15 employee engagement activities in software companies

Introduction

Gone are the times when employees were considered mere cog machines. Today, businesses all across the globe consider their employees as the most valuable asset. In fact, several businesses believe that their tens, hundreds and thousands of employees have the potential to make and break any business. And taking good care of them is extremely important or else they can be doomed in no time.

The following post focuses on how to take care of the lifeblood of your company, in other words, how to make them love your company. Basically, here you will be exploring at least 15 employee engagement activities that software development companies should incorporate just to ensure that your employee is satisfied and loves working for your business.

Employee Engagement – Why Does it Matter?

Now have you come across the term employee engagement? As the name implies, employee engagement is said when your employees are happy to work at your space. In fact, not just happy they contribute a lot to the overall success and work for the ultimate goal.

Employee engagement certainly leads to the best possible outcomes as well as better work culture, enhanced efficiency and productivity, reduced staff resignations, enhanced customer relationships and of course, increased profits said Itesh Sharma working in a software development company – TatvaSoft.

Why is employee engagement activities needed, in the first place?

Now imagine your job or workplace is the place where you tend to spend more than half of your day and what if in the end you are not satisfied and hate your job?

Simple, you will become pretty dull, and unmotivated, even consider changing your workplace and whatnot!

Now let’s change the scenario a bit, what if you work every day at a company that not only understands their valued employees’ needs but also offers engaging sessions at regular intervals?

Well, you will find yourself more energized, and productive and above all, you will certainly love your job.  So yes, employee engagement is extremely important.

Also Read: 10 Reasons Why Organizational Culture is Important

Some Eye-Opening Statistics to Consider

• Studies show that six out of 10 employees are least interested in their work

• More than 33% of US Workers Plan to Leave Their Job

• Highly engaged employees can increase profits

• Disengaged employees can cost $3,400 for every $10,000 as well as high absenteeism rate

• 77% of employees have suffered burnout at work.

Now lets try flipping the coin and see what’s on the other side. Further, let us focus on certain benefits of conducting employee engagement activities at regular intervals.

• Increases employee productivity

• Enhanced loyalty

• Better customer services

• Reduce Employee stress and disappointments

• Increase in profits

• Happy and better work culture

• Good for motivation and positive vibes

• Low absenteeism

• Seamless collaboration

• Strong recruitment

• Employees stay committed

• Reduced burnout

• Less scope for mistakes

• Better physical and mental wellness

Above all, employee engagement activities ensures that every person working for you is needed and their work really matters. When they feel valued and appreciated, they will definitely pay you back by ensuring a meaningful impact at the workplace.

Moving on! Further, here in the following segment you will find some interesting employment engagement activities that every business place or industry must incorporate including software development companies.

Also Read: 5 Workplace Values That Bring Generational Differences Together

Top Employee Engagement Activities to Consider

Employee-initiated projects

The first and foremost activity to take into account is conducting employee-initiated projects. You see your employees aren’t any robots that you will command and they will follow.

They do have brains just like you so let them use it. In fact, there are times when employees often feel lost in the mix and things become pretty discouraging and disengaging. So what can be done to encourage them is, let them make decisions, be entrepreneurial, and more importantly allow them to take initiative and appreciate the same.

The key is to provide autonomy and flexibility so that they can become pretty versatile, creative, and explore amazing endeavors and never get bored of their jobs.

Take regular feedback and employee reviews

The next activity you can think of is taking or gathering feedback and reviews at a span of regular intervals. To ease your work, try coming up with some innovative ways such as try using employee engagement software such as ContactMonkey to develop employee newsletters and gather reviews.

In fact, several companies have started using such tools featuring eNPS surveys, employee pulse surveys, and emoji reactions just to make sure that two-way communication is established successfully. Here by using such engagement softwares, you will get to know exactly how many employees are engaging and what exactly they feel about their respective jobs.

 Now who doesn’t like it when asked for a review or an opinion? And your valued employees are no exception here. More or less by doing so, you will be able to proactively learn about what your employees desire and need and whether they are satisfied with what they are receiving or not.

Come up with an internal team that keeps a constant check on such softwares and suggests relevant changes. Also, not to mention, such activities turn out to be pretty quick, easy and fun for all your employees.

