On September 29th, Epoch had the pleasure of bringing together an excellent group of experts in the employee engagement and culture space in San Francisco, CA! 💙

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The main topics of discussion included managing employee engagement, RTO, and increasing culture and connection.

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If you’re interested in all of the key learnings and takeaways from our breakout session, read on!

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Managing employee engagement remotely

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Remote employee engagement is difficult due to the lack of face-to-face interaction. One way to increase interaction is by putting the onus on the employees to connect.

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Management may push back on the budget for employee programming due to working remotely. Studies show that employee engagement is extremely important in increasing productivity and reducing burnout rates. Some ways to increase employee engagement are:

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• Monthly small group lunches with reimbursement ($20-30 per person)
• Allocate a small budget for socials, and events. As attendance increases, teams can push for an increased budget
• Have flexibility on when to meet up and be reimbursed. Create Slack groups for employees in different geographical locations and have them coordinate amongst themselves
• No more Zoom Happy Hours! After being online and in virtual meetings all day, employees are experiencing Zoom fatigue, and often don’t find value in Zoom Happy Hours after work

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Increase workplace culture

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Mobilize employee resource groups and have them lead group events. Promoting inclusion and group strategies will increase employee engagement as many individuals will have a sense of place within the office. Hosting joint group events with different employee groups will increase connection cross-functionally. For example, if there’s a boardgames group, it could be combined with a tea club to have boardgames and tea in the afternoon.

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How to get people into the office

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Getting employees back into the office is a challenge due to recent events. Strategies that have been successful in getting employees to return to the office is by reminding the energy at the office pre-pandemic. 

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Start small by hosting small events where employees who are already in the office can participate in a low-commitment way, like afternoon trivia with prizes. Post it on Slack to show the workplace culture coming back to life. Having employees voluntarily come into the office creates a better work environment.

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Tips for in-office events:

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• Hosting events during work hours, not after, and not on Fridays
• Happy Hour at the office with a bar cart pushed around makes it more casual

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Epoch can help with streamlining events and tasks to ensure you increase employee engagement, company culture, and productivity. Book a demo today!