The agility and mobility in today’s fast-paced world have brought in a lot of changes to the work culture of people as well. Employees today are looking for more than just a job to get paid. They want to be enthusiastic about the work they do and the organization they work for too while being involved in their work. That’s why employee engagement is becoming one of the must-haves for every organization looking to have satisfied employees. Engaging your employees is becoming crucial to retain your quality workers. Employee friendly office spaces and other activities that help employees feel emotionally attached to their workplace is a great factor for satisfying your employees apart from the pay you give them.
Of course, satisfied employees can make a lot of difference in their productivity and ultimately contribute to the growth of your organization. Engaged employees are proved to be more involved as they feel they are invested, emotionally or otherwise. Organizations supporting employee engagement are going to do overall better with increased productivity, customer satisfaction, company culture, and success. So how do you engage your employees? We have some interesting Employee Engagement Activities to keep your employees engaged and fill your workspace with fun.
Employee Engagement Childhood Games
1. Board Games in office
What picture does the mention of board games bring to your mind? The classic ludo or scrabble or monopoly? Well, don’t you remember how excited were you to play these captivating games in your school days? Hours of enthusiasm and the anxiety of the moment you throw your dice still lingers in most of our minds. Why not bring the same enthusiasm and zestfulness to your office spaces too? Board Games are one of the classiest team building activities to engage your employees.
There are a lot of benefits you get from board games in your workspaces. It indeed is a great way to help your employees deal with the speed and pressure of routine tasks by diverting their mind to some interesting activity and manage their stress. And not just giving them a break, board games turn out to be a good exercise for the minds and brains of your employees as well by improving innovative thinking and strategic thinking improving their problem-solving skills and even boosting the morale of your employees.
There are a lot of board games that you can stack up in your organization including Scrabble, Pictionary, Jenga, Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit or Cluedo. All these old school board games are still classy. But if you would like to try something different, our international games are much more than these classics.
2. Giant Ludo/Snake and ladder/XandO
Ludos, Snake and Ladder and the classic Xs and Os, we are sure these brings nostalgic feelings to anyone and memories of your good old summer holidays. Relish your employees those good old moments and bring back the child in them with more fun at this stage by offering life-size boards and the giant dice.
These activities are best suited to bring enthusiasm to your employees and build healthy internal relationships by creating a playful and enjoyable environment in the workspace.
3. Lego Play
Who doesn’t like Lego toys? In fact, our lego play is a process of thinking through the hands. Let your employees build lego models and tell stories as a team. It is a team game of understanding and communicating with each other effectively. The activity improves creativity, communication, effective teamwork, time management skills, crisis management skills and much more.
Hobbies – Employee Engagement Ideas.
1. Painting competition
Why not try a painting competition that allows your employees to exhibit their painting skills. You could try individual or team competitions. It is a great way to let them leave their stressful tasks behind for a while and involve in something really creative and refresh their mind.
2. Crafts – Block Printing, Terrarium Making, Art of decoupage, Best out of Waste
Craft is another excellent activity to awaken some creativity of your employees. Consider a craft activity of creating something useful from waste material. In a given time frame your employees need to create a solution to a given problem with waste materials provided to them. This activity can help your employees in developing their creativity, problem-solving abilities, presentation skills and create a sense of environmental friendliness. You could also try other craft activities where someone really trains your employees in the art of decoupage, terrarium making, block-printing, etc.
3. Pottery
Let your employees play with some clay. You can organize pottery workshops where your employees get a chance to experience how the artisans create earthen pots or sculptures. Such activities allow them to experience new things, think in new ways, work together or as an individual, invoke creativity and refresh their minds in a purely eco-friendly way.
Office Women Activities
1. Face painting
Let your women employees add some colors to their day by giving them a chance to wear a fun look by painting their faces. We are sure all will enjoy it being a visual fun for all and really refresh your workspace atmosphere.
2. Nail Art
Let your women employees explore shades of beauty by decorating their nail most vibrantly.
3. Mehendi/Glittering tattoo
Mehendi/Glittering tattoos can add to your women employee’s fashion quotient.
4.Style zone
Give your female employees a chance for a makeover by giving them the style they longed for. A blow-dry, some basic makeup, and some hairstyling can mean a lot to your women employees who really might not be finding time for these when out of the office. Give them that ‘me-time’ at workspace so that they feel more beautiful and confident!
