Empty mind is a devil house so the primary task of any reporting manager is to allocate sufficient amounts of tasks to its subordinate to keep them engaged but keeping engaged is not sufficient. Because you can’t eat the same kind of food daily similarly, you can’t do the same kind of task daily. To get rid of the boredom weather in life, food or work something engaging is must. So this must engage activities in the field of work is referred as Employee Engagement Activities.
To define Employee engagement it is the extent to which employees feel hooked into their jobs and stays committed to the organization, and put discretionary effort into their work. Employee engagement involves activities, games, and events which drive towards better employee performance.
Importance or Objectives of Employee Engagement Activities
The objective Employee Engagement Activities is to ensure that employees feel committed towards organisation’s goals and remain motivated to contribute for organisational success, also at the same time enhancing their own sense of wellbeing. Below are some of the major importance of Employee Engagement Activities:
1. Better employee health & safety: In a happy work culture where employees are always engaged and associated with happening activities inclusive of their daily activities, they are more at the state of mental peace and satisfaction which ensures better employee health and become very less prone to any mishaps or health hazards.
2. Happier employees: When employees are allowed to share their valuable inputs towards betterment of the company, feels themselves more connected and realizes security of a job, such an environment produces happy employees.
3. Greater employee satisfaction: As mentioned in the above two points, employees with better health and happy state of mind always turn in greater satisfaction.
4. Better home life (Work-Life Balance): Employee engagement not only involves events or fun activities, it is based for the overall betterment of employees. In the concept of overall betterment the foremost thing is happy home life or personal life in order to manage better work-life balance. A maintained work-life balance takes place when the work-timings and pressure is duly managed or reduced.
5. Lower absenteeism: Happy people, happy culture, happy home life . In addition to these three the first output which comes is lower absenteeism as it always stimulates the individual to rush for the office.
6. Higher retention (Low rate of attrition): Based on the factors like better employee health & safety, happy environment, greater employee satisfaction and better home life leads for sure towards lower attrition and higher retention due to healthy work ambiance.
7. Better & quality customer service: The ultimate motto of employee engagement is to attain the company’s end goal which is producing high quality goods or services in order to achieve the client’s or customer’s satisfaction.
8. Greater productivity & profitability: Happy environment produces happy employees and happy employees produce greater productivity which generates higher sales and profitability and key for these depends upon well managed employee engagement strategies.
9. Greater employee loyalty: Loyalty comes with satisfaction and satisfaction comes from motivation. When a company assures a well managed employee engagement strategy it leads towards higher employee loyalty.
10. Higher stock price: Greater sales and profitability leads towards a better brand name which creates a long going future and wealth. Based on the wealth or fund capacity the share or stock prices of the company increases for sure.
Effective Employee Engagement Strategies
1. Listening to Employees: Listening is always considered to be good practice in every field of life especially in corporate as listening to employees with their grievances or problems always give a personal touch and keep them connected with the core value of the company.
2. Practice sharing good ideas between teams: Competition is good till it is healthy but it is obvious that it becomes bitter in the concept called ‘work politics’ so in order to remove this work politics and maintain a healthy competition, sharing good ideas amongst each other or within two teams is always considered a good practice to be followed.
3. Value employee opinion: Employees are human resources but moreover they are human assets of the organization which leads the company towards the achievement of their end goal. Hence its very important that such assets must be valued and nourished by properly entertaining their opinion as they have different mindsets run in different directions ends with, providing a bunch of opinion which mostly found useful in terms of organizational growth.
4. Invest in the wellbeing of employees: As mentioned above the human assets must be given the chance for nourishment. Hence, it is very necessary apart from only focusing towards organizational growth, well- being and development of the individual employees should also be taken care of.
5. Recognise good work: Apart from the pre-mentioned strategies, what actually motivates is the recognition and praising. To reach the goal every employee strives hard. Sometimes they achieve, sometimes they can’t but when they receive the achievement, recognition and tinge of praise-worthy words, works as a power booster and significant motivator for future tasks.
10 Best Employee Engagement Activities
1. Workplace Parties
Company parties like annual, summer and winter parties to celebrate a year of business. Additional festivities like Halloween parties, Thanksgiving dinners, and other celebratory parties make people feel companies prioritize them.
2. Learning Lunches
Learning lunches or potlucks are the perfect way to bring a team together and help them learn. Encourage different departments to share what they’re working on and tackle a new topic as a team. Hosting such lunches once per month fosters learning, and helps with transparency.
3. Employee Games, Tournaments, and Competitions
Employees love getting involved in games, tournaments, and competitions. Hosting a sports tournament, or challenges office-wide can do wonders for the employees at the organization.
4. Special Days
Special days such as birthday, anniversary, work anniversary change the pace and give employees something to look forward to. Cutting cakes, gifts or treating them special on these days boosts morale alot.
5. Training
Training always brings out a special in you. A speaker for a truly interesting and invigorating training session, engage the employees and teach them something new.
6. Recognition Programs
Recognition programs are a great way to get employees to interact with one another. Programs like “Employee of the Month” or “Employee of the year” always become the common platform of recognition in which everyone cherishes each other, congratulates and fosters team spirit.
7. Team-building Activities
Team-building activities, especially those outside of the office, are something that employees love. Go-kart racing, and bowling etc. are such options. These sorts of activities will facilitate bonding outside of the workspace, and give employees better understanding.
8. Fundraisers and Charity Days
Fundraisers and charity days are also a nice way to bring employees together on the common page Often these causes affect your employees, so giving them the opportunity to organize such events for causes they are passionate about is an effective way to enhance their organizational skills.
9. Employee Work from Home Policy
This policy is the most effective one which gives employees the liberty of how to work, where to work and when to work. The objective is to fulfill the deadline in the most convenient manner without any obligation of professional wear, timings, daily commute. The concept of home office has always proven the best manner of employee engagement.
10. The First-day welcome Card/Gift to New Hires
It is one of the great employee engagement activities to introduce to a new hire. It makes new employees engaged on their first day itself, Thus, this trick at the workplace to welcome new buddies with presents like a welcome card, gift, or email to the new hires makes them feel equally important as it is to introduce them to the team in a friendly manner.
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