40 Ideas for Employee Engagement

What happens when great employees get burned out? They feel unappreciated and unmotivated and become less productive. When you have disengaged employees, your business’s efficiency suffers, and so does your bottom line. The opposite is true for engaged employees.

In this article, we’ll cover what employee engagement is, share why it’s important,  and suggest 40 tips for creating a great work environment that motivates your people.

What is employee engagement?

Employee engagement is the involvement, devotion, and enthusiasm an employee feels toward their organization and coworkers. Effective engagement compels employees to put forth their best efforts to contribute to the business’s goals and missions. Employees who feel engaged at work are happier, work harder, and are typically willing to put in extra effort when needed.

Why is employee engagement important for organizational success?

Your human resources are the most important part of your company—and employee engagement is vital.

If employees lose motivation, your business can’t reach its potential. Gallup polling indicates that employee engagement significantly dropped in 2021 and 2022, with some employees moving to “quiet quitting” mode or becoming activey disengaged.  

Some reasons engagement matters include:

• Improved productivity. Engaged employees get more done
• Better customer satisfaction. Engaged employees have more patience in guiding customers
• More innovation. Engaged employees feel more comfortable sharing innovative business ideas
• Higher job satisfaction and employee retention. Engaged employees are more likely to stay with a company long term ‍
• Better collaboration. Engaged employees work together more efficiently

40 employee engagement ideas for your business

Building a hardworking, loyal workforce doesn’t happen overnight. You need to develop an employee engagement strategy and put in the work to drive success. We discuss 40 employee engagement ideas to inspire you and provide helpful tips to implement each.

Top employee engagement categories:

• Communication
• Organization
• Performance
• Culture

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Communication

Less than 10% of employees fully agree that communication is accurate, timely and open where they work. Communication is the key to building a trusting, collaborative work environment with employees knowing what’s expected of them.

1. Offer regular feedback

Without feedback, how are employees supposed to know if they’re meeting management’s expectations? Give your employees constructive criticism and positive reinforcement regularly.

• Set and communicate clear expectations for what you expect of your staff
• Give your employees feedback they can act on
• Set up regular times to offer feedback, like quarterly reviews, one-on-ones, or office hours
• Use programs like GetSpeedBack to give automated reviews and feedback
• Include real-time process feedback metrics for operations where possible

2. Frequently give recognition

Employee recognition makes your team feel good. Find ways to shine a spotlight on all their accomplishments.

• Reward your employees’ achievements with bonuses, paid time off,  gift certificates, or symbolic rewards
• Recognize team members’ accomplishments publicly during meetings or on bulletin boards or privately according to individual preferences
• Use tools like Bonusly to help automate rewarding and recognizing your staff
• Communicate your company’s mission and values clearly so employees can find creative ways to contribute
• Recognize daily efforts and progress toward goals, not just crisis management or final goal achievement

3. Ask employees to give advice

Whenever you’re making important business decisions, ask employees what they think. Giving your employees a voice can make them feel more involved and invested.

• Be open to suggestions—and make sure your employees are too
• Send feedback forms, conduct surveys, or ask for feedback in person or anonymously
• Implement good feedback into your workflow and give recognition for the positive changes
• Have a feedback plan so employees know their input was heard and appreciated, even if recommended actions were not taken

4. Ask employees how they like to be recognized

Employees like to be recognized differently. Some employees prefer you to recognize them privately, while others may like public accolades. Ask employees what they prefer. Observe their actions as well to note preferences.

• Put in the effort to get to know your employees so you can provide rewards based on their interests
• Give employees options for achievement awards
• Try to make your employees feel comfortable

5. Spend time with your employees

Find ways to connect and build relationships with your employees—and not just in meetings.

• Show your employees you’re interested in their ideas and opinions
• Get to know your staff personally by asking about their interests and hobbies rather than work
• Schedule fun employee engagement activities like team-building exercises, lunches, and escape rooms
• Practice MBWA (management by walking around) and engage with employees in their areas of expertise while on the job

6. Adjust communication styles to match employees’ needs

Different employees have different communication styles. Do your best to accommodate everyone’s communication needs.