Cross function-oriented
1.Paintball war
An outdoor team building game where two teams literally get into a war where players can eliminate their enemies by hitting them with dye-filled gelatin capsules that break when hit on something. A really fun-filled adventurous game that brings out the best from each player and encourages them to fight as a team in an environment full of uncertainty and challenges to overcome.
This activity can help improve your employees’ risk-taking abilities, strategic and result-oriented thinking, and execution, team coordination, and resource management abilities as well.
2. Human Foosball
For some really big fun and some outdoor activity, give a try with different fun sports like Human Foosball. Life-size foosball grounds where your employees can literally get into the game and play it themselves rather than on a foosball table. A great team-building activity that actually encourages them to work as teams putting in their best to win maximum goals for their team.
3. Office Roadies
This is a team-building obstacle race where employees are to be blindfolded and asked to collect points which are place in a confined area full of different obstacles. The team members would have to guide the blindfolded employees who need to mind what they step on and collect points carefully. Stepping on obstacles would affect the team score. The game is all about strategic planning, team cohesion, and effective communication which are essential qualities in the corporate world as well.
Engaging senses – Corporate Activities
1. Corporate Antakshri
The good old fun game without which no Indian get-togethers won’t be complete- a family get together or friends outing. Let your employees show off their singing skills while they participate with thrilling competitive spirits and let them loose to create a fun-filled atmosphere. A corporate antakshari is a must-try activity and you will soon realize it’s one of the best ways to relax your employees and rejuvenate their minds.
2. Drum Jam
Looking for a high energy activity? Then the drum jam is your perfect choice. Bring the afro drums fun jamming to your office and let your employees play it together and loud. It is, in fact, a musical stress-buster when everyone shares the same rhythm and gets in tune with each other. It is a great activity to create a sense of unity and togetherness, breakthrough existing inhibitions, reduce your stress and feel refreshed.
3. Corporate super chef
Today’s generation considers cooking to be an art and is no longer considered to be a mundane task that was supposed to be done only by women in the family kitchen. Modern youth enjoy the culinary art irrespective of their gender and find it satisfying experimenting with tastes and flavors and exploring dishes from different cuisines. So, give your employees an opportunity to display their culinary skills in a cooking competition and let them participate as a team to add on to the fun and use their teamwork skills for something different.
It will definitely be a perfect opportunity for your employees to interact more with team members and get hands-on training on team coordination and resource management with lots of fun.
4. Food corners (Pani Puri, Chocolate fountain)
How about a food corner at your workspace where your employees could relish some street food? It definitely can be an awesome experience with counters for Pani Puri, some garam chana, a chaat counter, kulfi, falooda, or even chocolate fountain. It will be a unique experience for your employees and a relief from their routine home dhabbas or office cafeteria food!
Corporate Competitions
1. Brain Bout
Have you ever checked how much your employees know apart from their technical skills and the daily job they do in the office? Chances are many of your employees who know so much about various other areas they are interested in – like sports, arts, music, movies, current affairs, politics, and so on. A corporate quiz competition that covers these areas can be enticing to your employees. That’s what our Brain Bout is all about. The finalists of the inter-corporate quiz also get a chance to compete on National TV.
2. Marathons
Organizing a marathon for your employees is one of the biggest challenges you can offer them to be motivated to become fit. A marathon is usually a long-distance race with the official distance fixed as 42.19 Km. But, you can very well organize shorter runs like half-marathon, 10k marathon, 5k marathon, etc. A marathon usually demands rigorous training and workouts before participation by the participants in order to prepare themselves for the race.
Thus, a marathon is a wise option to make your employees fitness conscious and can motivate them to start a healthy living with diet control and start training for fitness which will ultimately make them healthier, happier and more confident
3. Inter-Corporate Cricket tournaments
Cricket is a sport loved by Indians across and we are sure your employees would be no different. Inter-corporate cricket tournaments can be a great opportunity for your employees to enjoy their favorite sport on the filed with competitive spirits and enthusiasm, and work as a team with the ultimate goal of winning. Such sports activities are a great way to take some time off from the monotonous office work and immerse your employees in some real physical activities that can benefits the wellness of their body and mind equally.
