Employee engagement activities: A key pillar for improving workplace culture
Is your team truly engaged in its work? If you can’t answer confidently, they likely aren’t. But that doesn’t mean they’re entirely disengaged; they might just need a little motivation to reach their full potential. For business leaders and HR professionals across Canada, fostering an engaging workplace culture can be challenging. One highly effective yet often underused strategy for developing employee engagement activities is aligning them with core values.
Company values are carefully crafted and serve as the foundation for organizations of all sizes and across various industries. This makes them a reliable guide for shaping meaningful employee engagement ideas. By anchoring initiatives to these principles, companies can foster a more cohesive and motivated workforce, ensuring that every effort reflects the mission and vision of the organization.
Why is employee engagement so critical, and what are the consequences of overlooking it? Below, we explore how leveraging company values can transform your workplace culture, and why it’s a strategy you can’t afford to ignore.
What is employee engagement?
Employee engagement refers to the emotional commitment an employee has to their organization and its objectives. More than mere job satisfaction, engagement describes a feeling of personal investment in one’s work, where employees recognize that their contributions are vital to the organization’s success.
An engaged workforce is a vital asset to any organization, demonstrating energy, proactivity, and a dedication to excellence. Engaged employees work more effectively with their teams and show greater commitment than their disengaged counterparts. Engaged employees don’t just show up, they contribute innovation and creativity and execute their tasks with precision.
Employee engagement doesn’t happen organically. It requires intentional effort from company leaders, often delivered through thoughtfully designed activities like team-building exercises, engagement surveys, recognition programs, and other initiatives to build a positive workplace culture. The key to success? Rooting these engagement activities in the company values that resonate best with employees.
Why connecting engagement to company values matters
Your company values are the foundation of your organization. They often guide decision-making, shape workplace culture, and communicate what goals matter most to the organization. When employee engagement activities reflect these values, they feel authentic rather than performative, making them more inspiring for your workforce.
For example, if one of your company values is “collaboration,” team-building events for cross-departmental projects can highlight how employees can work better together. If you value “innovation,” friendly competitions that encourage creative problem-solving can reinforce this mindset throughout your workforce.
The consequences of disengaged employees
Ignoring employee engagement can dampen workplace morale, which leads to serious financial and operational challenges.
- Low productivity: According to Gallup, employees who are not engaged or those who are actively disengaged cost the world $8.8 trillion in lost productivity.
- High turnover rates: Disengaged employees are far likelier to quit, leaving you with costly recruitment and training cycles.
- Poor workplace culture: Apathetic workplace attitudes from others can lower the morale of even your most engaged employees if allowed to persist.
- Reputational damage: High turnover or low employee satisfaction can ruin a company’s reputation with client and job seekers.
The harms of disengagement can be both disruptive and costly, underscoring the importance of implementing proactive engagement strategies. These strategies are the most effective solution for championing a productive, positive workplace culture.
Why leadership should prioritize employee engagement activities
A company’s leaders play a pivotal role in driving employee engagement. By investing in engagement activities and measuring their success, leaders send a clear message to employees that their contributions are valued.
The benefits of investing in employee engagement activities
- Improved retention
- Higher productivity
- Stronger collaboration
- Proven reputation as a leader
Measuring employee engagement activities
Employee engagement isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it strategy. Leaders should regularly track and evaluate the effects of their activities to ensure they’re driving meaningful results. Conduct regular engagement surveys, analyse event participation, and collect candid feedback to continually refine your approach.
Connecting employee engagement activities to company values
Looking for ways to boost engagement? Consider these employee engagement ideas, each designed to reflect core company values and unite your workforce.
1. Engagement surveys
Surveys are a powerful tool for measuring engagement, but take it a step further by framing your questions around your core company values. For instance, if “integrity” is a key value, ask employees for feedback on how transparency is practised internally.
2. Team-building ideas
Organizing team-building events that directly reflect your core values is a simple step that can create big improvement. A company that values sustainability could host a volunteer day for employees to plant trees or join local charities that organize local litter and park clean-ups.
3. Friendly competitions
Create competitions to highlight creativity, teamwork, or innovation—whatever aligns with your core values. Teams could compete to propose cost-saving solutions, new sustainability initiatives, or wellness activities.
4. Employee recognition programs
Recognizing employees who embody company values goes a long way towards aligning individual actions with organizational goals. In team meetings, recognize an employee or team achievement or provide a monthly award for employees who reach targets and exemplify company values.
5. Group learning opportunities
If your values highlight continual improvement, offer workshops, lunch-and-learns, or external training to help employees develop new skills. Employees appreciate the investment in their professional growth and will use that newfound education to improve their tasks and responsibilities.
Improve employee engagement with a dedicated team of Citation Canada experts by your side
Embedding your company’s values into employee engagement activities is a proven strategy to enhance workplace culture. It aligns your workforce, drives better results, and keeps employees connected to your mission. If you’re ready to transform engagement at your organization, Citation Canada is here to help. Our award-winning HR software and health and safety support pair innovative technology with trusted guidance, making it simple to implement employee engagement strategies developed specifically for your unique workforce.
Request a live demo with one of our experts at a time that fits your schedule. Together, you can explore all our services in person and see how they can save your organization time and money when developing and implementing HR initiatives. Alternatively, check out our pricing plans to find the HR or health and safety solutions that fit your budget and needs.