8 Employee Engagement Activities For Employees (Data-backed)

In our 8+ years of corporate gifting experience, we have helped 400+ businesses of all sizes plan corporate gift campaigns and improve their employee engagement level.

Based on our experience and success stories, we have created this guide on best employee engagement activities— each covering:

• What this activity is
• Why we selected this strategy
• How to execute with easy steps

What is employee engagement?

Employee engagement refers to the emotional commitment and connection employees have towards their organization, influencing their motivation and performance. 

Put simply, engaged employees are more:

• Productive at workplace
• Shares a higher job satisfaction
• Likely to contribute positively to the workplace culture of your organization 

Activities such as recognition programs, corporate gifting, and team-building events enhance engagement by making employees feel valued and appreciated, ultimately promoting employee loyalty and reducing turnover rates.

Here are the top employee engagement activities at a glance 👇

1. Send employee appreciation gifts 

Sending employee appreciation gifts means gifting your employees thoughtful gifts as a token of recognition for their hard work and to acknowledge their contributions to your company’s growth. 

This can include trophies and awards, or personalized gifts— here are some gift examples from our 4,000+ corporate gift inventory.

👉 Order corporate gifts for new employees

The image below illustrates how employees in a company love being appreciated and share their feelings on social sites.

Why we selected this employee engagement activity:

In a recent research, we heard from nearly 69% of employees that they would work harder when their efforts are better recognized. You can appreciate the hard work of your employees by congratulating them in front of peers and sending employee appreciation gifts.

This not only motivates them to work better but also improves your overall productivity and company goodwill. 

How it helps in employee engagement:

When you regularly appreciate your employees, you create a positive work environment, boosting employee morale, and reinforcing a sense of value and belonging to the company. It also strengthens the bond between the company and its employees, leading to higher engagement levels. 

🎯 Here’s how to execute this activity:

Step 1: Set a Clear Goal

Have a clear goal on how to recognise employees so that no one feels undervalued for their contributions

Step 2: Understand Employee Sentiment

Be aware that reports indicate 70% of employees don’t like the company recognition program, as they believe leaders only care about their recognition.

Step 3: Decide on milestones for sending employees appreciation gifts

For example, if the target of an employee is to sell 1k items in a month, and they achieve it successfully you can appreciate them. 

Other milestones may include:

• 5 years of service completion
• Best employee of the month
• Best employee of the year

Step 4: Choose employee appreciation gifts

Decide on what gifts to send as a token of appreciation. We can help you choose gifts from multiple options and customise them as per your requirements.

Step 5: Plan gift distribution to your employees

Find ways to distribute the gifts especially if you have remote employees. Either use a logistic company or collaborate with our platform for faster and safer deliveries 

After sending the gifts, express appreciation in person or through a company-wide announcement.

Step 7: Gather feedback

Ask for feedback on how employees feel about your way of appreciating their efforts and encourage thoughts on the impact of this activity on employee engagement 

2. Send new employee welcome kit

This activity is about creating personalized gift sets for newcomers to the company. It may include a set of multiple essential items for employees, a food hamper, branded apparel, office bags, etc. 

Why we selected this employee engagement activity:

New employees have a lot of expectations from the company they are joining and a fear of being alone haunts them. It is when you can send these employees welcome kits to make them feel comfortable with your company culture. 

As per reports, 82% of people after receiving corporate gifts start to have more favourable impressions about the company. 

Welcome kits make employees happy and you can see that from the below image which shows how excited Ankit is about receiving a welcome kit from Blinkit.

How it helps in employee engagement:

Welcome kits for employees create a great first impression of your company, setting a positive tone about work culture right from the beginning. 

These kits are usually practical corporate gifts that employees require in their everyday lives, making them feel the company thinks about them and values them. It creates a stage for long-term employee engagement and enhanced work productivity.

🎯 Let’s see how you can send out welcome kits to new employees 

• Make a budget for your employee welcome gifting expenses 
• Decide on what are the suitable gifts for different departments of your company 

For example, a headphone can be more suitable for a customer service representative, like an organiser is for the sales and marketing expert

• Choose the gifts carefully and add a branded logo to them for brand visibility 
• Send these gifts on the first day of a new hire

3. Plan corporate gifts for special occasions

This activity is about celebrating an occasion with your employees and sending gifts to make them feel special and valued. 

You can send snacks, chocolates, dry fruits, apparel, accessories, or other personalized gifts to your employees and celebrate a special occasion together as a family. 

Data on the effectiveness of this activity:

“Grumpy staying” is one of the new workforce trends where high-potential employees dissatisfied with their present jobs choose to work at their current positions rather than seeking new opportunities, and exhibit consistently negative output. 

