Your employees are more than simply cogs that keep your company going, which means that managing employees involves more than just getting as much productivity out of them as possible. You also need to make sure that they’re confident so that they’re comfortable coming to you whenever they have an issue or a suggestion and feel as though they can progress in your company. One of the ways to raise your employees’ confidence is to challenge them in and outside of the office. But there are other reasons to engage with your employees in a different environment.

Employee Engagement

Despite what the common belief is, employee engagement isn’t synonymous with job satisfaction, although both are vital for employee retention. Job satisfaction measures how content employees are in their roles. Employee engagement is more complex.

It’s defined as a measure of how motivated employees are by the work they do, as well as how passionate they are. Employee engagement can also refer to how committed employees are to the company they work for and how well connected they are to their teammates.

There are several ways to improve employee engagement, and you should always aim to do so. However, one of the most effective ways is to arrange for a volunteering effort or some other event for charity. This helps employees to see that they work for a company that cares about more than just the bottom line, but that also aims to improve their local community. 

One important thing about volunteering is that it shouldn’t be compulsory. Otherwise, a potentially well-meaning event can feel sour for your employees. Even a one-off Volunteer Day can boost morale significantly. For the more adventurous in your office, consider looking into charity challenges that your employees can get involved in. 

Build a Great Team

Your employees need to work together to achieve the best results for your company and the customers and clients. A tight-knit team isn’t just more productive, but your employees will prefer working in such an environment and will be more likely to stick around, especially if there are other incentives as well.

There are two ways to go about team-building. You can either arrange an event specifically designed for it, or you could go for a more casual route, merely arranging a meal or a game night. Both of these methods can be very successful and can forge some close-knit teams. Many successful companies, both small and large, use both of these kinds of activities. However, getting out of the office and into a different environment is usually recommended. 

Improve Mental and Physical Health

While some of your employees might not be able or willing to get involved in more physically taxing activities, fostering an environment where they can take care of themselves will benefit both the company and the employee. 

You can encourage employees to improve their health in several ways, but arranging company walks and other outside activities is a great first step. Even being outside is known to help people’s mental and physical well-being, after all.