33 Most Fun Employee Engagement Ideas for a Successful 2024

In an increasingly complex work world, fun employee engagement ideas can help managers keep their teams energized and growing. On their website, data powerhouse Gallup explains that keeping employees engaged contributes to the success of a company.

Employee engagement ideas that let workers share in fun activities are some of the best ways to make sure your team members feel involved and connected.

What is an employee engagement strategy? It's a plan for activating your team through coordinated activities that are enjoyable, educational or both. What are some good ideas for employee engagement? The possibilities are as diverse and exciting as your team members' interests!

We've gathered a list of activities to help you find employee engagement examples that work for you. Whether it's attending a pottery class, listening to a keynote speaker or taking an online cooking class, these employee engagement ideas cover it all.

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• Creative Employee Engagement Ideas
• Unique Employee Engagement Ideas
• Work-From-Home Employee Engagement Ideas
• Employee Engagement Games
• DIY Employee Engagement Ideas
• Inexpensive Employee Engagement Ideas

Creative Employee Engagement Ideas 

1. Build Them Up

With team building activities on your roster, you have all the employee engagement ideas you need! These expert-led sessions let your workers have a great time while learning new skills together.

You'll find fun events from in every region of the U.S., including team building activities in Sacramento, team building activities in NYC and team building activities in Atlanta. 

2. Get Them Cooking

The budding gourmets on your crew will love having the chance to get into the kitchen. There are cooking classes in Portland, cooking classes in Houston, cooking classes in NYC and even cooking classes near you.

With top-notch instructors leading every session and a world of cuisines to choose from, these culinary-based employee engagement ideas top the menu. 

3. Paint Something Special

A little paint, a sip of wine and a few snacks are all it takes for your employee engagement to come into focus! These courses are headed up by talented local artists who make it easy for beginners to step up to the easel.

Big-city workers can settle in for paint and sip in Chicago, paint and sip in Los Angeles and paint and sip in San Diego, or find paint and sip courses in your city. 

4. Let Them Throw Some Pottery

Great things take shape when your employee engagement ideas include a trip to the pottery studio. Even if your team is new to this ancient artform, they're sure to get caught up in the spin of things! 

Pottery classes in the Bay Area, pottery classes in Houston and pottery classes in NYC offer sessions with skilled artisans showing budding artists creative ways to get their hands dirty. 

5. Improve Their Communication

Communication courses are employee engagement ideas that can help sharpen your team's skills in a fun and safe environment. Work with experts in business and personal communication to build more effective bonds with your team. They'll learn how to present their ideas clearly and concisely, in the workplace and beyond. 

Unique Employee Engagement Ideas 

6. Get Them Dancing

Bring your team a little zing with a bop or a swing by signing them up for dance lessons! These courses make fun ideas for workers who could use some new moves.

You'll find dance classes in Las Vegas, dance classes in Orlando, and dance classes in Nashville, as well as in other cities around the U.S. Every course features an esteemed local dancer leading the way. 

7. Dine and Discover Something New

Lunch and Learn sessions are great employee engagement ideas that let your team enjoy a catered meal while exploring interesting subjects.

You can recruit experts from your workplace to explain important aspects of the business or find outside resources to share their takes on important topics, such as diversity and inclusion or mental health maintenance. Any information that helps your team stay engaged is fair game. 

8. Schedule an Expert Speaker

By taking your team to hear keynote speakers share their expertise, you can expose your workers to fresh ideas that can help them in work and life. Find a speaker visiting your area and book a session or two for employee engagement ideas that inform and entertain.

You can take the team offsite for your event or schedule a private event for your workplace if the speaker is available for an onsite activity. 

9. Create Your Own TED Talks

Team TED Talks can get your crew out of their comfort zone while showing their teammates new aspects of their personalities. Challenge your workers to choose a topic that they are an expert in and have them create five-minute presentations to give the team.

Encourage visual tools like slide shows, charts and graphs to give your employee engagement idea some multimedia flair. 

10. Give Them a Gift

Personalized swag provides employee appreciation gift ideas that can help give your team a unique identity. Choose a logo or a catchphrase that captures the spirit of your crew.

Then, have it printed on t-shirts, hoodies or caps, and designate team gear days for your workers to wear them. You can add their names to help them show off their team pride. Or, keep things simple with some of the most appreciated employee gift card ideas.

