There are tons of employee engagement activities you can employ to strengthen your workforce; however, keep in mind that employee engagement is all about emotional attachment. Employee engagement is a mindset. It is about how your staff members feel about your organization. Therefore, when planning for activities, make sure you first start with “why” you want to develop a given internal communications strategy before actually delving in it.
Why exactly is employee engagement important to the success of a business?
Aside from improving communication between managers and staff members, employee engagement leads to long-term commitment to the business and increased effort and productivity from the team. These then lead to higher sales and profit, increased satisfaction, and fewer mistakes.
Here are some effective employee engagement activities that you can implement in your internal communications plan:
1. Include staff members in the company’s business planning process
Promote transparency and foster trust and teamwork by involving your employees in your strategy for the company. Let them in on the issues affecting the organization, and allow them to give their own insight and input on how to address the issues. By giving them a voice, you give employees a sense of ownership and belongingness while giving yourself an opportunity to find out which employees show promise when it comes to leadership.
2. Share ideas in a creative way
Create an open sharing place wherein employees feel empowered to share their own ideas. More often than not, your staff members will be at their cubicles, working on their own or working with the same people all the time. Have them interact with other employees from different departments. Use the sharing space to allow them to share with other employees the progress of their projects and the experiences they’ve had so they can learn from each other.
3. Develop a mentoring program
Pair old employees with new hires, and give your old staff members. Create a learning program template they can utilize and follow. Within a given time, let them work through given objectives so that they get to know each other and each other’s work personalities.
4. Give them avenues wherein they can learn
A lot of employees choose to leave where they work because they feel like they are no longer being given a chance to grow. Give them opportunities to improve themselves and their skills. Make an assessment of their needs and preferences and provide learning initiatives to make them feel that you prioritize their need to develop themselves as people and as members of the organization.
5. Integrate “Office Olympics” into your internal communication plan
Get everyone involved and have fun by having your own “Office Olympics”. Not only do you foster teamwork and improve on employee engagement, you promote wellbeing and health through this activity.
6. Create social events
Break the monotony of work life through social events – whether it be a simple night out at the bar with staff members or even a soiree in the work place. These special occasions allow staff members to get to know each other more on a personal level, which in turn, solidifies relationships on a professional level.
7. Create an internal newsletter and get employees involved
There are tons of internal newsletter ideas out there – and who better to give you an insight into what your employees would want to read but staff members themselves. Get them involved with the content writing and brainstorming. Allow them a voice so that they feel like they truly are part of the company.
8. Provide seminars and workshops for self-improvement
When you create a work environment that is employee-centric, staff members become more motivated to do the best work they can. Provide seminars and workshops that encourage creativity, ideas, self-improvement and innovation.