• Give your staff multiple ways to communicate by using several communication channels, like email, in-person meetings, and messaging apps
• Implement project management software and collaboration tools like Notion, Asana, and Slack
• Give managers communication training
• Assess your own and others’ communication styles to be more effective
• Ask employees about their communication needs

7. Be an active listener

Give employees your full attention. Pay attention to what they’re saying and how they’re saying it to pick up on verbal and nonverbal cues. Active listening helps your employees feel valued and heard.

• Make your meeting area distraction-free. Put away your phone and close your computer
• Ask your employees open-ended questions to allow them to share beyond “yes or no” answers
• Repeat your employees’ main points in your own words to show understanding
• Stay present. Try not to think about office worries or things you need to get done
• Take notes if appropriate

8. Learn from your employees

Some employees might have experience and knowledge you don’t. Learning from your employees can help you make better decisions while helping them to feel more valued.

• Develop an open-door culture where employees feel comfortable sharing their expertise
• Find ways to get employees involved in big business decisions
• Ask if your staff has ideas on handling pressing business issues over group emails or during meetings
• Conduct a skills assessment to identify employees’ areas of expertise
• Get to know employees’ backgrounds to identify possibly underutilized strengths

9. Ask the hard questions

When things go wrong, you may have to have some hard conversations. For example, if an employee is underperforming, ask them why. They might be having personal challenges, haven’t been trained properly, or are just burned out.

• Don’t jump to conclusions. Let employees explain themselves
• Ask your employees what you can do to support them
• Address issues as they arise before they get out of hand
• Remember that performance reviews are for helping employees grow—not for criticizing them

10. Create an anonymous feedback channel

One of the best ways to get honest employee feedback is to let them give it anonymously. Give your employees ways to share their opinions without fear.

• Provide multiple opportunities for staff to provide anonymous feedback, like suggestion boxes and surveys
• Let employees know you value their feedback and address it right away
• Remember that anonymous feedback shouldn’t replace in-person meetings. A combination of the two is the most effective

Organization

Almost 90% of business leaders think that developing the right workplace model is important to their organization’s success. It’s much easier for your best employees to do great work if they have a well-adjusted workplace.

11. Develop an empowering onboarding process

Ill-trained new employees lack the confidence and knowledge to perform well. A great onboarding process helps employees hit the ground running. Make sure your onboarding processes are well-developed.

• Ensure your onboarding lays out your company’s values, mission, and culture
• Use feedback from your trainees to upgrade your onboarding system
• Give new hires access to mentors
• Use software tools like Trainual to help optimize your onboarding programs

12. Use productivity software for routine tasks

If your employees are stuck doing mindless, repetitive tasks, they may have trouble staying engaged. Make sure you’re taking full advantage of automation tools.

• Use productivity software, like Trello, Zoom, and Google Meet, to help your team collaborate and organize workflows
• Conduct training to help employees learn how to use productivity tools
• Track productivity metrics like project completion and overtime hours to measure the impact of your productivity software tools

13. Encourage empowerment and autonomy

Engaged employees take the initiative. Help your employees feel empowered to take ownership of their roles to work independently without needing constant guidance or approval.

• Ask employees about the best ways to support them
• Provide training and tools so employees have the skills and resources to act autonomously
• Encourage employees to tackle new challenges and responsibilities
• Help employees feel empowered to make important decisions regarding their roles

14. Make information accessible

Make all the information your staff needs easily accessible. If they have to spend all their energy looking for information, they might lose their drive before starting a project.

• Save copies of employee handbooks, manuals, policies, and resources digitally in appropriately named files
• Make sure all company information is well-written and easy to understand
• Make consistent updates to company documents so information stays updated
• Provide information on organizational performance and explain how it relates to individual contributions

15. Establish a clear vision

Engaged employees feel a sense of purpose while they’re at work. When your staff understands and buys into your company vision, they have a compelling reason to help your business succeed.

