Top 10 Employee Engagement Ideas on a Budget

Employee engagement is near the top of most businesses’ priority lists. Company wants to motivate their teams, especially sales teams who are crucial to the success of a business.
In today’s market, with increasing competition and employers offering a range of benefits to inspire employees, how can you compete and stand out from the crowd?
We’re sharing some of our strategies to help you get back to basics with some simple but effective ways to motivate your employees. Plus, these won’t break the bank either, so it’s a winner for both sides.
Align your company with a purpose
Having clear values as to why your business exists and why it does things the way it does is very important. Millennials are quickly beginning to dominate the workforce, and as they do, they place a greater important on understanding and aligning themselves to the brands values.
Don’t focus on what you do, but why you do it. This will help inspire younger members of the team to really help you drive those values forward.
Give your people “inside” information
A great way to get your team more involved and committed is to keep them up to date with “inside” information. These are things like the direction of the company and the challenges that the Leadership Team is facing.
Invite them in by sharing the plans for the company and asking for their opinions on the matter. By doing so, you open up an internal conversation and you may find the answers to some of the challenges you face come from within the business.
In addition, everybody wants to be in the know, they want to be in the circle of trust and feel included. Management, in general, can find this challenging, but it has a huge impact to engagement. Finding ways to make this happen will show your faith in them and in turn it will raise engagement.
Stand for something your team can be proud of
Show your employees that you care, that you stand for something they can be proud of. Offer them meaningful, purposeful work and an opportunity to grow, learn, contribute to their own and the business’ success.
Give your employees more responsibility
You may have noticed there are times when team members are incredibly devoted to their work, and where states of “flow” seem to be exuberant. This is probably when they have been given real responsibility.
Not to be confused with giving your team more tasks to do. We’re talking about giving them important projects and initiatives in which they can take ownership. Humans are inherently goal-oriented, so when you give them something worth achieving, you’ll be amazed at how much purpose and drive it gives them.
Thought for the Week
Every Monday find an inspirational quote or page from a book and send it out to your team, or post it on the board first thing in the morning. It’s could be a great way to get people motivated and inspired on a day that’s typically slow to start. They may even start looking forward to it, or, even contributing.
Hold Fun in High Regard
One of the most unfortunate aspects of modern office culture is that many people don’t associate the word “fun” with work. It can seem at times as if the two are mutually exclusive, with fun being something experienced outside of work hours and the office.
The fact is, there are a number of ways to incorporate fun into the workday, and the benefits that doing so can have on employee engagement levels within your organization are countless.

You don’t necessarily need to disrupt your normal work week in any way to incorporate fun into the office. Holding wacky contests, and taking a little bit of time out for some physical activity are just a few ways in which you can make the day a bit more fun for you and your employees … each of which can help to lower stress levels and serve as bonding activities for your workers.

Fanfare Friday
It’s the afternoon of the last day of the week and your whole office is united by one thought: going home. Reinvigorate the team by taking song requests to blast over the PA system in the final hours of the working week. Everyone will love sharing their favourite songs to boost morale.
You can even choose a theme each week, it could be inspired by a new film release or event in the world. It could just be as fun as a space themed week with several requests for Space Oddity by David Bowie coming in.
Try to Hire from the Inside First
For employees that are concerned with upward movement within an organization, there’s nothing more discouraging than working for a company that tends to hire from the outside only.
Outside hires are more common than most people would like to admit, especially among businesses that are attempting to save money by hiring cheap. This won’t do you any favours, and will only serve to cause your employees to feel further disengaged in their work.
Hiring from the inside comes along with a number of benefits. The candidates will have a strong feel for the way things operate and know the processes. And they’ll have good relationships with colleagues already set in place.
Hiring from within could also generate excitement among your entire staff, raising levels of engagement and promoting a more positive work environment as those who want to climb up begin to work harder to achieve more.
Let Your Staff Determine Their Dress Code
Dress code can have a big impact on attitude, and it’s been debated time and time again over which code of dress is best for maintaining a sense of professionalism while also allowing employees to feel comfortable throughout the day.
Every office needs its own sense of culture, and the ways in which people dress can have a dramatic impact on the look and feel of your work environment. If you’re open to switching things up, you might want to allow your staff to determine what their code of dress should be, and maybe even have theme days to lighten things up a little.
You can also look towards your clients, there’s nothing worse than entering an office to meet a new customers and being too smartly dressed when the business your meeting with has a relaxed jeans and t-shirt style.
Operate on a First-Name Basis
Getting to know every member of your staff on a personal level can be quite a challenge if you’re managing a lot of people, but operating on a first-name basis can come along with benefits.
No one wants to be viewed as a cog in the wheel, and feelings such as this can have detrimental effects on levels of engagement. When you call someone by his or her first name, they no longer feel as if they’re just a number, and your staff will appreciate the fact that you’re putting in the effort to get to know them on a more personal level.