At the most recent Innovative Communication Coalition (ICC) meeting, the focus was planning for Employee Ownership Month in October (see article on page 6)—something I’ll cover in greater depth in another article. Here, I wanted to focus on some of the concrete engagement ideas and frameworks that were shared that can be used at any time.
Starting at a high level, creating engagement at work comes in many forms. Everything from communicating and connecting with fellow employee-owners, to understanding the business and how one’s behaviors impact the bottom line. While the latter often requires more time and energy to teach and build, there are plenty of ways to get started without either too high a cost or too much effort.
First, focus on ideas that cost the company little to no money, yet can have a lasting impact on engaging employee-owners. While there can be some work involved to pull these ideas together, the lower or negligible cost makes these ideas more accessible.
Workers everywhere want to be seen, heard, and appreciated; employee-owners are no different. One high-impact way to achieve this is through handwritten notes. These days, nearly all communication is electronic or digital, meaning handwritten notes arrive as a pleasant surprise. Of course there are many approaches to take here—peer to peer, manager to direct report, and from senior leadership to employees across the company. Notes should be tailored to the recipient, when possible, and include specific examples. I’ve seen companies that have senior leadership write and sign cards celebrating employee anniversaries as well as a hand-signed letter accompanying the share price announcement or a profit-sharing payment.
In a similar vein, recognition is something that can be done broadly and with little to no cost. Some companies have established dedicated online recognition boards through their internal social media or intranet sites to recognize birthdays, anniversaries, and employees who have gone above and beyond. Consistency and inclusivity is important with this type of program to ensure broad participation from all areas.
Other low cost, high impact ideas:
Similar to the above, the below ideas can have a tremendous impact in terms of building engagement. Generally speaking, these are quick and easy to implement.
Creating a sense of community and togetherness at work can improve the level of engagement in one’s work. One way to visually showcase this is by hosting logo days. These are days where all employee-owners are encouraged to wear company logo gear, company colors, or other themed attire days. If employee-owners already have at least one piece of logo gear this is an easy win to bring people together and create visual cohesion, further emphasizing the sense of teamwork and camaraderie. Some companies expand on this by having a logo shop and giving employees a credit to purchase gear once a year, which adds some expense.
Another take on this is to sponsor a T-shirt design competition that’s open to all. This is a fun way to encourage participation and creativity. The winning design or designs can be selected by a general vote or via committee and printed and distributed across the company. It also makes a great company photo to have everyone wearing that year’s winning design.
Last, even something as simple as a nice treat can foster a sense of togetherness. “Doughnut forget about your ESOP” is something that one committee created as a way to connect with employee-owners as they came into work. The committee passed out doughnuts with the slogan note. This can be a great way to connect and check for understanding and questions.
The last area is to think of blue sky and grand plans—if time and money were no issue, what would you do? For example, say you want to host a theme park day where all employees attend with their families. The day starts out with a nice breakfast with company swag gifts to assist the day’s activities (think backpack, sunscreen, designed water bottle, snacks). Teams have a scavenger hunt challenge in the morning sending them around the park in hunt of various clues. The top teams win gift cards, paid time off, and perhaps more. Next up is an inspirational lunch gathering where the executive team delivers speeches or presentations talking about past success, recognizing wins across the company, and where the organization is heading directionally in the future. To wrap up the day, employees are invited to spend the afternoon enjoying the park with their families and colleagues. Sounds great, right?
Of course, it sounds like a fantastic opportunity—and something that might be cost prohibitive for many companies. That doesn’t mean the idea lacks merit. How do we take these grand ideas and get to the essence of what makes them enticing? What is the underlying goal, and how do you distill that into something that is attainable? Using the above example, three themes stand out: connection, fun, and inspiration.
There are many ways to foster a sense of connection across the company in a way that works within the company structure (e.g., in person, remote, hybrid). A team scavenger hunt, for example, is something that could be used to get teams working together and can be done in person and virtually (bonus points if the items on the scavenger hunt highlight other ESOP companies). Other ideas for creating fun and connection at work are through company-sponsored coffee breaks or happy hours, and team or company potluck picnics with games like corn hole.