• Emphasize your company’s mission and objectives during training, and make sure all employees are familiar with them
• Let employees explain what the company mission means to them. Ask them how they see their role in relation to the company vision
• Evaluate your company’s goals regularly to align with your broader vision

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16. Include employees when developing company strategies

When your employees help create business strategies, they take pride in making them work. Involving them in the creative process shows you value their ideas.

• Meet with your employees often to get their ideas and input about business strategies
• Keep your staff in the loop about company developments
• Get employee feedback on strategies often
• Ensure that strategies are seen as realistically achievable, not top-down mandates

17. Encourage a team mindset

When employees feel like part of a team, it’s easier to collaborate and contribute toward common goals.

• Hold team-building events to bring your staff closer together
• Celebrate team wins as well as individual contributions of team members
• Build a shared sense of purpose toward your company mission

18. Create a strong brand for your organization

A strong brand your employees can be proud of should be true to its values, promote a positive workplace culture, and have an overall mission your staff can get behind.

• Make sure your organization has and communicates a corporate social responsibility (CSR) statement and initiatives
• Find ways to promote your business values and mission during onboarding and through your company culture
• Seek employee feedback about how well your company is true to its values
• Promote your brand and values through advertising, social media, and community outreach to build a community of like-minded supporters
• Update your brand values often to make sure they accurately reflect your business

19. Track engagement metrics in real time

How do you know how engaged your employees are? By tracking engagement metrics—like efficiency, turnover, absenteeism, and job satisfaction—in real time.

• Have your staff fill out employee engagement surveys and questionnaires with numbered rubrics
• Hold one-on-one interviews with your employees to understand the employee experience
• Work with your employees to build creative solutions for improving employee engagement

20. Get employees involved in stretch assignments

Stretch assignments are tasks outside of an employee’s role or comfort zone. They can help employees grow and expose them to new positions and different departments.

• Assign stretch goals based on your employees’ interests
• Use stretch assignments to help employees reach their career goals
• Provide supervisor and mentor support during stretch assignments
• Acknowledge and reward your employees for completing stretch assignments

Performance

An engaged workforce performs at a higher level. Gallup reported that businesses with higher employee engagement are around 17% more productive and have over 20% higher profitability than businesses with lower engagement.

21. Provide professional development

Few people want to stagnate in an entry-level position. Employees need a path toward professional advancement to stay motivated.

• Meet with employees to discuss their long-term professional goals
• Provide mentorship and shadowing opportunities
• Let employees attend professional development workshops during work time
• Introduce employees to career development programs, like Harvard ManageMentor and Pluralsight

22. Offer learning opportunities

The opportunity to learn something can help break up the monotony of an employee’s workday while helping them prepare for the future. You can offer all sorts of learning opportunities.

• Schedule in-office training for software tools and processes your company uses  
• Support your employees’ efforts to develop their skills. You might pay for staff to take relevant courses on Coursera, Skillshare, or Udemy
• Offer perks and incentives for employees who take part in training programs

23. Perform a strengths assessment

When your employees understand their strengths, they know what they have to offer and have a better idea of areas where they need to improve to move forward in their careers.

• Use assessment programs like CliftonStrengths, or VIA Character Strengths to help your employees understand their innate and professional aptitudes
• Observe your employees’ performance and meet with them to discuss where they excel and where they can improve
• Check in with your employees on a regular basis to see how they’re improving

24. Step in when you observe poor performance

You should address poor performance promptly even when doing so is uncomfortable. One poor performer can negatively affect team morale and cause others’ work performance to suffer. Addressing issues immediately can provide correction and prevent reinforcing bad habits.  

• Explain what you expect from your employees during onboarding and periodically throughout their employment
• Track performance metrics like productivity and quality of work so you can tell when an employee is slipping
• Immediately meet with poor-performing employees privately to find the root of the problem and offer potential solutions or support

25. Lead by example

As a leader, you set the tone. When in doubt, your employees look toward you to see how to act. Make sure you’re setting a great example.

