Today’s organizations need their departments to work closely together in order to produce better results. All departments and teams must work with greater coordination, and in order to achieve this, organizations implement team building activities. These are largely activities that take place outside the office, but have a tremendous impact on how employees work together within an office environment. Below are five employee engagement activities that are known to draw employees closer together.
1. BREAKING THE ICE
Companies that find themselves expanding rapidly should probably use ice breaking activity so that new employees get to know each other and also acquaint themselves with older employees. One idea includes employees jotting down five fun facts about themselves that are not known. These listed facts are given to each team member, and the objective is to match an item to a person. This allows employees a brilliant and friendly way of learning a little more about the people they are working with. Just make sure the activity is light and fun, and the facts are something along the lines of: “I usually lock myself outside my own apartment once or twice a week, accidentally.”
2. TAKING AN EMPLOYEE TO WORK
Working in the same department for months can be quite boring especially if you have largely repetitive work to endure. Taking an Employee to Work gives your employees a chance to understand how other things work in your organization. When you allow employees the freedom to experience work in another department for a day, it tells them that you want them to understand more about the company and their role in relation to the overall company operation and goal attainment. Sometimes, departments in large companies have an open day for employees of other departments to come and join them for a day.
3. LUNCH AND LEARNS
Lunch and learns can be an official unofficial activity whereby you get employees together to have lunch together while one takes the lead in presenting some idea or explanation of a work routine for a certain department. This may involve presenting an entire department’s operation or a single employee’s day-to-day tasks with shedding light on how this meets the overall company goals.
4. IMPLEMENTING A MENTORING PROGRAM
If implemented intelligently, mentoring programs can have a solid impact in the long-run. These programs are great to implement when you have new employees who usually need special insight into the workings of a particular company. A mentorship program will usually include a senior member of a department along with a new employee. This senior member ensures a smooth orientation and transition for the new employee, providing guidance and education. This tactic aids retention and also acquaints employees with the organization’s staff.
5. PROMOTE EMPLOYEE HOBBIES
One of the best ways to make an employee feel at home is to encourage activities that are common and they would most probably like. Fellow employees tend to usually have various interests, and some are related to work and outside of work as well. Team dynamics can actually be improved based on permitting employees to find things in common with each other apart from where they work.
There may be many other unique ideas that you can come up with for engaging your employees. However, always think them through thoroughly before implementing them. Make sure they are enjoyable and light with the idea of bringing employees together.
Performance appraisals and talent manag systems are growing increasingly common and being implemented to test new and existing employees for competencies. They serve as a brilliant means of gauging performance that can push your organization in the right direction where growth is ensured. Get a free demo today to learn more about this.
