Every HR and communicator knows the importance of employee engagement and performance across a team. With the same boring routine and dull activities, employees can’t perform well.
For productive, creative, and loyal employees, there should be something exciting, fun, and interesting to do in the office. Engaging an office employee does not mean bringing a fancy coffee machine for them or giving them an additional benefit.
It can work for a while, but it’s not valuable for the long term. To get the maximum performance from your employee, they must be engaged in daily activities wholeheartedly with great passion and motivation.
In this article, we will be listing 10 beneficial activities every HR manager must consider implementing in the office. These activities are worth considering to spark joy and boost morale in the workplace.
Importance of Engaging Activities for Employees
A recent analysis and study conducted by Gallup in 2023 shows that an engaged employee is likely to work and perform better in a professional environment.
According to them, with rising engagement levels, there was a decrease in the 81% absenteeism rate and an 18% drop in turnover rates. That is a great outcome. Also, the researcher noticed employee productivity increased by 18% and the profitability rate increased by 23%.
To improve the company’s ROI, employee performance is essential. HR should prioritise activities that cultivate a passionate and motivated community among employees, essential for company success. It is HR’s responsibility to take action according to the office situation, manage people, and impact the company culture.
Keep in mind the possible reason why employees are not actively performing and what should be done to improve the process. According to the survey, 74% employees left their workplace due to poor work-life balance, 76% left due to compensation and benefits, 77% for bad performance review, and 21% left because of a lack of growing opportunities.
Top 10 Activities HR implements for better Employee Performance
As an HR, whatever your intention of better employee performance, you can apply these activities to get the best out of the employees. You can find a good mix of in-person activities, online, or remote activities for better internal communication and good results. Let’s see them one by one in detail.
1-Conduct Employee Survey
One of the most important steps to improve employee performance is to know what’s inside an employee’s mind. Conduct a survey form or choose an online tool like Contact Monkey, Google Form, SurveySparrow, Survey Monkey, etc.
Moreover, You can create a survey form on your own. Know your objective first, which department or team you want feedback from, and access their responses. Let them scale on a rating of 0 to 10 with each question, such as how likely you would recommend this company as a workplace.
Collect their responses and get a prediction of what percentage of employees are the company’s promoters, passive employees, or detractors.
What are possible survey questions?x
- How satisfied are you with the level of communication from senior leadership?
- How well does your manager support your professional development?
- How would you rate work-life balance?
- Are resources and tools enough to perform your job?
- How do you describe teamwork and collaboration in a department?
Enable Anonymous Response
It is one of the best ways to get a transparent response out of your employee — a better way to get the truth out of their mouth. As an unknown person, they may provide additional information that could benefit the company.
2- Use video for Internal communication
Video is a valuable source of communication that effectively captures employees’ attention and helps them retain information. It is human nature to view video content more than to read a paper.
Whenever something important needs to be conveyed, record it in short video form and email your employees. To make email communication more interesting, add GIFs or emojis.
5 tips for internal communication video making
- Keep it short and brief, within 1 to 3 minutes. If the topic is complex, break it down into chunks of multiple videos
- Use natural tone and conversation style, looking directly at the camera
- Shoot it in good light with crisp sound, making it feel like an important message
- Set a clear goal for what the video is about, and make an announcement, train about the tool, or share a success story.
- Ask the employee to review the company and make them part of the company colleagues.
3- Recognize your Employee
Employees are the backbone of any organization. A hardworking and efficient employee must be appreciated openly. This little praise would boost their morale and encourage them to work more efficiently and diligently. Nobody wants to work if their efforts go unnoticed.
How to recognize an employee?
- Please give them a shoutout on the regular communication channel.
- Mention the employee’s name and recognize them in the company’s newsletter. Make them the spotlight
- Use an automated system of appreciation if you already use a workforce management system.
- Entitle them as employees of the month
- Give them general praise by saying “Good job” or “Little compliment”
4- Make Community as a Team
Employees work best and produce good results when they consider the organization as a team. People like to connect in a team where they can easily communicate and feel connected to work.
As an employer, you can foster different activities to engage them and make them feel like a team. Allow them to volunteer on activities that show shared values, mutual trust, and a sense of belonging.
What activities can you do?
- Lend a hand at the food bank
- Spend a day on a planting activity at work
- Raise money for a charity activity
These events are an excellent way to foster relationships with leaders and employees within the organisation. A must-have activity that creates engagement and promotes positive, healthy relationships between senior and junior management.
