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By Alexa Grunder | August 26, 2019
The workplace tends to be monotonous when working a 9-to-5 job and completing daily tasks on auto-pilot. Almost every office incorporates happy hours into their workplace culture, but what are some more unique activities you can offer? Here are 5 suggestions of easy ways to excite and engage your employees inside the workplace!
1. Find national holidays that your team will enjoy celebrating: about once a month I select a unique holiday which will provide a fun outing for the team. In the past we have celebrated holidays such as National Hamburger Day (yum), International Earth Day and National Burrito Day (double yum). Anything involving food usually gets people excited, and holidays in celebration of an important cause or something totally random will also be appreciated.
2. Incorporate philanthropy: volunteering is an activity that many of us grow up accustomed to while in school or as part of a club or organization. I quickly realized that in the corporate world these opportunities are harder to come by. As a former Girl Scout and a member of Greek Life, I missed doing good for my community. Organizing even a few volunteer opportunities per year allows employees to give back to the community and feel good about the work that they do. Here at MSR we volunteer at Glide once a year to prepare and serve meals to San Franciscans facing food insecurity. We have participated in other opportunities such as beautifying the historic gardens in the Presidio of San Francisco.
3. Offer professional development opportunities: professional development is so important for networking and to advance your team’s skills. It can be tough to find the time to do these things on your own when working full-time. By encouraging and sponsoring employees to attend conferences, seminars, webinars etc. you will allow them to bring new ideas and methods to the table. Every month there are events put on by local PR and marketing chapters. I make sure to send relevant events around to the team to gauge interest and facilitate attendance.
4. Get active: many companies have started to recognize the value of workplace wellness and are now offering programs to encourage exercise and a healthy lifestyle. While MSR does not currently have such a program in place, we do emphasize the importance of employee wellbeing (especially considering the number of health & wellness clients we have worked with). We have hosted fitness classes here in our office thanks to two of our team members, fitness trainer Susanna and certified yoga instructor Leah. I guarantee that your team will appreciate the movement and mood boost that a company planned workout class can provide!
5. Start a tradition: our team just attended our annual Giants game here in San Francisco – a tradition that has been going on for over a decade! Establishing an annual outing is a great way to help long-time employees feel connected and encourage new employees to take part in a lasting tradition. From a coordinating perspective it is also much easier to nail down logistics and details when it is a regular event.
So next time you set out to to incorporate new, and not so new, ideas into your office culture, use this as a guide to plan exciting team opportunities!