• Act in line with your company values and ethics. For example, if one of your values is honesty, be straightforward with your staff—even when delivering bad news
• Practice accountability. Accept responsibility when things go wrong and spread the accolades when things go right
• Ask your employees for feedback about your own performance and find ways to improve. Leadership assessments including 360-degree reviews can be valuable

26. Develop healthy workplace challenges

Healthy employees will likely miss fewer workdays and have more energy for their jobs. Find ways to promote healthy habits among your employees.

• Instead of doughnuts, challenge your employees to eat healthy snacks in the office
• Sponsor charity walks or other fitness events for employees to participate in
• Ask employees what events they’d feel comfortable participating in, taking into account things like personal life issues
• Establish a team goal for step count, weight loss, or other health-related metrics, providing tools to measure and ensuring no public shaming

27. Promote performance creativity

Engaged employees have the energy to focus on thinking outside the box to find creative solutions. Find ways to help your staff access their creativity.

• Schedule brainstorming sessions with your team and encourage your staff to have their own
• Build a judgment-free culture where employees feel safe to share their ideas and opinions
• Give your employees the freedom and support to take calculated risks.
• Provide training in creativity as well as access to creativity tools

28. Tailor growth paths to individual employees

Everyone has their own interests and career goals. Make sure you get to know your employees personally to help them plan for their professional development.

• Meet with team members to learn about their career goals
• Work with each employee to create a personalized plan for career growth
• Check in with your employees often to evaluate their growth

29. Celebrate small improvements

It’s great to celebrate the big achievements, like promotions, but it’s important to acknowledge the contributing steps along the way. Helping your employees celebrate big or small career milestones shows them you care about their development.

• Make celebrating small wins part of your company culture
• Share employee accomplishments on public forums, like your newsletter or business blog
• Reward your employees’ progress with bonuses, time off,  a long lunch, or a symbolic reward.

30. Make regular performance reviews a priority

Regular performance reviews are important. They give employees direction and focus and help employers find candidates for leadership positions in the future.

• Don’t just go through the motions. Observe your employees and make evidence-based assessments of their work
• Use strategies like 360 reviews and self-reviews to get different perspectives of an employee’s performance
• After a review, check in with the employee periodically to see how they’re improving
• Don’t be overly critical. Frame negative feedback as areas for improvement
• Utilize performance improvement plans to build strengths

Culture

It’s hard to thrive in a toxic work environment. Promote a collaborative workplace culture employees want to contribute to. A positive work culture can positively affect employees’ well-being.

31. Encourage schedule flexibility and work-life balance

Not everyone likes to be in the office or follow the same work schedule. Giving employees flexible work arrangements and promoting a healthy work-life balance makes them feel trusted and valued.

• If possible, allow your employees to do remote work and choose their own schedule
• At the very least, let your employees modify their schedules for personal reasons
• Urge your staff to take breaks and vacations to maintain their mental and physical health
• Establish a process for work schedule requests without any appearance of favoritism

32. Implement employee wellness programs

Start programs aimed at helping your employees maintain their mental and physical health. Building an infectious culture of health in your office makes it easier for employees to care for themselves so they have more energy to put toward their work.

• Hire an instructor to guide a weekly meditation, yoga, or wellness class
• Provide counseling and other mental health programs, with full anonymity
• Be available to employees to discuss health issues and find ways to make things easier

33. Schedule team-building and social events

Social events give your staff a chance to let loose and get away from the worries of the office. You can schedule team-building activities, employee lunches, holiday parties, or even happy hours to help employees build camaraderie and have fun.

• Find out what your employees like. Conduct a survey to see what fun events they’d like to participate in
• Make your social events inclusive. For instance, if you have employees with disabilities, schedule something they can participate in too

If you have a remote team, schedule virtual events—like happy hours or watercooler meetups over Zoom

34. Maintain diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives

Everyone should feel respected at work, regardless of gender, race, religion, or anything else. Putting an effort toward diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives shows you’re considerate of the cultural differences of all your employees.

