How Can We Make Employee Engagement Fun and Inclusive in the Service Industry?

Hi Everyone, Happy Republic Day to all of you! I am working as an HR executive in the service industry. Please suggest some fun employee engagement activities to help employees feel like a part of the organization. I am also looking for team-building activities and some innovative ideas. Please help me out. Thank you.

The Importance of Listening for Employee Engagement

Fun activities will have little or no positive long-term effect on employee engagement or on making them feel part of the organization. However, listening to their concerns, complaints, suggestions, and questions, and responding to these to their satisfaction or better, if done 24/7, will convince them that they are an important part of the organization. This will cause them to become fully engaged, meaning emotionally driven to put everything they have into their work: all their creativity, innovation, productivity, intelligence, knowledge, experience, and energy.

Best regards,
Ben Simonton
www.bensimonton.com

Thank you for the suggestion! I agree with your idea, but I also need to ensure their involvement in fun activities while allowing some time for relaxation on Friday. I am thinking of organizing something like an Earth Day celebration or an Environment Day event to make it engaging and different. This way, we can incorporate some CSR initiatives along with employee engagement. Could you please assist me with this?

Looking forward to your response!

Regards

Dear Varsha,

Planning
Management best practices involve hiring the right employee for the right job so that employees remain content with their work and employer. Businesses should keep their job descriptions realistic and have an orientation program that thoroughly familiarizes employees with the workplace and their job roles and responsibilities.

Survey
A business should hire a professional consulting company to issue surveys to employees before making improvements to increase employee engagement. While a business owner can create surveys themselves, a specialized consulting company experienced in increasing engagement can suggest areas of improvement to the business owner after analyzing survey results.

Flexibility
Businesses with employees who take care of dependents should provide them with flextime or a compressed workweek and generous leave benefits to increase engagement, according to the Families and Work Institute. Flextime allows employees to modify the hours they work, and a compressed workweek allows them to accomplish weekly work in four days instead of five.

Trust
Employers should provide openness and transparency when dealing with workers, even when they have to disclose bad news such as reduced hours. Employees trust executives who lead by example, so business owners should hold themselves to the same standard of conduct as they do their employees.

Compensation
Employees expect fair compensation for their work, and business owners should provide producing employees with bonuses. This compensation should also include pay increases and better positions for employees who consistently exceed expectations. Employers should offer compensation that involves employees in the future of the company, such as offering stock options and profit-sharing.

Games
Business owners should incorporate competitions into their business models to engage employees. Splitting employees into groups and keeping score of their accomplishments breaks up the monotony of work, gives them focus, and increases productivity. Social recognition of employee victories further develops engagement.

Recreation
Employees appreciate recreational activities their employer offers, such as a company barbecue and volunteer activities in which management and business owners participate. These activities allow management to form a personal bond with employees, which increases the emotional satisfaction of their workers.

Best regards,
Mahesh

Please check with the management for the budget part for fun activities. Based on that, you can plan the activities in two ways. Firstly, you can plan outdoor activities in any famous resort or hotel. Alternatively, you can plan it within one of the campuses where the most greenery is available (within your company offices).

Plan the activities in such a way that they include all employees' contributions. Identify the individuals who are willing to support you in conducting the activities and motivate others to participate in these activities.

Start advertising this event. Let people talk about it. Conduct road shows, send communication emails, and utilize all available modes within your organization for this activity.

Begin the event with a good message (to be presented by one of the employees) and conclude the event with your message to leave a lasting impression on people.

If you are okay with this, please let me know. I can provide further thoughts and present you with a comprehensive activity list.

Regards,
Ravi.P