Incentivize goals

The feeling of getting something extra is always bliss, isn’t it? Can you recall the time when you were a kid and received extra money on festivals, birthdays and several other occasions, apart from regular pocket money.

How would that feel? Pretty amazing right? Well, similarly, when you try offering your employees something different or something extra other than their regular paycheck. In addition, this step of yours can definitely boost an employee’s morale for a pretty long term.

In addition to money, prizes and rewards can also be taken into consideration. You see you can think of creating some kind of a healthy competition and show your recognition not just for top performers but for participants as well.

For example, if you know your employees are totally sports fans then you can come up with a tournament and reward top performers as well as participants of the game. Another interesting idea is that everyone loves enjoying lip-smacking food. So why not reward employees with food vouchers or gift vouchers to an amazing local restaurant?

Incentives are pretty important and can definitely give a sudden rise in employee engagement. Now incentives don’t always have to be money or gift vouchers, it can be a simple shout-out on your company’s social media platforms or an employee’s newsletter.

Also Read: Smart Square HMH: Streamline Your Workforce Management Efforts

Team lunches/after parties

The next amazing employee engagement activity to think of is trying hosting team lunches or after-office parties. Team lunches or such after-office parties are pretty casual and always result in the rise of organic conversations.

Such lunches can act as a good day, mid-break and of course, enhance productivity and efficiency. In fact, it’s the best idea to collaborate with virtual teams and internal teams that unfortunately do not get opportunities to bond well.

Let’s say you have a large team, so what you can do is organize different lunch groups and make sure you pick people randomly so that you can increase the scope of interdepartmental networking. Isn’t it an amazing employee appreciation idea? This really works especially if you have in-person offices as well as remotely working staff.

Similarly, you can consider hosting after-office parties with some pizza and drinks just to let loose. Casual gatherings are always fun and exciting. Moreover, they definitely give a quick boost to the collaboration and communication between different departments and professionals.

Make Mondays more Fun!

Monday blues are pretty common and they shouldn’t be ignored at any rate. Most of the employees hate to go to work on Monday especially after they had a pretty rocking Sunday. So what to do, how to make them happily go to work, especially on Mondays? Simply try making Mondays more fun and exciting. Come up with an icebreaker to shake off the scaries.

• Think of some exciting mini-games for warm-ups

• Kick off the morning of your employees with some flair

• Skip the small talk and break the ice

By conducting such weekly bonding sessions, Monday mornings won’t seem to be boring and hard to get started with. So the key is to understand what exactly your employee needs in the present times and do it without giving much thought. After all, this is all for the greater good!

Use Gamification

The next amazing employee engagement activity that must be taken into consideration is using gamification to the fullest. Who doesn’t love to play? All work and no play makes your jack a dull person. Do not let that happen.

And gamification has been a core aspect of our lives and not to mention it has been the sweetest memory of everyone’s childhood. So why not incorporate these memories and let your employees relive their childhood?

In fact, it is said that gamification or game-based learning has the potential to ignite productivity to a pretty great extent. Moreover, it’s a pretty fun and amazing way to collaborate with other professionals and have some friendly competition, enhancing overall performance and drive.

Don’t start scratching your head and bring a deck of cards. Try having a simple trivia contest, and some interactive quizzes based on the company’s brand, mission and vision. By doing so you can successfully combine employee engagement with brand loyalty and spirit.

Also Read: Time-Tracking Software for Remote Teams: Navigating the Challenges of Virtual Workspaces

Incorporate different health and wellness programs

The next amazing employee activity to take into account is by incorporating different health and wellness programs. As mentioned above, your employee is your valuable asset and not taking good care of their health and mental wellness can be pretty disappointing and dissatisfying.

So what can be done is, try conducting different health and wellness programs within the office premises. Now the key is to choose the wellness program wisely, among so many available. For example, if your software development company comprises natural foodies, you can incorporate programs featuring market excursions. And if fitness is important for your employees, come up with a fitness challenge.

Basically, it’s all about creating a system that encourages seamless participation. And above all, it has been already proven that games and such wellness programs have the potential to have a positive effect on engagement and boost enough amount of participation.

Praise employees at regular intervals

Now this might seem a pretty simple thing to do but it can leave a great impact on your valued employees and eventually boost productivity and efficiency. You see the power of acknowledging and appreciating someone can be pretty amazing.

