Last updated July 31, 2024
If you are a manager or HR department looking to engage your employees, here are some fun and inexpensive employee engagement activities you can implement.
You can also use these employee engagement ideas if you are a trainer or facilitator who is running a workshop for managers on how to engage their teams.
Employee engagement is vital in today’s competitive job environment and some of its benefits include better employee retention and higher productivity.
When an employee is truly engaged, they are both rationally and emotionally on board with their company’s vision and mission. As such, employees need to feel that the organization, their managers and colleagues care about them.
Employees in a company need to feel included, safe, empowered, and able to grow as a person. In addition, clear communication, trust and goals alignment are essential for employee engagement.
So, with this in mind, let’s look at some effective employee engagement activities you can run.
What are Employee Engagement Activities
Employee engagement activities are classroom and remote exercises for participants to do in order to learn from doing and experiencing, rather than just receiving training from a trainer or teacher.
These activities can also help for team building and act as icebreakers for starting off a training session, to create a relaxed atmosphere for better learning.
Employee Engagement Activities to Run in the Workplace
1. Skills Sharing
This is one of my favourite employee engagement activities to run as it is good on different levels.
Skills sharing attracts employees who are willing to learn and/or teach, thus it makes them feel that they are growing their skills and they are also helping others.
At the same time, this activity brings employees together as they share skills, bond and appreciate each other’s abilities and knowledge.
How to Run the Activity: Organize a session once a week or once every two weeks during which employees can volunteer to share skills or knowledge they have with their colleagues. This can be anything they want to share, including something work-related or not, such as a hobby.
This is an inexpensive engagement activity to run, as all you need is a space (i.e., a room) in which the teaching can take place and employees willing to share their knowledge.
Additional Considerations: Some employees may be shy or feel that they have nothing to teach. You can overcome this obstacle by encouraging a supportive climate in which all contributions are valued and there is no pressure to perform.
This activity is suitable for big and small companies and can take place during lunch breaks if you cannot afford for employees to take time away from work.
2. Learning Lunches
This is another one of those employee engagement activities that addresses people’s need for learning and development, for networking, and socializing.
In addition, if your company can afford to pay for catering, you can offer your employees lunch, which will feel like a reward for them.
How to Run the Activity: Once a month, during the employees’ lunch break, hold a session during which they can learn something new and useful to their work or career development.
You can call external trainers or experts to deliver the session. Otherwise, if you want to keep the activity low cost, you can have somebody internal to the organization deliver it.
Additional Considerations: This employee engagement exercise is suitable for workers from a variety of industries, including office employees and factory workers.
3. Themed Days
This is one of the most fun and creative employee engagement ideas.
Having a themed day can interrupt the work routine, help employees socialise and allow them to be creative. It can also be good for their mental health as it can relieve stress and introduce an element of enjoyment into their work day.
How to Run the Activity: This is a low-budget activity as you won’t need much to hold it, just some good ideas and creativity.
Once a month or every two months, assign a theme to the work day to happen throughout the day.
For example, you can have a:
- Random act of kindness day, during which employees try to do something kind for other people.
- Crazy hat day, with employees coming to work with the strangest hat they can find.
- Retro day, when employees wear clothes in the style of another decade, such as the 1960s or ’70s.
- ‘Around the World’ day, when each team represents a different country and they can bring items that represent that country or wear that country’s flag colors.
There are endless themes for you to choose from. If needed, you can provide your employees with props and decorations to put up in the office or hold competitions as part of the themed day.
Additional Considerations: Creative and sociable individuals should particularly enjoy this activity. However, some people may find it distracting. So, make sure to make the event optional so that nobody feels forced to take part and choose respectful and inclusive themes.
4. Help Employees Get Outside
Rather than being just one activity, this is an idea that includes a whole category of employee engagement exercises.
Essentially, it is anything that can help employees find a reason to spend time outside and in contact with nature, which is extremely beneficial for employees’ physical and mental health.
