When discussing company culture and the overall well-being of the workplace, we hear a variety of terms, one main one is employee engagement.
What is employee engagement?
According to Quantum Workplace, employee engagement is defined as:
“Employee engagement is the strength of the mental and emotional connection employees feel toward the organization that they work for, their team, and their work.
It’s about how emotionally invested employees are in their work and the organization’s goals. Engaged employees typically display a high degree of commitment, are more productive, and contribute positively to the company culture. They’re not just working for a paycheck or the next promotion, but are genuinely interested in their work and motivated to contribute to the organization’s success.”
Employee engagement pertains to how active employees are in their hired roles and socially with their teammates and coworkers as well.
And executives agree that engaged employees are required for organizational success. According to a Harvard Business Review survey of 984 business executives, 81% of them “strongly agreed” that highly engaged employees perform better and are more productive than employees with average or low engagement.
Virtual employee engagement isn’t easy, but it’s important
Coordinating the 41 ideas below will range from easy to more complicated, depending on the size of the team or company. But even the more complex engagement ideas are worth the effort. According to a study from Gallup, engaged employees are 21% more productive.
Just because we aren’t face-to-face doesn’t mean employee engagement has to go out the window. In fact, you should be placing a premium on it now more than ever.
As Simon Sinek has said:
“When people are financially invested, they want a return. When people are emotionally invested, they want to contribute.”
Employee expectations in the age of remote work
Companies have spent more time working virtually for the last five years, and because of this, workplace norms and expectations are changing.
That’s bound to have an impact on a company’s employee engagement.
But how can you ensure that the impact is more positive than negative?
As Vivek Murthy explains in his book, “Together,” the three types of connection are:
- Emotional: A close confidant or partner
- Relational or Social: The quality friendships, social companionship and support
- Collective: The hunger for a network of community of people who share your sense of purpose and interest
Companies can help their people by fostering the last two the most.
Fortunately, access to virtual connection has opened up a world of connection, learning, and socialization possibilities.
Check out the 41 ideas below to foster and deepen employee connection and belonging for remote teams.
Engage each other
1. Hosting weekly “Coffee Chats” for people to join on Zoom and connect with colleagues. Depending on the size of your company and the number of attendees, consider breaking people into random Zoom meeting rooms.
2. Use Donut to randomly pair people up to be connected for virtual coffee, peer learning, and more.
3. Create a pen pal program where people can send each other notes and cards.
4. Establish a book group and allow members to choose the books on a rotating basis. People connect well with others when they feel mentally well themselves. Invest in your employees’ mental health with a mental wellness program like the ones provided by Unmind.
5. Begin a weekly photo share with different themes such as “favorite childhood photo,” “favorite trip taken,” “best memory at work,” and more.
6. Create a recipe swap and bake-along. After swapping recipes, team members can carve out an evening to cook or bake together on Zoom. Trello had an interesting take on this with a Remote Team Cooking Challenge.
7. Video fatigue is real. Host meetings where employees are invited to turn off their cameras or experiment with meeting via chat, such as Slack. If you’re unsure if you need a meeting, here’s a handy guide.
Learn together
8. Ask-me-anything (AMA) meetings with the founder and/or executive teams. Host these virtual sessions so your employees can get to know the company leaders personally. Here’s a great guide from Slack to get you started.
9. Conduct employee engagement surveys to learn how things are going.
10. Participate in an insights program (like Team Insights) to delve deeper into everyone’s strengths and areas for improvement.
11. Encourage employees to participate in online courses related to their roles and debrief about what they’ve learned after the fact. You can effortlessly support this initiative with a learning and development stipend.
12. Invite an expert to speak on a topic related to company culture, a specific team, or a general shared interest.
13. Host a hack day. These aren’t just for developers! Carve out a day where team members can set aside their usual tasks to work on an innovative project that will benefit their team. Here’s a handy guide to get started.
Recognize people
14. Create a “You-are-awesome” Slack channel for people to share kudos.
15. Celebrate a person or an occasion with a virtual Kudoboard. Team members upload photos, videos, or text notes to a board for all to see. Check out their sample boards here.
16. Host a weekly “Team Delight & Wins” meeting for people to give shout-outs to one another and highlight their week’s big wins. We just started this at Compt, and it’s been a powerful way for everyone to take a moment to recognize a highlight of the week (focusing their brain on more positivity), and celebrate one another.
17. Recognize your peoples’ birthdays, work anniversaries, or for a job well-done with a rewards and recognition software like Compt.