4. Corporate Talent Championship
Give your employees an opportunity to showcase their talents and win prizes. Conduct performing arts contests. It may range from singing competitions, dance competitions to theatre performances. It’s your choice! Healthy competitions within the workspace can excite them and motivate them to work towards the goal.
Festivals- Employee Engagement Ideas
We all love to celebrate festivals. Why don’t you give your employees a chance to celebrate the festivals at their workspace just as they do with their family or even with more pomp and show? It definitely can be a great way to improve employee engagement and make them more involved. You can celebrate any festival and for Indian companies, the below festivals specifically have a special place.
1. Holi
Holi – the festival of colors is a festival of India, which signifies the arrival of the colorful spring season in India after the chilling winters. According to Hindu mythology, it also signifies the victory of good over evil. Indians all over the world celebrate this day by daubing themselves in brightly colored powders.
You can bring the spirits of ho;y at your workplace by organizing office themed holi activities and game including some time with colors, cooking contests, holi special food counters including jalebis and chaats, traditional holi decors or maybe even holi special arts competitions like Rangolis.
2. Diwali
Diwali – the festival of lights is another big festival celebrated throughout India with great enthusiasm. It signifies the victory of good over evil and people come together celebrating Diwali with sweets and decorating the surrounding with bright lights and crackers.
You can fill the minds of your employees with the ‘Diwali’ mood starting with the office decors and other activities related to Diwali including rangoli, Diya making, Diya painting, paper lamp making, some music from Karaoke mania, or Musical thambola, a pot luck lunch party or even some food stalls for lip-smacking food and Diwali sweets. Diwali cannot be complete without gifts. So giving your employees some Diwali gifts is a great chance to make them feel valued and gift them a wonderful and memorable Diwali.
3. Christmas
Christmas season isn’t just a festival, but a feeling. Christmas celebrations in the office are a great way to bring the jingling Christmas spirits to your employees. You could start off your Christmas activities in the office with traditional Christmas games like the ‘Secret Santa’, Christmas decor for your workspace, some Christmas crafts like Christmas cards, Christmas tree decor paper quilling, snowflake paper lantern making, candle making, etc. Some other activities to cheer up your employees can also be included like the DJ party and Karaoke set. And most importantly what Christmas without the Santa! So don’t forget to make the Santa meet and greet part in your Christmas celebrations and maybe even you can have a photo booth for selfies with Santa.
Other Big Days
Apart from the festivals, there are many other days that you can celebrate in the office like
1. Women’s Day
A day dedicated to the women employees of your organization. Make them feel special and valued on this special day with activities crafted for the women especially like some beauty corner for Mehendi, nail color, or even a complete make-over, some craft sessions, and some fun-filled games.
2. World Yoga Day
Organize yoga sessions for your employees on the International Yoga Day to make them aware of the importance of Yoga in their daily life and motivate them to make it a habit. Let them roll out their Yoga mats and get ready to do some stretching to help them relax, unwind and feel more positive by achieving the well-being of their minds and body.
3. Mother’s day
A special day for all the ‘Mothers’ out there in your office to celebrate their motherhood. Showing them how much they are valued in through a simple Mother’s day celebration is a great way to let them know you care. Sending them for a lunch out, or a potluck, print off certificates to honor each mother or even simple flowers, coupons for a sanity day off or a massage at a local spa, letting their children come in for an hour as a surprise, some funny games for the moms about their kids or something involving the moms and kids together, etc are all some cool ideas for Mother’s day celebrations at your workplace.
4. Father’s day
Not just mothers, fathers are special too. They too deserve appreciation and recognition on a special day. Potluck or a lunch out, print out great dad certificates, fun activities involving the kids and dads, movie tickets for the dad and kid, etc are some ideas for celebrating father’s day in office.
All the above Employee Engagement Activities are great for engaging your employees and create a fun-filled atmosphere in your office to make your employees refreshed and energized. Innovative activities like these can really help build a strong relationship with your employees and motivate them to work for the organization. Take care of your employees well and they will take care of you.
If you take a list of companies that are considered to be the best companies to work for, you can see they all realize the importance of having fun at work, for example, Google, where they do everything to make work fun. That’s the key reason for their productivity. Include employee engagement activities like the above ones a part of your organization culture to let your employees have some fun at work so that they really don’t have to wait for their weekends to have some fun and they stay motivated to come to the office and give their best always.
