8 employee engagement activities for team newsletters

Engaged employees are more productive, produce better work, and are more unlikely to leave their job, but only 33% of employees are engaged at work — while 16% are actively disengaged — according to Gallup.

• Why it matters: Engaging employees has always been difficult. Add in that around 28% of employees have a hybrid work schedule and nearly 13% are remote and it’s getting even harder for organizations to actively reach and engage these employees. 

When leaders can’t rely on in-person happy hours, team lunches, and hallway banter to keep employees engaged and feeling like a part of the team, they need to pivot their strategy to engage folks through digital means. And they need to do it now because nearly 50% of unaligned, unmotivated — and ultimately unengaged — employees plan to leave their job in the next two years. 

Digital employee engagement 

Newsletters are the only form of communication employees want more of — which makes them the perfect way to cultivate and share employee engagement activities, no matter where folks work. But leaders also need to rethink the content they include in those newsletters if they want to capture and keep employee interest.

To get employees engaged:

• Celebrate work milestones. Individual and work milestones are worth celebrating and sharing in your comms. And when folks feel recognized, they’re often happier and more productive at work. 
• Highlight personal milestones. Maybe a colleague has a new baby, gets married, publishes a book, or gets to meet their hero. Share this with the company to create a sense of camaraderie with colleagues. 
• Highlight individual employees. Help folks get to know one another by showcasing a colleague a week. Share their interests so others can connect with them over shared passions. 
• Share a music playlist. Have a colleague create a playlist for the week and share it with colleagues to help them make connections through music and possible shared interests. 
• Share wellness resources. Send out a meditation video or reminder to get outside and move for a few minutes in order to promote mental health and wellbeing. 
• Share colleague meetups. When colleagues are able to meet up at conferences, events, and company retreats, snap a pic and share it so others can feel like a part of the fun and maybe even be inspired to join in next time. 
• Add gamification. Ask trivia questions about the company or colleagues. Vote on company swag. Or have a company March Madness bracket tournament. Give them a fun activity to look forward to as an added incentive to open your comms. 
• Gather feedback. When folks feel like others are listening and willing to act on suggestions, they’re more likely to be engaged in what they do and where they work. 

The bottom line: Leaders need to re-engage their workforces in order to prevent high turnover rates and keep employees happy. To do that, they need to think about the channels they use, what they send, and what impact that is having on their company culture. 

Go deeper: Only 14% of employees feel aligned with their organization's goals