How to Run the Activity: There are many employee engagement activities you can organize outdoors.
For example, you can have a walking meeting outdoors if you have a park near the workplace. Otherwise, you can organize outdoor activities during lunch breaks (e.g. a picnic), team away days in the open air or sports activities.
Additional Considerations: Outdoor activities are weather dependent, so you may not be able to organize them all year round and may need an alternative plan, in case of bad weather, if you are based in a place where the weather is unreliable.
5. Wellness Challenges
This is another category of employee engagement activities that aim at fostering employees’ mental and physical health.
In addition, the ‘challenge’ element can bring an extra element of fun (particularly for competitive people) and a sense of achievement for all.
How to Run the Activity: You can organize a variety of wellness challenges, which could be done either individually or in teams. For example, you can organize:
- A hydration challenge, whereby employees are challenged to drink at least 1 litre of water during the working day
- A step competition
- Mindfulness practices
- Digital Detox
- A posture improvement challenge, whereby employees try to optimise their workstations to promote the best posture
- A standing-up challenge, whereby employees try to stand up for at least one minute every hour
You will need to consider which challenges are the most suitable for the type of work that your employees do, for instance, if they are office or factory workers.
Also, you may need a system to measure the achievements (e.g. pedometers or specific apps) and it is a good idea to offer rewards to those who achieve the challenge, so they are more motivated.
Engaging in these challenges should also be a good conversation starter for employees, which will help them socialise and bond.
Additional Considerations: As with every employee engagement idea, this is not guaranteed to engage all employees equally, as we are all different and have different interests.
To mitigate this problem, try to offer a variety of challenges to meet different interests and fitness levels.
>> Employee Engagement Training Materials
6. Coffee Breaks and Chats
This is one of the most inexpensive and easiest to implement employee engagement ideas. In addition, it is suitable for many workplaces and job types (e.g., clerical staff and factory workers) and for big and small companies.
It engages employees by promoting socialization and it creates a positive work atmosphere.
Coffee (or tea) breaks have always been occasions for employees to unwind and chat. However, unfortunately, it often happens that we are so busy at work that we don’t even allow ourselves a moment for a short break and a friendly chat with colleagues.
By holding coffee breaks as an organised activity, you can encourage your employees to embrace this practice without feeling guilty.
How to Run the Activity: If you don’t already have a designated space for coffee breaks, organize an area with tea and coffee-making facilities.
You can provide coffee and a variety of teas, including herbal teas (to cater for a variety of preferences), and you can also make available some healthy snacks such as nuts and fruit.
Schedule regular coffee breaks in the timetable, so employees are encouraged to take a break. Make sure that the environment in the coffee room is comfortable and welcoming.
Additional Considerations: The downside of this employee engagement activity is that it can potentially disrupt the workflow. You can overcome this potential issue by keeping breaks short and scheduling them at convenient times during the working day.
7. Celebrate Milestones
This is one of the employee engagement ideas that revolves around acknowledging and celebrating achievements.
The celebration of achievements is very important to make employees feel appreciated and that their effort means something to their employers.
How to Run the Activity: Organize events to recognize significant business achievements, project completions, or team successes.
Set up a space for the event and offer rewards, certificates and refreshments. You don’t have to spend a lot of money, just offer something that your organization can afford and that is within your budget.
The most important thing is that employees feel appreciated, and feel that they are part of something and that their goals (i.e., the things they learn and the skills they develop) are in line with the company’s goals.
Additional Considerations: In order to avoid interrupting the workflow, you can organize these events toward the end of the working day.
A possible downside of these celebrations may be that some employees may feel left out and that management is showing favouritism. To avoid this risk, make sure that there is transparency in how milestones are recognised and that you celebrate both individual and group success.
8. Celebrate Employees’ Anniversaries and Birthdays
As an activity, this is one of those employee engagement examples that involves celebrations and appreciation of employees.
