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New Year is the time for celebrations, preparations, and resolutions. This is when everyone plans to do something different and better than last year. Celebrating this day with colleagues and employees serves a different purpose entirely.
Apart from having fun, the goal is to socialize and engage the staff meaningfully. Organizing an evening with your team or colleagues may take time and effort.
However, with the following unique and inventive ideas, we will surely make it a day to remember. Read along for unusual employee engagement activities for the New Year.
15 Employee engagement activities for New Year
Soon after joining the company, employees feel bored & tired of the routine that they get into. Then, they start looking for new jobs. However, to keep the best talent healthy, organizations can follow some best practices to keep employees motivated & engaged with all.
Here’s a list of the best New Year employee engagement activities that any organization can adopt to maintain its workforce actionable, productive & creative all time.
1. It's time for resolutions
Every employee at your organization has a unique set of interests and talents. Find methods to showcase those qualities and see whether your staff are willing to educate or share their passions at work, if relevant. Take this time to encourage your employees to teach something resolving.
It can be as simple as spending more time with family, picking up a good hobby, or even living up to their dream vacation. Arrange for a New Year resolution time, where everyone compulsorily resolves something for the coming year.
Then let everyone cheer each other and pledge to keep up with the resolutions.
2. A little fun and a lot of learning
Consider holding fun brainstorming meetings to develop fresh ideas among team members. These can be games involving all employees, assessing a few outcomes, or discussing suggestions for improving the work atmosphere.
You can compete healthily and debate ideas for innovation or creative solutions to complex game solutions.
Employees often participate in brainstorming fun games and come up with exciting ideas, and they also encourage others to add to those ideas to enhance them further.
Ensure that all staff stay engaged and encouraging throughout these games by them and keep a pleasant, cheerful, courteous, and professional air throughout the event.
3. Recognize employees for going the extra mile
No accomplishment, no matter how big or small, should go without notice. Many companies have several methods for celebrating an accomplishment, including a dedicated celebration event for New Year's eve, an accolade speech, or even a meaningful presentation ceremony.
The employees can organize a small vote of appreciation for coworkers to recognize individual and collective achievements. It's the greatest time of year to let everyone know how important they are, and it will help instill a sense of belonging in them.
4. Celebrate the year gone by
Getting caught up in future endeavors is easy, especially in high-growth organizations. Take this New Year's occasion as a faction to celebrate the year that has been replenished and the accomplishments that it brought.
Conduct an annual awards ceremony to highlight the company's progress and achievements over a year. Employees are nominated for fantastic rewards that can be an all-expenses-paid trip or impressive personal wear.
5. Offer employee assistance programs
Take this time to know that coaching and mentoring should continue after an employee's initial onboarding. The workers who have participated in company-sponsored programs have a greater retention rate. Some employees in business will seek assistance and training on their own, while others will need it from their management.
Provide them this opportunity in the form of an optional weekly coaching session to explore techniques and methods that might assist each department member in growing in their work while also making it entertaining.
6. Survey employees regularly
Use employee engagement activities this New Year to generate a survey to assess and track participation. Pose queries like
- What is an individual's thought about the work environment?
- What is the culture like around you?
- What one item will make the most difference in employee career enhancement or team productivity?
- Do you appreciate the boss's way of working, and what changes do you foresee for a healthy output?
Short, semi-regular pulse surveys assist in discovering what employees are experiencing and why they feel that way. Annual surveys are helpful as they can be a little extensive to be valuable. These surveys have a precise aim behind them and are vital in assessing and enhancing employee engagement.
7. Arrange a volunteer program
Employee mental and emotional health is prioritized in volunteer initiatives, which assist in reducing workplace stress and improving enjoyment. They also remind employees that the company is concerned about social values and wants to help.
Programs don't have to be boring; they can be creative and actively support a cause. Reward workers for putting their time and effort into such volunteer initiatives.
8. Involve employees in strategic planning
Employees who are essentially goal-oriented believe in the purpose and motivation they get when given something worthwhile to accomplish. People are highly dedicated to their job and tend to achieve laurels because they are given significant responsibility.
This is different from assigning more responsibilities to your team or the employee but making them more involved and engaging them in substantial projects. The employees will make efforts, take ownership of the task at hand, and give better results when they know they make a difference in the firm's growth.
9. Reward employees for their efforts
Many employees are more inclined to stay with a firm for the long term if they feel valued by their management. An employee of the Year program is a terrific opportunity to demonstrate your gratitude publicly. The leadership team or other workers can assist in proposing and picking an individual who performed well or accomplished particular goals throughout the year.
You may reward them with monetary rewards, corporate items, or public acknowledgment on your social network. What better than recognizing their efforts during a New Year celebration night?
10. Host a company-wide gaming contest
Contests get people excited for the party, and it's enjoyable to loosen up a bit and play exciting games, and the idea of celebrating work is different than usual. Take the last day of the year to do something fun as a group.
Go on a company-wide scavenger hunt, play sports outside, arrange paint-balling or bowling. These social games help people bond with team members they don't see daily and foster a stronger sense of community when engaging in team-building activities and fun games.
11. Encourage work-life balance
Only extensive work leads to burnout and reduced productivity. Encourage your colleagues to strike a balance between work and personal requirements. Invite your employee's family or Kids to a family day out events and other staff activities such as workplace barbecues or game days.
When employees give their best, they may find it difficult to move away from the office. Make certain that your employees take the necessary breaks to refuel and rejuvenate.
12. Organize team building activities
Team Building activities help co-workers and collaborators to align at the same level with increased communication and cooperation. By organizing fun activities, your employees can understand the members better, which also fosters creativity & innovation in minds.
13. Celebrate special occasions
Employee engagement should go beyond simply celebrating job successes; it is also crucial to celebrate personal milestones, from birthdays to work anniversaries, promotions, and notable achievements.
The organization should enjoy honoring its employees and view it as a chance to enhance its culture by recognizing the significant and small ways people contribute to the company's overall aim.
14. Offer unique perks and benefits
Lunch and extraordinary outings are a quick and easy approach to encouraging staff and building a healthy environment. Special perks like an all-expense paid vacation or a family day outs enable employees to understand that the firm caters to them and their family responsibilities.
Other perks include on-site gyms that make exercising easier before or after work, and employees may even band together to achieve personal health objectives. Also, some health benefits or dental insurance plus yearly health checkup are beneficial.
15. Organize outdoor activities
Recreational activities and team outings encourage people to keep active and socialize via shared sporting interests. The firm can organize group trekking or field events, and the teams can also establish a company-sponsored hockey or cricket event, a soccer game, rock climbing, and even marathons.
Some companies have also established outdoor events like a day out on a farm with kids or a family event by the lake.
Key takeaways
Let's make this New Year all about engaging our employees! Maintaining and improving employee engagement with the organization is always the first and most crucial component if you want to build your business, regardless of the size of your firm.
Several professionals choose to work for organizations with a strong organizational culture, make them feel appreciated, and look for methods to make their jobs more enjoyable. Adopting New Year employee engagement activities in the office may attract new prospects and retain existing employees.
You can engage employees and show them you care in several ways, from starting a mentoring program to holding fun social evenings. This post lists some employee engagement ideas and successful employee engagement activities for workplace fun.
