Employee Engagement Tips: 5 Fun Events to Reward Your Team With

There's nothing quite like the feeling of giving back to your employees. It's a great way to show them how much you appreciate their hard work and helps build morale. Studies show that 20% of employees would like to share an experience with their team as a reward - And what better way to show your appreciation than with an exciting event? 

Engaging events are a great way to recognize the team for all the hard work they’ve put in; they’re also a great way to give people a fun break and a chance to build genuine connections and great memories with one another. 

Why do meaningful events make for an excellent way to recognize employees?

According to Forbes, the top two reasons for employee happiness are receiving appreciation for their work and great relationships with colleagues. When you gift your employees with a unique event, you’re honing in on those top reasons! Not only that, recognizing and rewarding your employees with a fun event can help increase employee engagement and productivity. Employee engagement, productivity and performance are 14% higher than in organizations without a rewards and recognition program.

A team event is an engaging way to express your appreciation. It can be especially meaningful to offer events that appeal to your team’s interests. At the same time, events are the perfect opportunity to give your team the opportunity to connect with one another outside the traditional work environment. Basically, it’s a win-win for everyone! 

Check out 5 unique and meaningful team event ideas that are perfect for recognizing and rejuvenating your team: 

1. Team trivia...with a fabulous twist

An office trivia night is a classic event, especially for hybrid or remote teams since it’s easy to participate and set up. But here’s a way to make it better: let a professional drag queen host it!

Drag Queen Trivia features an assortment of random questions from history to pop culture to just plain weird facts. But you know what else it has? A drag superstar host that’s ready to keep the team entertained with hilarious comedy and a show-stopping performance. 

2. Throw a charity event

Many people find charitable giving or volunteering a rewarding experience. Recognize eward your team with a fun chance to give back. Charity events can turn a simple donation into a full-on party for the office. 

For example, Confetti Pub is a virtual event that allows employees to choose their own adventure with an assortment of breakout room activities, like live music and party games. The star of the show, however, is Pub Trivia, where players compete to score points for a charity!

You could also consider matching donations made by your employees, which is a great way of encouraging them in all their philanthropic endeavors. 

A great example of this is of Jugtown Country Store, from co-owner Tom Prendergast:

“During the pandemic, one of our employees came to us with an idea to put out a tip jar, but that all the tips would go to the local food bank…Now, every Sunday, a portion of our profits are donated to that food bank. So far, we’ve raised and donated enough to provide 20,000 meals. It just shows the heart that people have, and the good you can do when you give them the opportunity to act on it at work.”

3. Host a hands-on happy hour

Offering fun hands-on activities can be a great way to let the team connect over a new experience that is unrelated to work; shake up your employee appreciation efforts with a custom mixology class! Beforehand, your team can even choose the look, flavor, and temperature of 2 cocktails. They’ll then have that recipe in their back pocket for years to come. 

Of course, happy hour doesn’t have to be about alcohol! A boba tea making class is a fantastic option for teams seeking a delicious, non-alcoholic way to reward their team. 

4. Creative classes with keepsakes

Art and activities that involve creativity and creation can be a wonderful way to recharge some people. Creative classes are an excellent way to let your employees relax and have fun, but it's also a chance for them to make something they can keep. When finding the perfect art class to reward your team with, consider their personal taste! 

Is your team a lively, colorful bunch? Then they’d love an activity like a tie dye workshop.  

Is your team more relaxed, plant lovers? Then they’d connect better with something down-to-earth, like building a plant terrarium.

5. Recognition event 

Of course, a fantastic idea is to host an event that entirely focuses on giving public recognition. Facilitated recognition experiences, like Confetti’s Workplace Gratitude, help teams create an interactive presentation about one another. 

Before the event, participants are given submission forms to anonymously give praise to their team members, which removes the pressure that can come with giving public praise. And during the presentation, each person will get to hear 5 compliments about themselves from their coworkers. It’s a great way to boost morale and help employees see one another through an even kinder lens. 

That all sounds great, but how can I pick the perfect event? 

The secret is to let employees choose their events. 

Instead of picking an event randomly, give your employees agency; you can include a question about preferred events in a company-wide survey, have a poll on Slack, or even get departments to share their top ideas. 

Team building events help increase employee happiness. Still, they’re far more effective when it's an event your employees know they’ll love. 

“Structured, focused team building events — planned in advance, curated around people’s interests, and planned and executed by professionals — inspire dynamic workplaces. They encourage a healthier culture and create happier teams,” says Lee Rubin, CEO & Founder of Confetti. 

Reward your employees with time together

Individually recognizing and rewarding employees is important, but giving teams a chance to celebrate their hard work together is, too. 

A big thank you 🙏 to our friends at Confetti for sharing their thoughts on fun team events that help to build meaningful human connections over memorable experiences. Be sure to save this list of ideas for future event-planning purposes! 🙂