However, celebrating and acknowledging employees’s birthdays and anniversaries focuses more on the individuals and is a way for a company to foster a sense of belonging and show that they care about their employees on a personal level.
How to Run the Activity: Keep a calendar with employees’ birthdays and work anniversaries and then gather once a month to celebrate them.
You can organize this type of event at the end of the working week when employees are already in a celebratory mood because of the upcoming weekend.
This is a low-cost activity but, for some employees, it may be very important.
Additional Considerations: Not all employees may like having their birthdays or work anniversaries celebrated, maybe because they are shy or because they see this type of celebration as an invasion of their privacy.
To avoid this risk, make participation optional by asking for each employee’s consent before you add their birthday or work anniversary to the events calendar.
9. Learning Clubs
This is one of the most interesting employee engagement activities for fostering self-development, growth and social interaction.
It works by having employees learn something together.
How to Run the Activity: Set up learning clubs in which employees can learn and discuss something together.
Start by identifying some common topics of interest (these can be work or leisure-related). Then, find a space (either in-office or virtual) in which employees can meet and discuss.
Provide employees with resources for their learning and to get ideas for discussion points.
It is also a good idea to assign a facilitator to the learning club and create a set schedule so that the activity is more structured.
To avoid disruption to working patterns, you can run the events once a month during a lunch break or at the end of the working day.
Additional Considerations: Something to keep in mind with learning clubs is that they may need commitment and consistent participation to be successful.
To overcome this risk, try to keep the events concise and as engaging as possible.
10. Employee Surveys
This is one of the employee engagement activities that works by giving employees a voice. This is very important for employees as they want to feel that their input is needed and appreciated.
How to Run the Activity: Organize regular surveys for employees to fill once every three or four months.
Ask for their opinions on how they feel, their job satisfaction levels and other issues relevant to the workplace and to the employees’ well-being.
Use a survey tool such as Survey Monkey to gather the information. After you have collected the answers, analyse them, make the results public to the employees and then set up an action plan to implement any changes needed as a result of the employees’ feedback.
Additional Considerations: Make sure not to run surveys too often though, as this may lead to survey fatigue.
Make the surveys short so that employees don’t feel overwhelmed. Also, make the points you raise actionable and make sure you take the surveys results onboard and implement changes accordingly.
If you don’t take action following the survey results, employees might end up perceiving surveys as just another meaningless exercise.
11. Ask Employees for Advice
This employee engagement activity is similar to surveys in that it empowers employees and makes them feel that their input is valued.
However, rather than asking a specific set of questions, when you ask employees for feedback you ask for suggestions on how to solve a problem or ask for general input on whatever issues the employees want to raise.
How to Run the Activity: You can ask for feedback, advice and ideas on topics during meetings and forums or use a physical or virtual suggestion box in which they can post their ideas.
The advantage of using suggestion boxes is that it is easier to guarantee anonymity in case the employees feel more comfortable this way.
When you gather advice, encourage open discussion. You don’t have to implement all ideas but make sure to explain why if you don’t, otherwise employees may think that this activity is futile.
Additional Considerations: There is a risk that employees may give too many suggestions, i.e. more than you can handle.
You can overcome this issue by prioritizing the suggestions by impact and feasibility.
12. Offer Mentorship Opportunities
This employee engagement activity is based on the idea that employees are generally more engaged working in a company where they have opportunities for growth and where they feel valued as individuals.
With mentorship, the person who is being mentored learns from their mentor and the mentor feels appreciated because they are able to support somebody else and their knowledge is appreciated.
How to Run the Activity: Establish a formal mentorship programme, in which employees who are more experienced in an area mentor another employee who is less experienced in another area.
Traditionally, it used to be the senior or older employees who mentored the junior or younger ones. However, these days it is possible for younger or junior employees to mentor older or senior employees. This is called reverse mentoring.
The key here is that it is not a matter of rank or age whether one person is the mentor vs the mentee. Instead, it is more a question of specific skills or knowledge that one person has and the other needs to acquire.