According to the Global Workplace Report of Gallup 2023, 59% of employees are quiet quitters which is a threat for companies as you can lose your potential people. 

It is therefore important to plan corporate gifts for employees on special occasions like Diwali, Christmas Day, New Year, Eid, Women’s Day, Earth Day, etc.

Here’s an example of how Capgemini treats their employees and sends them Diwali gifts which their employees share on social media and enhance the company’s reputation.

How it helps in employee engagement:

I personally love this activity because it creates a good bond between company owners and employees. Won’t you love having a snack box on Diwali? I would love to have one! These corporate gifts make employees feel valued and motivate them to engage with the company more. 

🎯 Here’s a few simple things you can do:

• Make a list of employees according to their posts, and contributions to your company 
• Try a tiered approach to gifting and decide on a budget for each tier of employees
• Send every employee a special gift and try to stay unbiased 
• Choose gifts from us as we have a huge number of choices including gourmet food, customised food hamper, electronic goods, wellness kits, etc.,
• Add a touch of personalisation by sending a special quote or a handwritten note with each box

4. Celebrate employee work anniversary with corporate gifts

This activity is about celebrating significant milestones of your employees such as one year, 2 years, 5 years, or 10 years of work anniversaries and creating a culture of employee appreciation to increase loyalty. 

You can select premium and personalized gifts reflecting employees’ interests, or trophies and awards to mark their work anniversaries and recognize their dedication and loyalty towards your company.

👉 Order employee appreciation awards and rewards

Data on the effectiveness of this activity:

Employees engage with a company that remembers their special events like work anniversaries. I have seen companies sending out personalized messages to employees and congratulating them but adding a gift can be more impactful. According to a Corporate Gifts Company survey, nearly 45% of employees said gifts can directly impact their opinions of the company. 

The image below is just an example of how companies celebrate their employees’ contributions to the company for years.

How it helps in employee engagement:

Celebrating employees’ work anniversaries and recognizing individual achievements can establish long-term employee loyalty, and boost their morale and satisfaction. It also creates a healthy and productive work environment reflecting your company’s values, culture, and gratitude towards employees’ contributions. 

🎯 Here’s how you can execute this activity and fulfil your objective.

• Keep a record of all your employees’ company joining dates
• Use a system to send reminders a week ahead for preparing gifts and on the day to celebrate 
• Make a budget and use a tiered approach where top-tier employees are the ones with above 5 years of experience 
• Choose gifts that are practical according to their department and reflect employees’ interests
• Send an email to the employees, arrange a get-together and celebrate achieving milestones in front of all other employees 

5. Plan corporate gifting events or conferences 

Organizing corporate gifting events or conferences is about organizing a program where you can gift employees for their contributions to your company, and achievements. It is an efficient way of promoting your brand and leaving an everlasting impression on attendees at events or conferences. 

You can gift daily-use items like notebooks, document organizers, stationery items, office essentials, and tech gadgets. These are useful for your employees and serve as a subtle daily reminder of your brand. 

Data on the effectiveness of this activity:

I have seen how praising employees in public boosts their morale and confidence. Nearly 25% of companies are opting for the corporate gifting trend to recognise their employee milestones. Why not you? Try celebrating your employee achievements by arranging an event or a conference. 

The image below shows how PayPal arranges events and conferences and recognises the hard work of their employees in front of the masses. This creates a sense of confidence among employees and motivates them to work. 

How it helps in employee engagement:

If you recognise the hard work of your employees in front of all the attendees, they feel proud of themselves which fuels their spirit to keep up the efforts. 

I have attended multiple such conferences, where I found companies gifting the teams who prepared and managed the event, their employee of the month, and individuals who cracked difficult deals for the company.

How to execute:

If you are planning such an event in the coming months, here are a few tips on how to do 

• Discuss with your team how to plan a gifting event
• Have a budget for buying gifts, arranging lunch or dinner, and managing guests
• Make a list of employees who will be awarded at the event 
• Create appreciation notes for each individual to make them feel special 
• Choose different gifts depending on employee contributions 
• Count the total number of attendees and prepare small tokens of appreciation for their presence like pens, key chains, organisers, etc.
• Order all your gifts with us and get everything delivered in 5-6 working days directly at your office or anywhere you want 

6. Introduce friendly sports activities for employees

It refers to arranging sports events in companies that open up the space for everyone to participate, creating a motivated workplace. These are often friendly matches like a soccer or a basketball match, badminton or table tennis, and other sports activities.

You can add spice to these matches by announcing corporate awards or gifts for the winners. Make sure you have the budget to gift all the participants a consolation prize to keep up their spirit.

