13 Employee Engagement Ideas for All Work Models & Budgets

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. And is it just you, or are there players missing from the percussion section?

When people aren’t engaged in their work, everyone and the company they belong to lose. Sheet music gets mixed up, someone misses the bus, or their individual talents are lost in the fray. 

On the other hand, everyone feels valued and connected to their purpose, it’s easier to lock in and make great things happen. Today, we’ll learn more about achieving this with employee engagement ideas.

What is employee engagement?

Employee engagement refers to the levels of commitment, motivation, and enthusiasm one puts toward their work. Engaged employees are confident in their purpose and emotionally connected to organizational 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 single factors affecting both the success of the company and of the worker. 

Disengaged employees are more likely to be dissatisfied with their jobs overall. It’s also bad for their personal well-being and professional development. For the company, this looks like 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 doesn’t make their job feel important to company goals.

2. Tools and resources. 

You wouldn’t feel very confident building a house without a hammer. Employees who feel they have every resource to do the best possible job connect well 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 the benefits of engagement and create a culture of people who 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 is a little 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 another avert their gaze 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 attempting to engage a person. It takes some extra effort, but it signals mutual respect, which is necessary for bonding 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 know there are places they can innovate or optimize, but there’s no space for them to do so.

Competent employees should be able to make decisions about their work. Simple things, such as letting them weigh in on setting goals and deadlines for their projects, increase feelings of ownership, which is very engaging. 

3. Ask the right questions

Intentionally interacting with and soliciting information from employees is essential to engagement. We hear a lot about how they need the opportunity 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 is cheap or free.

4. Create networking opportunities

Large organizations would do well to increase cross-departmental internal networking. It provides insight into aspects of company work that some are unfamiliar with. A holistic view deepens the connection employees have with their employer.

Linking employees with professionals you know outside of the company has various benefits, too. 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 hears everyone out. They provide equitable solutions and call out biases. Their employees will be encouraged to do the same, creating an environment of respect and support that the right people enjoy belonging to. 

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 this is the time for team shout-outs or a few words of encouragement, give everyone the chance to have a good day.  

Virtual employee engagement ideas

Remote teams have more difficulty with engagement. The culprits? Lack of mission and purpose. Implement more culture-building employee engagement ideas for a sense of community that gives 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 improving the connection to their own work.

Email a remote employee one-to-one, saying you think they’d enjoy a TED Talk, podcast episode, or article that’s relevant to their position. It displays genuine interest and is a considerate way of helping them improve in certain areas.  

8. Fitness and wellness 

Health initiatives are common in offices, and more remote employees could enjoy the benefits, too. It demonstrates care for employee well-being and is a good opportunity to team up.

Group meditations, step challenges, discounted memberships, and more can all boost health outcomes, sure. They also help build additional avenues through which a remote employee interacts with their company, breaking up the usual routine.

9. Virtual employee walls

Create a place online 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 put its very best forth in enhancing engagement, but what happens when employees are left to engage with one another? These employee engagement ideas support team-building, too.

10. Volunteer Day

People who want to volunteer but don’t 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 instills feelings of 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 are easy times to disengage. If the team is at risk of reaching its boiling point, gather them together for a little party of sorts. It’ll be an open forum where they can voice their fears and discuss solutions.

This helps take the edge off any tension building at work. It also shows employees that they’re not alone in their worries and will have people on their side working through problems. 

12. Case study challenge

Chances are that some employees haven’t gotten 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 challenge the team to solve it. Everyone has the chance to put their best ideas forward without any risks. 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

There are more opportunities to recognize employees than any one manager can reasonably notice. Make sure employees feel valued and motivated every day with peer recognition. 

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 be lacking some recognition.