Reimagining Team Building: Employee Engagement Ideas to Build Connections With Your Team
There’s a problem - employee engagement has been steadily declining in the last few years. According to recent research by Gallup, employee engagement has reached its lowest level since 2015. About 32% of the 67,000 employees surveyed were engaged in their work in 2022, down from 34% in 2021. And, 18% reported they were actively disengaged in their work.
With this decline, organizations are looking for employee engagement ideas to motivate and retain employees. And, believe it or not, it starts with team building. Central to keeping employees more invested in their work are relationships and community.
Friendship can be a huge perk in a work environment, making all the difference in how engaged your employees are. When employees don’t have these things, there’s no one mentoring them, no one for them to really vent to when they need to, no one to swap stories with.
In the same Gallup survey, employees state some of what they look for in a work environment. They want someone who encourages their development. They want to feel cared about. And they want a best friend at work. Building a team that offers friendship and community to your employees could make all the difference.
To get you started, here are some employee engagement ideas to add to your strategy this year so you can build stronger connections on your team.
>> Create a strategy aimed at improving engagement and retention in your organization. Book a discovery call to learn more.
Employee Engagement Ideas to Build Lasting Team Connections
Idea #1: Establish a Peer Run Recognition and Feedback Culture
Everyone wants to be recognized for their work. Getting a shoutout from a fellow team member can be a huge confidence booster, leading to better engagement along the way. Let’s compare those who do not consistently feel recognized at work to people who do. According to the Great Place to Work Institute, those who are regularly recognized are:
2.6x more likely to think that promotions are fair
2.2x more likely to drive innovation and bring new ideas forward
2.0x more likely to say people here are willing to go above and beyond
To encourage better team camaraderie and support engagement, foster a culture where employees recognize and appreciate one another’s efforts. Maybe establish a system where employees can provide feedback to their peers. Or create a public forum to share a job well done. By doing so, you cultivate a supportive environment that values everyone's contributions.
Idea #2: Create Collaborative Project-Based Learning Sessions:
As you’re looking for employee engagement ideas, one way to build a stronger engaged team is through collaborative learning. When you have project-based learning sessions, team members share expertise and work together on tasks outside their usual responsibilities. This also functions as a fantastic training exercise, diversifying everyone’s abilities.
But what might these actually look like? Here are a couple of session ideas:
Hackathons. Handpick a group of people with diverse skill sets and backgrounds to collaborate on a problem or challenge. Let’s say you want them to determine the best way to streamline gathering customer feedback using your existing software. Then, have them come up with innovative solutions together and present them to the team.
Design thinking simulations. With design thinking principles, teams collaborate to build solutions. They follow the stages of design thinking; empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test to tackle a problem. For instance, let's say you want to improve your onboarding employee experience. Pull together team members from around the organization. Train them in design-thinking, and help them brainstorm how to tackle the problem. (Pro Tip: Bridge Innovate can help with this!)
Maybe you start with just the innovation and design of these solutions. Then, you can figure out how to make them come to life. By involving your team in collaborative meaningful innovation, you offer a dynamic environment where knowledge flows freely.
Idea #3: Cultivate Mentorship Programs and Buddy Systems:
Build better engagement through a mentorship or buddy system program in your organization. In a sense, mentor programs give employees a helping hand to start building a network and a community among their peers. Pair experienced employees with newer team members to facilitate knowledge transfer, skill development, and a supportive work environment.
Establishing mentorship programs and buddy systems within your organization nurtures a culture of guidance, support, and continuous learning. Established mentorship in a workplace has massive benefits. In one CNBC survey, 89% of mentees surveyed stated they feel their colleagues value their work as a result of being mentored.
Over time, this reinforces retention. Wharton University reports that retention rates for mentees are 72% compared to 49% for employees who do not participate in a mentorship program. Pairing experienced employees with newer members not only facilitates the transfer of knowledge and skills but also helps in integrating newcomers into the team seamlessly.
Idea #4: Create and Communicate a Clear Vision for the Future
Communicating a clear and compelling vision for the future of the company is crucial for engaging employees. When team members understand the organization's goals and how their contributions fit into the bigger picture, they feel more motivated and aligned with the company's mission. Make your mission statement evident and meaningful.
Then, ensure that you’re aligning your strategic initiatives to your mission. This consistency is important not only for building a strong lasting strategy, but it also gives clarity to your employees. They know their work has a direct impact on the broader mission. And when this is the case, they’re more likely to care about the day-to-day tasks they’re doing — even the menial ones.
Find ways to regularly communicate your vision. Align goals to meet that vision. And, in effect, you’ll give a broader sense of purpose and direction to employees, enhancing their commitment and engagement. Read about how we helped one of our clients, Crabtree Farms, do just this — with a great impact!
Idea #5: Incorporate Team Building Exercises and Practices
With these employee engagement ideas, you’re sure to build greater team connections. But a little intentional team development doesn’t hurt either.
Working together and leading a team requires hard work. With team development programs, generate more effective team collaboration. Gain essential conflict management training so your team can stay agile and aligned as they move toward the common goal.
Set aside time for your team to learn more about one another. Use fun icebreaker exercises to get more personal. Or, get deep with DiSC assessments to gather more information about each other’s working styles. Establish how you’ll navigate conflict and build trust using the Five Behaviors program. In effect, employees will feel cared for.