Checklist that can help you to deeply engage employees with your enterprise’s soul
“Success demands singleness of purpose.”
– Vince Lombardi
The above quote applies as much to employee engagement as much it applies to life. An organization is responsible for engaging their employees so that the employees can feel content and motivated, as engaged employees have a direct impact on the overall performance of the workplace. An employee engagement manager needs to define a plan which is inclusive to all, while delivering it to everyone’s expectations, be it in terms of effectiveness, positive feedback, and budgetary requirements. So it is very important that an employee engagement plan has a well-defined structure that follows, defines, and cultivates the company’s core competencies and activities that are not only fun but can also bring the employees together toward the organization’s one common objective.
Here are six essential aspects that that must get covered in an organizations employee engagement calendar to deliver on a holistic perspective-
Vision
Any visioning exercise is done with the core set of leaders + some employee participation. This is a very intense effort which would define the path the Organisation would take for the next few years. The success of the entire exercise would depend on how the last person standing in the organisation is getting connected to it and embracing it. This is where a well thought through engagement plan around vision and its attributes is so critical. What’s been discussed in the boardroom needs to be cascaded to employees through exciting and informative ways for them to buy into it . Many engagement activities like Vision board , Pyramid Building, Art of storytelling , One Vision, Learn with Theatre , Harmonica Jamming, Chain Reaction chase etc are some of the ways through which engagement around vision can be rolled out.
Value
Organisational values are very critical and it’s one purpose which should be cascaded or reinforced dedicatedly every year. As any organisation chart outs its growth journey , with every step towards growth it needs to ensure values are being followed in day to day behaviour by employees. This can only be feasible by having a dedicated placeholder in your employee engagement calendar which is for values cascading. Engagement around values needs to be innovative and experiential so that employees find the cascading interesting and get associated with it. Organisations with a mature employee engagement framework would always have values as key contributors in it. Some of the key engagement ideas around it are Brainbout , CTC , Value Champions etc which are used by corporates for employee engagement around values.
CSR
Corporate social Responsibility is a must have agenda for organisations not only because of compliance requirements but also because of the satisfaction it brings to employees. Contributing towards the upliftment of society is a great satisfactory effort , especially when it’s done in a structured manner and you can see the change you have brought. Education ,environment , under-privileged kids, specially abled community etc are some of the key topics of corporate responsibility which are integrated in employee engagement plans . These topics are touched through various programs including direct employee participation. Apart from this teambuilding activities like Bicyle making, wheel chair making , seed bombing , plantation drives etc are also included in engagement calendar.
Policy Framework
Introduction of a new important policy / Organisation mandate etc becomes very critical for next 1 or 2 quarters after launch . So everyone in Organization has to focus on adaptation of those mandates across Organization and making it a success. Quarterly engagement calendar on those policy attributes would be a good way to establish it across the Organization. The calendar can include office installations, Photo op, merchandising, experiential activities like customised escape rooms which can be a good way to roll these out.
Fun@work
Many organisations do employee engagement to build a workplace which is full of fun, energy and vibrancy around. Fun@work engagement plans cover festive celebrations , fun based floor engagement , birthday celebrations , sports competitions, office or outside get togethers etc. These activities are DIY activities done in smaller teams with a frequency of once or twice in a Month. Specially with organisations having Gen Y, Gen Z workforce these activities are done very regularly. Fun@work engagement ideas cover wide range like floor games, activities like Laser Tag , Paintball , performances by stand up comedians , live entertainment , caricature, tatto maker etc.
Culture
Culture building at an organisation is always an ongoing exercise. The intensity of it can vary as per phase organisation is facing. Engagement around culture will always find its space, relevance and need within a packed engagement calendar. Organisation needs to define attributes of culture which needs to be cascaded and engagement activities should be planned for those attributes. Culture could be around acknowledging diversity , employee wellness , collaboration, etc. Some of the key occasions through the year which gives an opportunity to engage around culture are Inclusion Week, Women’s Day , Health & Wellness month , Team Building activities , Motivational talk sessions etc.
While these are some of the key purposes, the agenda for employee engagement could be as diverse as employees working in the organization. Any purpose needs to be established through experiential engagement activities. For this browse through more than 2000+ employee engagement ideas on www.engage4more.com which can sync with any employee engagement purpose.