Additional Considerations: This is a low-cost and effective employee engagement activity. However, there is the possibility that mentoring may be considered too time-consuming for the mentor.
To overcome this obstacle, pair people carefully and offer clear guidelines and training for mentors (e.g., regarding how to create meeting schedules and how to solve possible mentoring problems) so that the mentor does not end up using more time than they should.
(See the free Mentoring training activities).
>> See the Mentoring training materials
13. New Hire Buddy
This is another one of those employee engagement ideas that focuses on socialization in the workplace.
When you start working in a new company, it might take time to get used to the new environment and create social connections. Pairing a new employee with a buddy (i.e., an employee who has worked in the organization for longer) can help them settle and feel more included.
How to Run the Activity: This is an inexpensive idea and it consists of pairing new hires with experienced employees (buddies) who can guide them as they get acquainted with the new work environment.
For the activity to be successful, it is important to give it a bit of structure, setting a plan and regular check-ins between buddies and new hires.
The buddy is not a mentor nor a trainer, rather they are someone who has been in the company longer than the new employee and can offer some friendly support.
So, the buddy can introduce the new employee to people, go for a coffee and have a chat with them, explain some of the work processes and generally help the new employee feel more comfortable in an environment that is still unfamiliar to them.
Additional Considerations: The risk is that the buddy may feel that this arrangement is too time-consuming for them if they are already very busy.
You can help overcome this problem by providing adequate support and recognizing buddy contributions.
14. Recognition Programs
One of the most innovative employee engagement activities that help employees feel appreciated for what they do for the organization.
Recognition programs work particularly well if you tie them in with company values and objectives. This way, you will provide an additional incentive to align employees’ personal goals with organizational goals.
How to Run the Activity: There are many types of recognition programs you can implement, some of them can be low-cost, yet still very effective.
For example, you could:
- Use thank you notes and also encourage employees to give them out to their colleagues
- Give out annual awards to recognize outstanding achievements and contributions
- Have peer-to-peer recognition systems
For some recognition programs, you can give prizes, but you can also include recognition systems that cost nothing. For example, saying thank you for a job well done or giving an award certificate, which costs nothing to you but may mean a lot to the employee.
Additional Considerations: Some employees are motivated by recognition more than others but, in general, all appreciate their good work being acknowledged.
Some of these recognition systems may generate a competitive climate among employees. While some people like competition though, not all people do and may even feel discouraged by it, especially if it is always the same people getting the rewards.
To counteract this problem, try to be transparent in the way you allocate rewards and give out recognition.
Also, try to use a variety of recognition systems rather than just one, to cater for different personalities and types of skills, personalize recognition and give everybody the opportunity to be appreciated for the unique skills they bring to the organization.
15. Provide Freebies
This is one of the simplest employee engagement ideas but it can be very effective, especially to engage those employees that appreciate tangible rewards.
How to Run the Activity: Freebies don’t need to be expensive. Particularly if you are a small company, your budget may be limited. Fortunately, there are freebies for any budget.
You can give out vouchers for entertainment such as theatres or cinemas, provide some simple and healthy snacks and free tea and coffee in the office, or give out company-branded merchandise.
You could also have a program whereby employees get discounts from certain shops or a gym.
If your company has a large budget, you can partially subsidize the discounts.
If you are looking for an inexpensive way to allow your employees to get discounts, you could partner with a local company (e.g. a gym, a shop or a cafe) so that the other company gets more customers (who are incentivised by the discount) and your employees get preferential prices.
Additional Considerations: Before you start giving freebies, you might want to assess what your employees appreciate the most so you can give a range of freebies that your employees can find useful, practical or enjoyable.
16. Sponsor Charity Events
For some employees (e.g., altruistic types or those who appreciate social responsibility), the ethical values of an organization are extremely important. So, seeing their employer take action to help in the community is likely to engage these employees on a deep level.
