Employee Engagement - Fun at Work Importance - How to motivate your employees?

To motivate your employees to participate in office fun activities, you can use various strategies to engage them. Firstly, it's essential to create a positive and inclusive work environment where everyone feels comfortable and encouraged to take part in such activities. Communicating the benefits of team building and bonding through these activities can also motivate employees to join in.

Furthermore, you can involve employees in the planning process by seeking their input on the types of activities they enjoy. This not only increases their sense of ownership but also ensures that the activities are tailored to their preferences, increasing the likelihood of participation.

Recognizing and rewarding employees who actively engage in office fun activities can also serve as a motivator. Whether through verbal praise, small tokens of appreciation, or other incentives, acknowledging their participation can reinforce the importance of these activities and encourage continued involvement.

Overall, creating a supportive and engaging workplace culture, involving employees in the decision-making process, and recognizing their efforts can all contribute to motivating them to participate in office fun activities.

Hi,

Announce gifts or cash rewards (if not in place already) for winners so that many employees will show interest.

Develop competitive spirit among different teams (like "let's see which department is going to win") so that more employees might participate with more vigor.

Shyness among employees is a common barrier to participating in game activities. Make them feel comfortable, cheer them up, etc.

Dear Manisha Kothari,

It is believed that fun activities improve team spirit or enhance the motivation of the employees. However, your challenge is how to motivate employees to attend the activities that inspire them!

Earlier, on this forum, I raised questions regarding the efficacy of fun activities in the office. There is no available evidence to demonstrate that fun activities enhance employee motivation, and if motivation is improved, it also enhances employee productivity and organizational productivity. Neither have I seen any HR or training professionals measuring ROI on fun activities.

Your post highlights the perception gap between employees and the individuals conducting fun activities. This perception gap exists between parents and children, service providers and customers, politicians and citizens, and so on.

Many employees have tight schedules. They are burdened with numerous activities, sometimes not even having time for lunch. Often they are required to work well beyond office hours. Will employees in such situations not consider fun activities a waste of time?

How many HR/Training professionals have conducted work studies to determine the necessary number of people for a job? When calculating man-hours, did they take into account the need for fun activities?

If employees are hesitant to attend fun activities, so be it. If a patient does not believe in the prescribed drug or medicine, even doctors acknowledge that it will have no effect on the body. The mindset with which the drug is taken is as crucial as the drug itself.

Fun activities are not a novelty to employees. They have experienced them since their college or school days. Upon entering the professional world, they are once again required to participate in these activities. Possibly, due to overexposure, they may view fun activities as cliché.

Allow me to provide you with two alternatives. If feasible, conduct an organizational survey on Maslow's hierarchy of needs to determine which needs must be met. Many professionals may not see the practical utility of Maslow's theory, but it remains relevant. A collective score at each level provides insights into the corrective measures needed by top leadership.

The second alternative is costly. It involves conducting psychometric tests to identify what truly motivates an employee. Conduct games exclusively for those employees with a psychological inclination towards games.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

Dear Manisha Kothari,

Please make the fun activity interesting for employees and a value-added activity in employee engagement. Provide some value-added gifts to the winners and all participants for common use.

Regards,

At least, as HR professionals, we should not equate employee engagement with some fun activities. Fun activities seen in isolation will not have the impact; it is like asking the employees to laugh. Such exercises are meaningless and often lack the involvement of the people, though they may be present there.

Speaking from personal experience, any time an employer I worked for organized games, away days, team building exercises, etc., I always "managed" to get sick on that particular day and have to miss the activity.

Never in my 50 years in the workforce did I ever see any results from these stupid and futile activities. It may be different in India, but in the Western world, most employees hate this sort of rubbish.

It is easy to motivate your workforce:

1. Fix your recruitment and selection process to hire the "right" people straight off the bat.
2. Provide a welcoming, inclusive, and caring working environment.
3. Provide training and development opportunities so that staff see value in joining your company.
4. Ensure all management is properly trained to provide high quality, cooperative, and people-oriented management, i.e., NO micromanagers, no dictators, and no laissez-faire management.
5. Ensure there is a well-defined career path that will encourage employees to stay invested in the company and its success.
6. Pay your employees a decent salary so they are not constantly seeking better opportunities elsewhere.

Dear Manisha Kothari,

The following points will help you in motivating the employees:

1. Introduce games at the end of the day after completion of work to help relax the employees and relieve their tension.
2. Provide training programs for employees based on their job levels, for shorter durations.
3. Host an Employee Town Hall, if not monthly, at least quarterly, to recognize and reward deserving employees. This will encourage others to participate and strive to give their best for a chance to win the award.
4. Organize an annual day trip to facilitate cross-departmental interaction among employees.
5. Extend birthday wishes and small gifts along with high tea.
6. Arrange cultural programs for employees to showcase their talents.
7. Recognize the best employee monthly by displaying their photo, name, and achievements on the notice board.
8. Offer counseling to employees to address and resolve their grievances.

With Regards,

Hello,

Motivating employees to participate in office fun activities can be a great way to boost morale and build a sense of community within the workplace. Here are some ways to encourage participation:

Communicate the benefits: Explain to your employees why participating in office fun activities is beneficial. For example, it can help reduce stress, build relationships, and promote teamwork.

Make it voluntary: While it's important to encourage participation, it's also important to make it voluntary. If employees feel pressured to participate, they may feel resentful or unenthusiastic.

Offer incentives: Consider offering incentives to employees who participate in office fun activities, such as extra time off, a small bonus, or other rewards.

Get input from employees: Ask your employees what types of activities they would be interested in participating in. This can help ensure that the activities are enjoyable and engaging for everyone.

Lead by example: As a manager or leader, it's important to participate in office fun activities yourself. This can help set the tone and encourage others to get involved.

Make it a regular event: Schedule regular office fun activities, such as a monthly happy hour or a quarterly team-building event. This can help build momentum and make participation more of a habit.

Create a positive atmosphere: Finally, create a positive and welcoming atmosphere in the workplace. When employees feel valued and supported, they are more likely to participate in office fun activities.

I am working in an event company and taking care of HR and Ops; joined the team a month back. It has been observed that the team is not at all motivated to work, they are just dragging. There are a lot of reasons for not being motivated and feeling good at work such as no policies in place, no system at work, leave system not being followed, etc.

Can anyone here help me with some tactics or any motivational aspects to cover where the team feels that there is someone to listen to them and also to join the missing link and get their motivation back on track so that they are happy to perform. Being a new member in the team, what can I do to gain the trust of the team and also to propose some new policies and engagement options at work.

Suggestions are welcome.

Dear Manmeet Dawar,

A lot of discussions have already happened on employee engagement activities. Even if the company has sound administrative practices, the efficacy of engagement activities is questionable. In your case, you openly admit the shortcomings in the administration that lead to the employee being less motivated. Employee engagement activities cannot fill the void created by the fallacious leadership style.

If you have identified the root cause of the malaise, then it is important to fix it. Wrong corrective measures may give the results, but they will be ephemeral. Why do you wish to do something that will not last long?

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar