Learn options for corporate events that will cultivate higher performance from your employees.

As a leader in an organization with essential employees, you may be wondering how to increase employee morale? One thought-provoking result of the COVID-19 Pandemic is the effort and commitment to service of the essential employee workforce. I can’t help but think about essential workers directly and how we all depend on them greatly and need them daily. But while we are experiencing shelter in place, they are experiencing longer work hours and more time away from their families. Now more than ever employers must find a way to say ‘thank you’ to employees, to help them keep going and encourage them during a busy season.

To employers everywhere, expressing gratitude to your workforce is of extreme importance!

Show your appreciation to your employees by implementing themed corporate events that will encourage them during a tough time and cultivate higher performance to increase employee morale. We will be social again soon, make sure your organization is ready with some socializing ideas to encourage your workforce.

1. Have an ice cream social. – Bring all the families out, rent a soft-serve machine, and grab all the toppings you can think of from your local grocer. Bonus points if you can bring in vegan options too.
2. Have a movie night. Movie Theaters is an American Tradition. Find a popular new release and surprise everyone with tickets to the Movies. You can make it a social event for a small team or make it a family affair.
3. Take them out to the Ball Game. Ahh sports, another pastime that I’m sure everyone misses. Why not get a whole section at your next ball game big enough to account for your whole team and a plus 1 to increase employee morale? You can even give the employees the option to grab extra tickets if they’d like to bring the kids.
4. Treat them to lunch. If you have a lot of tight deadlines coming up and you notice everyone is knee-deep, even working through lunch to meet tight suspense, treat everyone in the office to lunch. Give them fuel to keep going.
5. Have a gift-giving party- where the only gifter is the boss. Pick a vendor such as Amazon or Starbucks and hand everyone a gift card to increase employee morale. $10-20 would be a great gesture for an entire group or increase the amount to $50 if you wanted to show appreciation for really stellar performance.

If you don’t already include in your budget a line item for gifts to your workforce, add one now to increase employee morale. It’s so important to thank employees and financial gifts, while appreciated, do not always equate to increased motivation for employees to keep working hard or stay committed to the organization. Thank your employees now, thank them often and watch morale and retention rates increase.

For help planning a themed corporate event for your organization, I’d love to help you get started.