Work-From-Home Employee Engagement Ideas 

11. Help Them Become Virtual Chefs

Online cooking classes provide world-class culinary instruction as an event for work-from-home teams to enjoy wherever they are.

Choose from specialty courses like baking or sushi or sign up for an international cuisine your crew will love. They'll receive specialized instruction in their own kitchens for a homemade gourmet employee engagement treat! 

12. Have Them Create Some Craft Cocktails

Get your team mixing and mingling with online mixology classes on your list of ideas to get your employees more engaged. Whether they prefer classic cocktails or contemporary creations, the premier mixologists they'll work with can get them stirred, shaken and blended up. Your amateur bartenders can sample their own handiwork to see if they have what it takes to step behind the bar. 

13. Let Them Taste a Little Wine

With virtual wine tastings, remote and hybrid teams can explore the fine art of wine appreciation without leaving home. Expert sommeliers lead each session and provide suggestions or sample kits for tasters to use.

Discover the differences in bouquet, body and balance while sipping a variety of delicious vintages and varietals. It's a great idea for employees to wind down after a busy week! 

14. Get Them Working Out at Home

For teams in need of a pick-me-up, virtual exercise classes make excellent employee engagement ideas for workers of any fitness level. Choose from live courses or pre-recorded videos to find classes that make sense for the team's schedules.

You can find yoga courses, cardio classes and stretching sessions presented in a range of difficulties to provide the right amount of challenge for your crew. 

15. Share Some Digital Bliss

Some of the best employee engagement ideas for work-from-home teams encourage workers to do less than usual. Online relaxation classes are perfect for helping your crew reduce their stress and increase their bliss, helping your team stay engaged without feeling overwhelmed. You can find lessons in mindfulness that your team can tap into any time they need to recharge. 

Employee Engagement Games  

16. Treat Them to a Virtual Search

Employee engagement ideas in the form of virtual scavenger hunts will test your team's digital search skills while leading them all over the Internet. In these clever digital adventures, players search for designated sites, specified locations and hidden items that could lie anywhere in cyberspace. They're thought-provoking games that show your crew the exciting side of internet search! 

17. Get Them in the Game

Add virtual game nights and online trivia games for online playdates that double as corporate events! These cyber-sessions come with entertaining hosts presenting hilarious interactive games that put online technology to its most entertaining use.

They're a perfect activity for providing teams a chance to get playful together, whether they operate in a hybrid, remote or traditional workspace.

18. Let Them Escape Through Cyberspace

If your crew loves in-person escape rooms, then virtual escape rooms are exactly what you need! These brain-busting sessions recreate the fun of brick-and-mortar escape rooms in a digital environment.

Teams collaborate to solve puzzles and decrypt clues in timed challenges to find a safe exit, locate an artifact or save the world from annihilation. No pressure, though! 

19. Warm Them Up With Ice Breaker Games

New and existing teams alike can benefit from playing ice breaker games to get to know one another. Familiar games like Never Have I Ever and Two Truths and a Lie are ready-made ice breaker activities.

A simple Q&A activity can get your crew conversing about non-work subjects that might not come up otherwise. Sites like Conversation Starter World publish lists of interesting questions that can turn your simple event into 50 activities for employee engagement! 

20. Learn About Your Crew With Teammate Trivia

If your crew loves trivia and team building games, they'll adore playing Teammate Trivia, an employee engagement idea that makes each worker a part of the game!

Create a simple questionnaire that gathers facts like birthplace, hobbies and high school achievements, then gather the gang and ask questions based on their responses. Players chime in with their guesses and win points for correct answers. Snacks and drinks will replicate a true bar-based trivia night.

21. Plan an Outdoor Play Day

Nothing gets humans of any age engaged like playing outside! Plan a playful employee engagement idea at a nearby park or common space on your workplace campus and bring a few lawn games like cornhole, frisbee and giant Jenga. If your team is large enough, coordinate a kickball game that gets everyone moving the fresh air and sunshine. 

22. Let Them Show Off With Office Olympics

Challenge your team to a competition where their daily tasks become Olympic-style events. Activities like 10-Key Speed Challenge, Typing Races, Spelling Bees and Mental Math Gymnastics are simple games you can combine into a multi-staged contest. You can hold a closing ceremony to present small prizes like gift cards or branded swag items for each category.  

