Have you ever wondered exactly what task the employee engagement team or person in your organization is actually tasked with? Is it all just fun and games, organizing the year-end Christmas or holiday party, showing up at your desk to congratulate you on your work anniversary, or organizing the cake for employee birthdays? Sure, these are probably some of the front-facing tasks that you see your human resources or corporate communications executive who is in charge of the employee relations and employee engagement initiatives engage in. However, there is a whole lot more that goes into this endeavor, and indeed, some serious reasoning and requirements lie behind the entire employee engagement team.

In order to achieve good levels of employee engagement, there can be no working in silos. Interaction between teams, within teams, and with senior and junior employees is essential to foster good communication across the organization, at all levels. Keeping this in mind, one way to improve employee engagement within the organization is by encouraging employees to talk to one another, share their work, and also share feedback and ideas with management. On the flip side, employees should be recognized for their contributions and efforts and made to feel like they are a valuable and contributing member of the team and organization at large. With strong communication in place, there will be engagement and employees will want to share as well as feel important. Sending out emails, putting up posters announcing events or lauding teams or individuals who have performed well, presenting them with small incentives and gift vouchers and certificates, and holding celebratory get-together are all simple and effective ways to improve employee engagement within the organization. Measuring employee engagement means frequent interaction with employees and learning whether they feel valued and engaged in order to learn and improve activities in the future.