chanting or not, look for ways to start the day right. Whether it's time for team shout-outs or a few words of encouragement, give everyone a chance to have a good day.
Virtual employee engagement ideas
Remote teams often struggle with engagement. The culprits? Lack of mission and purpose. Implement more culture-building employee engagement ideas to create a sense of community and give them direction.
7. Encourage professional development
Webinars, podcasts, and other online resources related to our jobs build on what we know with the latest news, trends, and solutions. This keeps remote workers more attuned to what their clients and colleagues experience while strengthening their connection to their work.
Email a remote employee one-to-one to share a TED Talk, podcast episode, or article you think they'd enjoy that’s relevant to their position. It shows genuine interest and is a considerate way to help them improve in certain areas.
8. Fitness and wellness
Health initiatives are common in offices, and more remote employees could enjoy the benefits, too. This shows care for employee well-being and creates a good opportunity to team up.
Group meditations, step challenges, discounted memberships, and more can all boost health outcomes, sure. They also create additional ways for remote employees to interact with the company, breaking up the usual routine.
9. Virtual employee walls
Create an online space where remote teams can celebrate one another, receive recognition, or share more about themselves. Have them showcase their dog for Pet of the Month or wish them an extra-special happy birthday.
Get more ideas for employee walls to start personalizing recognition and putting a face and personality to the name online.
Employee engagement activities for cohesive teams
An organization can do its best to boost engagement, but what happens when employees are left to engage with one another? These employee engagement ideas also support team-building.
10. Volunteer Day
People who want to volunteer but cite work commitments and a lack of free time as primary reasons. Having teams volunteer on company time reinforces those core values and has team members collaborating in new environments.
Scheduling a day of volunteering also builds company pride. Visiting residents at assisted living facilities, helping with environmental cleanup, distributing supplies to those in need, or pitching in at animal shelters are all worthwhile.
11. Celebrating stress
Stressful weeks and tough projects make it easy to disengage. If the team is at risk of reaching its boiling point, bring them together for a little party. It’ll be an open forum where they can voice their fears and discuss solutions.
This helps ease any tension building at work. It also shows employees they’re not alone in their worries and that people are on their side as they work through problems.
12. Case study challenge
Some employees may not have had a chance to put their creativity to the test. They may defer to team leads or see themselves as a solitary entity restricted to their little corner of contribution.
Create a case study that poses a problem and challenges the team to solve it. Everyone has a chance to put their best ideas forward without risk. It’s a stage for people to showcase strengths they may not normally utilize in their roles, which is very empowering.
Employee engagement software for daily recognition
More opportunities to recognize employees than any one manager can reasonably notice. Use peer recognition to make sure employees feel valued and motivated every day.
13. Equip the team chat with fun peer recognition software
What if peer recognition were not only easy, but also sort of like playing a game? Employees would engage all the time. Peer recognition makes us feel responsible to our teammates, people who count on us. Their support and affirmation make us feel seen and valued.
There are plenty of tools to choose from, but here’s how HeyTaco pulls it off:
- Employees get virtual tacos 🌮 they can share with coworkers when they do or say something positive, helpful, or in alignment with company values.
- People who give and receive tacos appear on a leaderboard, unlocking new levels, avatars, and rewards.
- Companies can see at a glance how engagement is improving, who is increasing their connection, who is spreading the most love, and who might need more recognition.
We hope you enjoyed our list of employee engagement ideas. Feel free to share it with your colleagues and consider trying HeyTaco free for 30 days.