Sponsoring charity events and volunteering in the company’s name is one of those employee engagement activities that are also good for developing employees’ social connections and improving their mental well-being.
How to Run the Activity: First of all, identify charities or volunteering opportunities that are in line with the company’s values.
To support goal alignment between the company and its employees, you could ask your employees for feedback or run a survey to identify which causes your employees tend to care about the most. Then, choose the charities and volunteering opportunities whose causes reflect both the company’s values and the employees’ most pressing concerns.
To sponsor charity events, your company can organize or participate in events such as fundraisers, volunteer days, or charity runs, or you can encourage your employees to participate in local community service.
Additional Considerations: The best times for the company to be involved in charity events would be on weekends or on specially allocated working days.
You might want to organise such events once or twice a year as they can be time-consuming. However, in addition to the actual events, you can, of course, continue to show support for your chosen charity all year long.
17. Create a Safe Environment
Rather than being an employee engagement idea, this is good practice (and a certain level of safety is required by law anyway).
However, showing that you seriously care about your employees’ safety by going beyond the basic requirements, makes them feel that you are committed to them and this attitude builds trust.
How to Run the Activity: Safety can be implemented on different levels and in different areas.
Safety can be intended as physical safety, such as having certain practices and rules in place to use machinery, which is suitable for factory workers, workers in manufacturing and a variety of other roles.
Also, physical safety can refer to making sure that the workplace has no accessibility barriers or hazards for employees with disabilities of any kind.
Safety can then refer to mental, emotional and social safety. For example, you can make sure to have clear policies in place against discrimination and harassment.
Training is also a key element when it comes to safety, whether it relates to equality, diversity and inclusion or physical safety procedures.
Additional Considerations: When it comes to providing a safe environment, the things you can do are often inexpensive. However, safety programs require an ongoing commitment.
This means providing ongoing support, organizing regular training, monitoring the environment to tackle issues as they arise and taking all concerns seriously.
If you don’t do these things, employees will perceive the safety initiatives as insincere and lose trust in the organization.
18. Office Animal Therapy
To engage animal lovers, a good idea might be to allow pets in the office.
Pets can have a therapeutic and calming effect on people and they can also encourage employees to bond by offering opportunities for conversation starters.
This is an inexpensive employee engagement idea that can have many benefits.
How to Run the Activity: Allow people who have pets to bring them into the office or arrange for a periodic visit from therapy animals.
The first option is cheaper and your pet-owning employees may be grateful, but you must make sure you can provide a comfortable and hygienic environment for the animals on a daily basis. Also, you need to consider if different pets from different owners get along with each other and can share the same space.
If you arrange for a periodic visit from therapy animals, there may be charges but there may be less pressure on your company as it would be an occasional event.
Additional Considerations: Not everyone is comfortable having animals around them. Some people may suffer from allergies or phobias, or simply find the presence of animals distracting.
You might overcome these issues by having designated areas for pets and ensuring high hygiene standards.
19. Health Initiatives
We touched on the topic of health with the wellness challenges earlier, but now we are talking about health initiatives in general rather than challenges.
These initiatives will initially attract health-conscious people but, with time, more people may start getting on board as they see the potential to improve their health and energy levels.
How to Run the Activity: Implement programmes that support health and fitness, such as health-related workshops, healthy meals cooking lessons, sports events and classes to encourage fitness.
You can hire local instructors and wellness experts, or partner with gyms and other health organizations.
In order to have as many employees taking part as possible, run a survey or feedback session to find out what type of health initiatives most appeal to them.
Additional Considerations: Health initiatives and programs to encourage fitness can be time-consuming and require an ongoing commitment to work.
So, start small to test the waters with low-cost initiatives and then you can scale up based on your employees’ response.
20. Organize Fun Social Events for Employees
Social events for employees are employee engagement activities that appeal to the most sociable individuals for whom social connections are extremely important.
