Every business is looking to boost their bottom line, but few realize it can be done through employee engagement activities. Here's what you need to know.
Over 50 percent of Americans are currently unhappy at work – which means that, whether you know it or not – it's likely that your office has a few dissatisfied employees on its hand.
The key to turning this around is increasing collaboration and communication, and growing your business' bottom line as a result. This requires doing whatever it takes to boost your current level of employee engagement.
Often, this means swallowing your pride and asking for feedback on your leadership skills. [quotesright]Did you know that about half of all employees have left a position to escape a bad boss? [/quotesright] However, it also means coming up with epically fun (and useful) employee engagement activities.
What does it take to keep your best employees happy? How do you ensure that your team is committed to the same goals, can work at its most productive, and remain motivated?
Read on to find out.
Why Do Employee Engagement Activities Matter?
Before we begin to discuss the specifics of employee engagement activities, let's first talk about why they matter so much.
The most important reason is also the most obvious: the cost of hiring a new employee can seriously damage your bottom line. [quotes]High employee turnover could be costing your company anywhere from $20,000 to over $255,000 every year. [/quotes]
So, keeping your employees happy and motivated will save you serious cash. But employee engagement won't just help you to save more money. Often, it means you'll be making more, too.
[quotesright]In fact, studies confirm that workplaces that have higher levels of employee satisfaction also enjoy higher earnings per share. [/quotesright] Plus, when people feel valued in their workplace, they actually look forward to coming into the office every day. It might sound trivial, but you'd be surprised at just how much a good mood can boost your employee productivity.
You'll also notice that your office communication will improve – both between employees and with your customers. Projects will be completed more quickly, because your coworkers will be more aware of their strengths and weaknesses.
Plus, they'll feel like they're all a part of the same team, working towards a common victory that will allow them to all share a piece of the pie.
Now that you know why employee engagement activities matter, let's move on to sharing with you a few of our favorite ideas!
1. Volunteer at A Local Center or Nonprofit
Here’s one of our favorite employee engagement activities: Leaving the office a few hours early one day to volunteer for some worthwhile cause.
[quotesright]Getting people out of the office will do them a world of good. [/quotesright] A common activity with a good purpose is an awesome way to boost your employees' abilities to work together, listen to one another, and get over the fear of asking for help.
You even get the bonus of seeing the natural leaders emerge on your team!
Volunteering is also a wonderful alternative to entering a 5K or doing a weight loss challenge, which is likely to cause some members of your team to become uncomfortable and others unhealthily competitive.
It's also a nice way to send around a gentle reminder about the importance of helping others and understanding other’s needs and perspectives.
[quotesright]Further, working within your local community is a great way to get your company's name out in front of your target market. [/quotesright] Be sure to bring along a few business cards, or simply set up a plaque in front of your work project to build brand recognition.
2. Turn Your Office into A Spa
[quotes]Show your employees how much you value all the hard work they do for you by surprising them with a Thanks to You Day! [/quotes] We suggest selecting a day at the end of an especially stressful week when your employees will likely be faced with some serious burnout.
Pick a few of the more innovative and connected employees to act as idea generators for future events by talking to their colleagues about what they want. They will form your team to make this a success by putting them in charge of the “secret surprise event.”
We can guarantee that they'll love this idea, and they'll definitely be willing to work a lot harder for a company that recognizes their efforts and treats them so well.
3. Create A Magazine
Want to know one of the things that many employees feel their bosses don't always have such a great grasp on?
[quotes]The fact that, yes, they really have a life outside of the office.[/quotes] And while it's good to let them have a part of themselves that's totally separate from your business, it's also important to show them that you value them, their hobbies, and their accomplishments.
So, how can you recognize your employees, while also making sure that your team has the chance to get to know each other?
By following up on the next item on our list of our favorite employee engagement activities: Creating an employee magazine.
You could have a humorous advice column, write an employee profile, or feature a charity each month that is close to the heart of one of your employees. You could even include photos of the one thing that every employee never gets tired of talking about – their children!
Celebrate their children's accomplishments as much as you do your own, and we know your employees will feel valued.
Aim to publish the magazine about once every quarter, and even make it a point to mail it to your most important clients. You can use insiders for the content and hire a freelancer to put the magazine together and handle the distribution.
4. Have A Game Night
Here’s an awesome – and fun – way to help your employees feel more engaged at work that also allows you to see who works well together: Host an office game night. The games can be simple or complicated to fit your crew. It doesn't matter the types of games you choose, what matters is that you give your employees a night off and time to relax.
Let the winners take off work early, or come into work later the next day, or pick their own reward from a basket of options!
5. Have A Scavenger Hunt
[quotesright]We saved the best for last when it comes to our list of employee engagement activities. [/quotesright]
If your team does a job that pretty much looks the same every day (answering the phone, filling orders, checking on inventory, meeting with clients), we're willing to bet they'd love a way to switch up their routine.
Enter the office scavenger hunt, which you can also use to teach your employees a little bit more about their coworkers.
On each clue, you should also write a fun, unexpected fact about each of your employees. You could also ask your employees to complete a specific team building task (like learning everyone's hometown or where they went to college) before they start searching for the next clue.
Like any good scavenger hunt, you should also think about the kind of prize that you're going to have waiting for your employees at the end!
We love the idea of giving each member of the winning team a gift certificate to a local restaurant or bar. After all, if things really go well, your employees may want to take the losing team out for a drink.
Looking for More Ways to Improve Your Employee Engagement and Leadership Skills?
You now have some awesome ideas for employee engagement activities. So, you're more than ready to enter the new year with a re-energized workforce, filled with employees that are ready to work together to help your company to grow.
[quotesright]Of course, if you want to keep pace with the competition, [/quotesright] and ensure that your leadership skills remain at the highest level, you're going to need to consider more than employee engagement activities alone. One solution is to find out how our Navigational Conversations training program can turn tune-out to buy-in.
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Let's work together to help you and your team to have your most productive year yet. USA: 877.433.6225 feedback@focalpointcoaching.com
