Employee Engagement Solutions for Hybrid Teams: 4 Ideas to Try

It’s 12:15 p.m. on a Thursday, and I’m glued to my computer screen. I’m not answering an email or writing a presentation. Instead, I’m in a virtual chatroom with a handful of other FruitGuys employees, and we’re brainstorming answers to the question, “What’s a bird, other than a turkey, that you can eat on Thanksgiving?”

Quail? Duck? Goose? My eldest son (who was home “sick” that day before making a miraculous recovery to “help” with the competition) peers over my shoulder as the chats fly back and forth.

“What’s a Guinea fowl?” He asks. I shush him, focusing on the question. If we get it right, my team and I might just win Fruit Family Feud!

How We Stay Connected: Employee Engagement Solution Ideas

Fruit Family Feud, our virtual spin on the famous game show, is just one way The FruitGuys keeps our hybrid team connected during the holidays when things like vacations, work travel, and end-of-year deadlines send everyone scattering. If you’re working against that same tide, here’s the shortlist of things that work for us and might help you, too:

1. Company-wide Meetings

We have these every two weeks. On-site employees gather in person, and remote workers join virtually so we can all stay connected.

2. Employee Engagement and Wellness Committee (EEWC)

Last year, we formed a committee of employee volunteers from all across the company. They get together once a month to plan in-person and virtual events, wellness challenges, photo contests, and more.

3. In-Person & Virtual Events

The EEWC hosts a virtual and/or in-person event once a month. It can be a lunch and learn, holiday party, or competition—whatever they think the team will like.

The events are my personal favorite. I was that stubborn kid who pushed back on anything I was told I had to do, so these aren’t “forced fun”-type events, but they’re open to everyone who wants to come. They happen during the workday and we make sure managers give their teams time to attend.

At the latest Fruit Family Feud, it was great to see the whole team as excited as I was. Employees from across the company worked together to weigh in on questions, all yelling and cheering over Google Meet!

Finding Employee Engagement Solutions That Work

One thing I appreciate about the EEWC team is that they take the time to figure out what really helps people connect. By experimenting with different types of events and sending out surveys, they’ve found that our team loves games (like Fruit Family Feud) and learning sessions (like our recent virtual lunch and learn about AI).

Those employee engagement solutions might work for your team, too, or something else might resonate with your company culture. I’ve noticed that new initiatives take time and require iterations. So don’t wait, just keep trying things and see what sticks!

Onward and Upward: One More Idea

Our work matters, and doing it well requires effort and focus. But it also requires fun! I truly believe that we do our best work when we feel engaged and connected to the people around us.

If you want to build stronger bonds between your employees, I hope you’ll try some of the options I listed and see if they stick. You can also book an employee engagement event with our team at The FruitGuys, like a fruit tasting, farmers market, or snack demo. Delicious food always makes it easier to bring people together.