These events can give employees the opportunity to unwind and bond outside the restrictions of the work environment.
How to Run the Activity: How exactly you can run fun social events will depend on the type of activity.
I suggest though including different types of social activities throughout the year, to accommodate different tastes and needs so that nobody feels excluded.
You can run social events weekly, monthly or yearly, depending on how time-consuming they are to organise. Also, some activities are best run outside working hours and some can take place during lunch breaks.
Some fun social employee engagement activities you can run include:
- Employee competitions – these can be on anything your employees enjoy, including creative challenges.
- Sporting events – such as team sports competitions or less competitive events such as walking in nature.
- Complimentary lunches – sharing meals is a good way to create connections.
- Trivia, quizzes and games – for example, play fun game nights each month after work or on weekends.
- Workplace parties – for example, to celebrate holidays or special events.
- Bar nights – however, make sure to offer non-alcoholic options for people who don’t drink alcohol.
Additional Considerations: As you can see, the possibilities are endless in terms of employee engagement ideas when it comes to social events.
One thing to keep in mind though is getting to know your employees’ preferences and providing different types of events so you can meet different tastes and needs and be inclusive. Also, always make social events voluntary.
21. Feedback Sessions
This employee engagement activity is particularly attractive to those employees who value personal development and look for clear guidance.
However, all employees should be given constructive feedback to help them develop, know what the company’s expectations are, and align their goals with those of the organization.
Feedback, of course, goes two ways in that employees should receive feedback but also be able to give feedback without fear of repercussions.
How to Run the Activity: Feedback can take place all the time during the working day. However, here we are referring to structured feedback sessions.
These can be one-to-one sessions between an employee and their line manager or group feedback sessions with the team to discuss performance, workplace experiences and other issues.
Sessions should be scheduled regularly, for example, once a month.
Also, you will need to prepare an agenda, encourage open and honest communication, write down any actions that are agreed upon as a result of the session and follow up with updates on the actions.
Additional Considerations: Feedback sessions can be extremely valuable to develop trust and collaboration.
However, you need to give feedback in a way that is considerate towards people and there is an art in giving and receiving feedback.
To overcome this problem, make sure that your workforce (managers and team members) has been trained in giving and receiving feedback effectively.
Additional Employee Engagement Ideas and Good Practices
Being able to keep your workforce engaged is essential for an organization to thrive. In this article, I have listed 21 activities that I hope you will find useful.
In addition, I suggest a few more practices you can have in place to support and engage your employees. These include:
- Offer flexible work arrangements – flexible scheduling is a good way to help employees achieve work-life balance, which for many employees means a lot and they will be grateful for it.
- Let employees work remotely – doing this is not possible for every type of job but, where possible, it can help some employees immensely.
- Invest in team building – feeling included and part of the team is crucial for many employees to be engaged and you can organize team building activities to help your employees connect and collaborate better.
- Provide training and development – this is key to having a workforce that is up to date with any developments and feels engaged. Not all employees value training and development equally, but many will do.
- Make sure opportunities for advancement are available – again, not all employees want to progress in the career ladder but those who do will feel disengaged if they don’t see career progression opportunities.
- Have exit interviews – this is an often neglected practice but it can be very useful to get feedback on an employee’s work experience in your company that can help you improve the workplace for the future.
- Provide onboarding – this is essential for new employees to feel accepted as soon as possible.
- Ensure inclusivity – this helps create a positive work environment for all and supports innovation.
- Encourage open communication – this is essential to build trust and improve collaboration.
Employee Engagement Teaching Materials
I hope you have enjoyed this list of employee engagement activities and find them useful for teaching managers and also employees.
If you are a trainer or HR manager, you might also find the employee engagement training materials useful, which you can instantly download – info below:
Paul is Co-Founder of Symonds Research and is a qualified researcher with a PhD in wayfinding. Paul helps the team at Symonds Research build and focus on providing high-quality training materials packages and programs for trainers, classroom teachers and HR departments.