DIY Employee Engagement Ideas 

23. Help Them Blossom With Flower Arranging

As an three-dimensional art form, virtual flower arranging classes can introduce your team to important concepts like balance, composition and structure. They’ll learn from floral artists with a talent for exceptional design while creating pieces they can add to their own home décor or gift to friends and family. 

24. Get Them Into the Woodshop

Woodworking classes are great ideas for teams with a taste for practical projects. Your crew can create their own handmade pieces with instruction from some of the most skilled woodworkers in your area. They'll learn to work with hand tools and power tools while assembling a souvenir of their shop time! 

25. Keep Them in Stitches

Adding sewing classes to your agenda of employee engagement ideas will give your team an appreciation for an overlooked skill. They'll learn to measure from patterns and use sewing machines while creating stitched works they can take home. Sessions are conducted by master sewers who can get even beginning stitchers into the swing of things. 

26. Heat Them Up With Glass Blowing

Glassblowing classes are eye-opening employee engagement ideas that can show your team the power of collaboration in the art world. Master glassblowers instruct students on creating their own stunning art pieces by manipulating the shape of super-heated materials.

These courses are excellent forums for demonstrating the coordination, communication and interaction required for success. 

27. Let Them Redecorate the Workspace

Why not turn your employee engagement idea into a workplace renovation? Get your team thinking about how to update the office with art, plants, lighting and décor elements.

You can set a budget and break up the team into smaller groups, each assigned to an area or aspect of the project. Then, set them loose to add their touch to their work environment! 

28. Get Green With Terrariums

Terrarium classes make whimsical employee engagement ideas that can add a spot of green to a drab workspace. Teams can collaborate on a large piece or create their own by arranging layers of rocks and soil, then adding miniature plants and landscaping elements like stones and branches.

You can locate terrarium workshops in your area or search online for virtual sessions your team can enjoy from their remote locations. 

Inexpensive Employee Engagement Ideas

29. Give Back With a Volunteer Day

Getting your team involved in volunteer opportunities helps your employee engagement ideas reach beyond the workplace. Check your community for services in need of extra hands and hearts and sign up your crew for an afternoon of assistance.

Many companies offer paid volunteer hours that cover workers' time away, making it even easier to plan your engagement event. 

30. Help Them Rise to New Heights With a Bake-Off

For teams with a talent for baking, a bake-off is a tasty prospect for an employee engagement idea! Have your crew choose their favorite bakes and create a batch to present for judging, then give them a new recipe to try for the first time during the contest.

Designate a judge to hand out handshakes like Paul Hollywood for exceptional creations before crowning one lucky winner the Best in Bakes. 

32. Designate Theme Days at Work

Theme days in the workplace can get your crew in the spirit for an employee engagement idea that's ideal for budget-conscious leaders. Choose a theme like a particular decade, sports teams or a movie motif such as sci-fi or horror and invite your team to dress for the theme. You can provide simple snacks or have a potluck and let workers decorate the space to add to the festive feel of your event. 

33. Choose a New Boss for a Day

For an employee engagement idea that costs literally nothing, choose a worker's name at random and let them be Boss for a Day! They can send out urgent emails announcing fun activities like dance breaks and one-on-one meetings for sharing words of encouragement or circulate the office handing out donuts or cookies to their workers. Be sure get things started off right with a meeting to introduce the crew to their new leader! 

31. Have Them Chat Over Coffee

Coffee chats are an easy way to bring inexpensive employee engagement ideas to your team, no matter the structure of your workplace. In these sessions, two employees take a break for some get-to-know-you conversation away from their workday tasks.

For in-person teams, visiting a local diner or coffee shop makes a great change of scenery to get the chat rolling. Hybrid or work-from-home teams can brew their own java or tea and connect via Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Facetime or Skype for their virtual events.

An important question to ask when planning engagement activities for your team is "What are the three C's of employee engagement?" The answer is career, care and competence, which means your employee engagement ideas should aim to address at least one of these topics, if not more.

If you plan to share a learning experience with your team, help them build new skills or demonstrate how much you care about their wellbeing, you'll be headed in the right direction no matter what employee engagement ideas you come up with.

Employee engagement ideas can bring new energy to your workplace. Even remote and hybrid teams get a chance to interact in new ways with employee engagement ideas chosen with them in mind.

While keeping employees engaged is important, there's no need to plan 50 activities for employee engagement all at once. Try one or two every month or quarter to get started and build up from there. Your employees will be engaged in no time! 

For even more fun gift ideas, check out other experiences happening on Classpop!