• Provide in-office or virtual training to help your staff understand DEI initiatives.
• Create employee resource groups (ERGs) to support different minority groups in the office.
• Regularly evaluate your rules and procedures to ensure they’re fair to all employees.

35. Hire a culture coach to develop an engaging company culture

A culture coach can help you create an engaging work culture based on your company values, making your people feel respected and engaged.

• Define your company culture needs so you can communicate them clearly to your culture coach
• Find a culture coach with experience working in your particular industry
• Work with your culture coach to make and implement a company culture plan that fits your staff
• Get continuous feedback from employees about any changes you plan on implementing

36. Change up the work environment from time to time

A change of scenery can do a lot to help renew employee engagement. Try changing the lighting or the layout in the office or doing business outside the office to provide an extra spark.

• Put up decorations, paintings, or posters that align with your company values and culture
• Repaint the office a different color. The right shades of green are known to help improve people’s creativity and productivity
• Designate different areas in your office for activities like recreation and collaboration

37. Celebrate your people

When you celebrate your employees, you show that you’re interested in their well-being and make them feel supported.

• Celebrate birthdays, work anniversaries, and other events in your employees’ lives with cake, parties, or outings
• Send greeting cards or presents to employees celebrating significant events, making sure all team members are included
• Make a database or use a program, like Microsoft Outlook, to document all your employees’ important dates

38. Encourage healthy minds and bodies

When employees can’t focus on their well-being, their health may deteriorate, causing issues with their work performance. Make sure your staff’s physical and mental health comes first.

• Provide information and online resources to help employees deal with issues like stress management, anxiety, and finances
• Do your best to include remote employees in office meetings and social events to help them avoid feeling isolated
• Encourage employees to walk or stretch several times a day—or even pay for their gym memberships

39. Create opportunities for employees to give back

When you give employees opportunities to contribute to causes they care about, they get a greater sense of purpose and belonging.

• Ask your employees what charity programs or organizations they’d like to volunteer with
• Let your employees volunteer as a team during work hours. This also helps improve your company’s reputation
• Take plenty of pictures of your staff at volunteer events and include them on your company’s social media pages and website

40. Stress the importance of values and ethics  

When employees are fired up about company values and ethics, their enthusiasm is contagious. They can spread their positive attitude to new hires, creating a community of hardworking, like-minded employees.

• Whenever you write or update your values, involve your employees
• Explain the meaning of your business values and go over them periodically with your staff
• Celebrate everyday examples of employees demonstrating the organization’s values
• Try to hire employees who match your company culture. Often, they’ll be a better fit for your team

Employee engagement FAQ

Have questions? We address some commonly raised issues about employee engagement.

What are the benefits of employee engagement?

Some benefits of increased employee engagement are more productivity, better performance, increased innovation, less turnover, higher job satisfaction, and a better company reputation.

What is the difference between employee engagement and employee empowerment?

Generally, “employee engagement” describes the motivation and loyalty an employee feels toward their workforce.

Employee empowerment usually describes the freedom an employee has to make decisions and complete work independently.

How can I measure employee engagement?

You can keep track of employee engagement by collecting employee survey responses and measuring metrics like job satisfaction, employee turnover, and employee productivity.

Increase employee engagement with Upwork

Keeping your employees engaged is an important challenge to address continuously. So many day-to-day things can cause burnout or make employees feel stuck. It’s up to you to create an environment where they feel motivated, safe, and free to express their ideas.

This is a big task, which is why many companies enlist the help of outside employee engagement or HR professionals to help keep their employees motivated.

Discover how Upwork can introduce you to qualified employee engagement professionals from all over the world.

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Upwork is not affiliated with and does not sponsor or endorse any of the tools or services discussed in this article. These tools and services are provided only as potential options, and each reader and company should take the time needed to adequately analyze and determine the tools or services that would best fit their specific needs and situation.