18. Set up a points program like Nectar where your employees can reward each other for a job well done with points that can be converted to real-world prizes.
19. Recognize people for what they’ve done and who they. Take a note from a coach on how to acknowledge your people.
Promote well-being
20. Bring in an ergonomist. In our People Operations Spotlight interview with Julie Paris from Akamai, she shared that they hosted a virtual wellness session with an ergonomist to help people set up their home offices and workspaces with their health in mind.
21. Introduce flexibility: Since no two employees are alike, create a process for employees to time-shift their working hours to accommodate their unique situations, preferences, and needs.
22. Use My Virtual Mission to create a virtual fitness challenge and track movement through steps, biking, and other metrics.
23. Bring in career and/or personal coaches. Therapy is often a staple for mental health services, but coaching offers a new perspective on well-being. A coach can help people create certainty and boost clarity and confidence. Check out Ace-Up, Bravely, and BetterUp.
24. Offer your people a health & wellness stipend through Compt to let them pick their best health and wellness initiatives. You can make everyone’s health needs possible, from meditation apps (Calm, Headspace, 10 Percent Happier) to home gym equipment, paying for therapy/coaching, fitness apps and more.
25. Foster charitable giving. Research shows that people gain a powerful dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin boost when contributing to meaningful causes. You can set up a single charity, rotate one, or let people pick their own with a charitable giving stipend.
Have more fun together
26. Begin every meeting with a five-minute game, icebreaker question, riddle, or other fun element. Facilitate richer connections and fun at the same time.
27. Start or end the week strong with a fun trivia quiz. Check out Water Cooler Trivia to automate trivia and send to your virtual team at the same time each week.
28. Create a virtual space for people to teach their colleagues about something related to their roles, such as what goes into stakeholder management, HTML for beginners, how paid media works, and more.
29. Play online team-building games:
- Let’s Roam – virtual team trivia
- Goosechase – virtual scavenger hunt
- Check out Among Us
- One Gotta Go – a card game of elimination (download digital edition for remote teams)
- Murder Mystery Party – virtual murder mystery
30. Murder a little too dark? Check out these virtual escape room options for a fun team building activity!
31. Hire a stand-up comedian. If laughter is the best medicine, help people fulfill their prescription by hiring a comedian to host your next virtual happy hour. Check out Laugh.Events to book a comic.
Celebrate the approaching holidays
32. Host a fancy happy hour. Invite employees to change out of their sweats and into an outfit of their choice for a Zoom cocktail party.
33.. Host a virtual Secret Santa. Invite those who wish to participate to fill out a form and include their address. Then randomly assign “Santa’s” a person to gift (with their address), set a modest budget, and let them send a surprise gift. Take it a step further and set up a Zoom for people to open their gifts together and connect over the spirit of giving.
34. Celebrate your people. Thank them for all their hard work by gifting them a spot bonus to spend on the gift they want.
Work experience
35. If you haven’t already done so, have your company’s mission and values outlined and easily accessible so everyone understands why the company exists, as well as the behavior that rewarded.
36. Write down your team’s unwritten rules. A simple list of, “It’s okay to…” items is profound because it lets people know what is and isn’t okay.
37. Offer relevant and meaningful perks. A stipend allows your people to pick the perks that are most relevant and meaningful to them and continues your support for them in a way that aligns with their unique situations.
Onboarding ideas
38. Have your new team members fill out a “How to Work With Me” document to share life details, work quirks, and other important information for their new colleagues. Highlight the other documents of their colleagues so everyone can quickly get on the same page on how to work together best.
39. Have existing team members set up 30-minute chats with new team members. All topics are on the table, which is a great way to deepen connection and develop psychological safety. This is a great idea from the book Never Eat Alone.
40. Set-up a buddy system for new hires. Starting a new company can feel like the first day at a new school. Encourage their connection and success by assigning them a buddy or mentor to help them navigate the ropes.
41. Send them limited-edition swag. These don’t have to be big or expensive items – coffee mugs, shirts, backpacks, and stickers are powerful ways to recognize your new people.
Deepen your learning:
- 15 Thoughtful Ways Companies Can Support Parents Working From Home
- Top Lifestyle Benefits Trends for 2025
- The Ultimate Guide to Fringe Benefits in 2025
Compt is the #1 employee stipends platform that gives your people the freedom to choose the lifestyle perks that are best for them and their always evolving needs, even when remote. Interested in learning how Compt might benefit your company? Request a demo.