5- Set up Water Cooler Chat
Water cooler chats are those informal chats or online meetings where team members share laughter and banter. They discuss general conversation and topics outside of work.
Playing games is one of the favorite leisure time activities that everyone loves to talk about. Employees can discuss and share their gaming experience. Suggest and review each game.
Even an employer can have a fun time in the office by allowing employees to play online short games. The employer can share Strands Game, which offers different mini word games, such as Strands, Connections, Strands Multiplayer, and Wordle.
So, employees can visit the Strands Game, play, and share their scores on the online portal. Furthermore, they can challenge each other to play a multiplayer game of Strands to create a friendship bond.
Playing or discussing games creates friendship and harmony among employees. That’s quite beneficial for the company overall.
How to set up a water cooler chat?
- Choose a platform like Slack, Discord, or any social media platform.
- Give a cool and interesting name like #coffee-break #lounge #random #ice-break-room.
- Make the rules for not bullying each other, or respect each person’s opinion.
- Ask funny questions, icebreakers like “show your pet picture”,” recent Netflix episode watched”, “share new recipe tries and reviews”.
Discussing activities provides them with an opportunity to socialise with their peers during the workday, which is quite effective in maintaining a work-life balance. It increases motivation, collaboration, and engagement among employees.
6- Motivate Employees through Gamification
Gamification is a growing trend that many industries and businesses are adopting to enhance employee engagement and productivity. Gamification sparks productivity in the workplace. Gamification involves incorporating gaming elements, such as rewards, points, and leaderboards, into work to unlock benefits provided by the company.
How to add gamification to motivate employees?
- Define goals and KPIs for the team separately. For example, the sales team counts their closing deals and rewards if they go beyond the target.
- Give them a badge such as “Certified Pro” after completing training, or “Team Player” after a great collaboration on task completion.
- Track their performance
- Create a leaderboard that sparks competition among employees
7- Offer a Hybrid Work Option
The working pattern of the world has changed now. Companies are likely to attract dedicated and engaged employees. Someday, employees don’t feel like going out of their homes. Allow them to work from home, as they could not produce good results in an office environment.
Hybrid and remote options provide an attractive option for employees to stay flexible and attentive in their work. Flexible working options create less stress, and employees can manage their time more easily.
Why does Hybrid Work improve employees’ performance?
- Employees feel less stressed
- Time and money saved from commuting activity
- Improve work-life balance
- Facility from the employer promotes loyalty towards the company and promotes better performance.
8- Organize an Event
Attending events and parties always excites employees, which creates employee loyalty and engagement toward the company. Ask your employees to manage the event for themselves, which encourages collaboration and promotes teamwork among them.
Employees will feel appreciated throughout the process. Team building will be beneficial in future organisational events and help inspire productivity.
What kinds of events HR can host?
- Organize a trivia night
- The team must work in the Escape Room activity to solve the puzzle within the time limit
- Go for a scavenger hunt as a corporate team
- Throw an annual dinner or boat party
9- Conduct a Stay Interview
Companies conduct exit interviews to inform themselves for future initiatives. They can have a stay interview once a year to know about potential issues that employees are facing.
HR can boost employee performance by addressing their issues and meeting their needs. Ask them potential questions like how they are feeling about their job roles, whether the organisation supports their wellbeing and career development.
Methods to Conduct a Stay Interview
- Decide who will conduct the interview: HR, senior management, or the team lead.
- Prepare a short list of questions
- Listen more than speak
- Update data for team members and reveal the action plan.
10- Offer Mental Health Resources
Mental health refers to an employee’s cognitive and social well-being in the work environment. Mental health issues arise due to poor work-life balance, low morale, and unrealistic job targets. Issues include depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and addictive behaviour.
76% of employees report they have faced at least one symptom. It is the company’s responsibility to address its mental health issues and provide support. It will increase their performance.
What companies can offer?
- Paid mental health days off
- Give a subscription to meditation apps like Calm
- Join them in mindfulness classes
- Conduct mental health workshops and seminars to inform about mental wellness
Conclusion
Business success depends on employee engagement, which is a necessity of the day. A great workforce contributes to increasing productivity, profitability, and decreasing turnover.
By proactively applying strategies such as conducting research, utilising video internal communication, and setting up water cooler chat activities, employers can encourage employees to perform well.
HR can create a recognition system, arrange team-building activities, and promote mental health activities at the workplace to make a positive impact on the company. These activities ensure a long, positive effect on employees’ performance.