This image on LinkedIn is shared by Gauravjeet Singh. Look at those happy faces at the end of a friendly competition! This increases employee engagement. 

Data on the effectiveness of this activity:

Nearly 41% of employees globally experienced a lot of stress in 2023, which is much higher than the pre-pandemic average. 

I believe stress is a major reason for employee disengagement in companies and arranging sports activities regularly can make them do physical activities daily, boosting energy, and helping them focus at work. 

How it helps in employee engagement:

Such sports activities can be arranged in a group, where employees learn to trust and rely on group members, improving their collaboration and cooperation skills. They get the opportunity to interact with colleagues and this eliminates disengagement of employees at work due to communication barriers. Additionally, it improves mental health, manages stress and depression, enhances cognitive function, and creates more energetic happy employees. 

Here’s how to execute a friendly sports activity in your workplace 

• Make a list of activities that you want to conduct, considering time and budget, like cricket, badminton, chess, billiards, etc.
• Take the names of the players and list them into different categories of sports
• Set a budget for corporate gifts like trophies, or choose from other options like electronic appliances, office bags, desktop organisers, mobile and computer accessories, etc
• Ask us for proper branding, and we will place your brand logo on each gift perfectly and use your brand colour whenever needed
• Arrange consolation prizes for all the participants so that no one feels depressed about the match which might affect their productivity 

7. Arrange Coffee breaks with leaders frequently

This is a team-building activity where companies arrange snack dates within the workplace between team members and seniors to improve collaboration and communication. You will arrange some tasty snacks including dried fruits and roasted nuts, healthy tea and coffee packs, etc. 

They are not only yummy but also healthy options that promote positivity in the workplace.

Data on the effectiveness of this activity:

Caffeine already has the power of enhancing your energy and taking regular breaks helps in relieving stress and anxiety. According to reports, nearly 86% of employees take regular breaks to boost productivity. 

I suggest you encourage seniors like team leads and managers to sit with their team members which improves communication patterns by over 50%. 

The Image below shows how employees bond over a team lunch date, which further enhances their engagement with the company. 

How it helps in employee engagement:

By communicating with seniors at least once a week, team members can get close to them and understand projects better. They can easily share their problems with these seniors and understand exactly where the issue was in completing their tasks. This not only improves employee engagement and productivity but also helps companies deliver projects faster and provide the best solutions. 

How to execute:

You can execute this activity in just a few steps:

• Decide how often you want to arrange these dates
• Set your budget and decide on what kind of snacks and beverages you can provide to your employees 
• Speak with your seniors on how to communicate with juniors over a cup of coffee and ask them to co-operate 
• Tell your new hires and different employees about the plan and let them be free with team leads and managers 
• Set up a special area for such breaks and keep all snacks and beverages prepared beforehand 

8. Provide health and wellness benefits gifts beyond basic perks

This activity is nothing but gifting your employees with healthy snacks and beverages, wellness kits, and physical activity instruments which motivates your employees to take care of their health and do physical activities daily to relieve work stress. 

These gifts are equally essential to basic employee benefits, as they together support employees’ physical, mental, and emotional well-being. 

👉 Order health and wellness corporate gifts for employees

Data on the effectiveness of this activity:

In a recent survey, we have seen nearly 83% of US workers alone suffer from daily work-related stress. I believe the number is almost similar in every country, don’t you have stress at work? It is common among employees globally and what companies can do is provide health and wellness perks which ensure employees take one step towards healthy living. 

Here’s one post from LinkedIn which shows how happy an employee can be on receiving a healthy corporate gift.

How it helps in employee engagement:

When your employees see you care about their health, they try to give their best dedication to work. This activity improves their engagement, reduces stress and anxiety, and enhances job satisfaction. 

Here’s how you can execute such activities at the workplace: 

• Conduct surveys to understand the needs and preferences of your employees 
• Make a budget according to your goals like if you want to send gifts half-yearly, quarterly, and annually 
• Curate health and wellness kits carefully
  • For example, men’s and women’s grooming sets are different, but healthy food hampers can be the same for all
• Take feedback from employees and try making changes if needed

Why partner with TapWell to plan your next employee engagement activity with corporate gifts 🎁

Partnering with TapWell for your next employee engagement activity enhances recognition through thoughtful corporate gifts. 

With over 4,300 customizable products and a proven track record of 1,834 successful projects, TapWell offers tailored solutions that resonate with employees. 

Research shows that 69% of employees work harder when recognized, and 82% develop a favourable impression of their company upon receiving gifts. 

Have questions? Connect with me on LinkedIn.