Respect is one of the most meaningful things anyone, especially a senior or leader, can offer. Well, its not about showering your employees with constant praises and platitudes but yes try to make them feel valued at regular intervals. This works best in boosting morale and motivates them to do tasks more efficiently.

The reason why employees often become disengaged is because they are often made feel as if they are invisible. Don’t do such stupidity. Try offering respectful treatment. Create a workspace emphasizing on communication, mutual respect, seamless collaboration, and so forth.

Work-life balance is important for your employees as well

The next amazing employee engagement activity to think about or focus on is maintaining a proper work-life balance. This rule does not just apply to you but to your employees as well.

Being an entrepreneur, we often make the mistake of putting our work-life balance aside and assuming that our employees will willingly do the same for us as well. Putting in extra hours just to get the work done or catching up on emails, late meetings, and missing out on personal life is pretty unhealthy for you as well as your employees. So be aware of having a proper work-life balance and make sure it doesn’t fall out of equilibrium for anyone not for you as well as your employees.

Don’t make them feel pressured by asking them to stay long hours just to get the job done. Of course, once in a while, it’s fine but it shouldn’t become a habit. Having a healthy work-life balance is pretty important and when you offer seamless flexibility, they will feel less stressed and ensure to offer full potential and dedication to your company as well.

Also Read: Modern Pay Stubs: Key to Employee Satisfaction and Compliance

Flexible Working hours

Now as you want your staff to go the extra mile for you, why don’t you go the extra mile for them? For instance, if your employees can work overtime for you, why don’t you try to call it a day early, especially when there is no work? Yes, asking them to leave a few hours early can be pretty amazing.

Now here make sure all your staff members are treated fairly and everyone is given equal opportunity and flexible working hours. This will surely make them feel valued and appreciated.

Work from Home

The next interesting activity to think of is offering work-from-home opportunities. You see after the massive COVID pandemic, almost all companies have adopted the concept of remote working. And with such technological advancements, it can be way better. Today millennials and other remote workers want this kind of freedom and fortunately, companies are definitely willing to provide them.

Today, giving your employees the option of working from home can actually make them more productive and encouraging to work for you. In fact, this significantly reduces the time and money spent on the commute. So their work-life balance is automatically in sync. Change is important, so see what’s working and what’s not! And then make relevant changes.

Team Events

Now this one is equally important. As mentioned above to conduct team lunches. Similarly, try conducting different team events, just to create a lively environment. Events such as axe-throwing, Bowling, Karaoke

Table tennis, Escape rooms, Murder mysteries, Trivia and so more. These kinds of activities definitely boost employee engagement and compel them to go to work willingly.

Open brainstorming sessions

Now enough being said about game-based suggestions, time to add some play at work. In fact, get rid of the meeting rule book, and try to incorporate some open brainstorming sessions.

Most of the time daily meetings are conducted without any agendas and outcomes, ditch that part completely. Come up with some fun ways to be productive. Just make sure all these brainstorming sessions are held positively and are not meant to mock anyone around.

Mocking laughter, negative automatic responses and skeptical questions is a big No-No here! Let them freely express what they have in mind, and try welcoming their ideas and improvisations. By doing so, you will be able to gather industry insights, learn about different notions happening around and of course make the workplace more engaging and enjoyable.

Spend quality time with your employees

Another amazing employee engagement activities to consider is spending an adequate amount of time with your employees. Yes, leaders who spend an adequate amount of time with their subordinates have a proven track record of becoming more successful in comparison to those who don’t.

Democracy is everywhere so why not within your office premises? Also, more and more conversations between you and your team members can certainly lead to high performance and the best results.

Be proactive

Last but certainly not least, an activity to take into account is being proactive. Take this task of employment engagement pretty seriously. No matter if you have hired employees who seemed to be fun, and energetic in their job interviews but everything changes once they have settled into their respective roles.

So then it’s your job to bring in proactiveness and create an atmosphere that turns out to be engaging and worth working in. Be proactive in offering adequate pay, promotions, recognition, appreciation, and above all interesting work.

Also Read: How Experts Like Russell Brunson Motivate Sales Team Members

Final Verdict

employee engagement activities are pretty important concept and should be prioritized in every software development company. Ultimately, it will raise revenues and increase brand recognition all across the globe.