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There is more to your company than productivity and sales. Corporate culture is just as crucial to your branding as your business. There are several fun employee engagement activities for small businesses that you can implement quickly and easily. Let's take a look.
Employee engagement focuses on the emotional commitment your employees have to the brand. It directly affects their motivation to excel for the company, their team, and the organization's overall success. In other words, how willing is an individual worker to go above their basic job duties?
An engaged employee is personally invested in doing their job well and growing the business. Doing so expresses itself in:
Before getting into various fun employee engagement activities for small businesses, it is essential to remember that there are different activity styles. Some may work better for small businesses looking for company culture differentiation than others.
Food is an easy and basic morale booster. It involves potluck lunches, donut breakfasts, Taco Tuesdays, and similar activities that strengthen interpersonal relationships. These settings are informal and social.
Quick engagement activities for staff meetings typically involve games. Games are ideal icebreakers for newly formed teams, encouraging creativity and building trust. One of the most famous budget-friendly employee engagement ideas is the tower challenge. (Teams are given paper and tasked with creating the tallest tower without tape.)
Ideas to boost morale in small business settings include recognition of individual workers. Recognition reinforces positive behavior and expresses sincere appreciation for employees. Go beyond the standard employee of the month ribbons. Give awards based on peer input. Some companies have done very well with a coin system that lets managers hand out coins whenever they catch an employee doing something great. These coins can then be exchanged for company swag.
These low-cost engagement activities focus on well-being and create friendly competition. A popular one is the step-count challenge. (On a sidenote, avoid anything related to weight since this can make some workers feel singled out.)
Volunteer days underscore the business's involvement in the local community. While strengthening teamwork, they also allow individuals to identify with the company's public image. Consider holding volunteer days during work hours rather than on days off. Something as simple as a beach cleanup, park cleanup, or canned food drive is a good option that will not cost a lot of money to organize.
In this scenario, employee-led workshops focus on personal growth. A learn-at-lunch meeting allows experienced workers to share tips and tricks with newer employees. Learning sessions do not have to be work-specific. Some businesses have begun doing book discussion groups, quilting sessions, and bake-offs.
Forced team-building ideas, offensive wellness challenges, and employee recognition ideas that focus on the same workers are reasons why employees might roll their eyes at the concept of engagement activities. There are some things to avoid.
For example, participation should not be mandatory. Instead, incentives should make the activities irresistible. In fact, you might survey your team about what types of engagement activities they would like to implement – and when. Events outside of work hours easily frustrate workers with social obligations. Keep activities during work hours when everyone expects to be at the business.
Avoid the extravagant and the cheap. Instead of costs, focus on making the experience meaningful. In fact, the activities you select should align with business goals, such as creativity or teamwork. Inconsistency is another thing to avoid. If you decide to pursue employee engagement activities, keep them consistent.
Last, but not least, remember that you have introverted staff members. They may dread activities where the spotlight is on them or require physical prowess. Be mindful when selecting activities that are inclusive, accessible, and appealing to diverse personality types.
When you intentionally incorporate fun employee engagement activities for small businesses, it is best to do so with the calendar. It makes any activities you select meaningful.
This first month of the year is ideal for goal-setting workshops and exercises. Being the New Year, with a healthy breakfast, followed by a vision board creation. Allow an hour for this activity.
Valentine's Day is in February, and plenty of love-themed decorations and props exist. Host a catered employee appreciation luncheon. While everyone enjoys their food, spread the love by giving positive shoutouts to individual employees, departments, and teams. Make sure everyone gets mentioned.
Spring is approaching, and you might plan wellness activities this month. We have already talked about a step-count challenge. Kick it off with a smoothie bar during your weekly or monthly meeting.
Focus on unity and brand buy-in by making this month about volunteerism. Create opportunities for employees to participate. Discuss your company's community impact goal during a lunch meeting, and then have the group select an activity that appeals to the majority.
Now is a good time to consider personal and professional goals. Employee-led workshops can take place this month. Discuss promotion paths, discuss the company's commitment to cross-training, and consider starting a book club.
You are missing out if you do not plan your company picnic for this month. Host outdoor team-building games, have managers operate the barbecues and serve employees, or do an ice cream social. Invite family members to join the fun.
It is time for mid-year awards. Show how employees' hard work has paid off with stats and charts. Management should create a board with shoutouts for each employee. Make half-day Fridays the reward for hard work.
Focus on innovation. Give out awards for the best ideas employees, teams, and departments pitched. It is a fun activity for a monthly employee meeting. If you do it around lunchtime, bring in some pizza.
Host a trivia event involving company details. Include timelines, product manufacturing details, and anything else employees should know to provide better customer service. Give away company swag to winners. Because many of these details may be new to employees not usually in manufacturing positions, keep it easy with multiple-choice questions.
It is tempting to host Halloween-themed activities. However, be mindful that some employees do not participate in Halloween. It may be better to focus on the candy element and host a crazy hat contest. The workers with the craziest piece of headgear win. All participants get candy, but winners might get gift cards. We have already discussed the importance of creating traditions. The annual crazy hat contest is a tradition that employees can look forward to.
The holiday season is in full swing, and employees feel festive. Host a catered lunch meeting to thank workers for their hard work. You might reprise the idea of volunteerism by doing a canned food drive for the local food bank. Go as a group to drop off the donations and shake the hands of the volunteers there. This activity makes employees the face of your company and its branding.
Business owners or the CEO handwrite thank-you notes to the individual workers. Take the monthly employee meeting to look backward and reflect on how the year has gone. If your company hosts a company-wide holiday party, this is the month to do it. Collaborate with workers on the best time, location, and space for the event.
Did you know your customers will be interested in knowing what is happening behind the scenes? Include photos of your employee engagement events and games with your email marketing newsletter!
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