What is Meant by Morale and How Can Corporate Events Help?
For companies that hope to boost employee morale, it’s important to understand a bit more about what that means. In this context, morale is related to the satisfaction, outlook, feelings of well-being, and overall attitude towards a workplace.
There are many ways to boost morale that help employees enjoy their place of work more. While every day can’t be a picnic in the park, when employees feel happy and don’t dread a day in the office, it contributes to a healthier workplace and has a positive impact on productivity.
People like to feel appreciated and valued. How else would Hallmark stay in business, right? Whether it be at home or work, showing those in your circle that you care can go a long way.
Making time for your fellow humans is not just an altruistic act, but serves to improve relationships and outcomes. When it comes to the workplace, several studies show that high employee morale is good for workers’ health as well as a company’s bottom line.
Researchers Linz et. al. studied employee morale and its impact on employee efficiency. They measured employee morale using the indicators of job satisfaction, organizational commitment, turnover rates, complaints, and employee strikes. They found that some of the most important factors contributing to employee morale were: relationship with fellow employees, working conditions, vacation and other time off, and open communication between management and employees.
If your company has covered the basics above, but you’re looking to boost morale and really rev up that team spirit, stay tuned. We will share several suggestions on how you can create a corporate culture that supports your current team members and attracts future employees as well.
A corporate event that encourages employees to be a part of the company’s community helps co-workers get to know each other, and is a great way to have fun while improving the work environment. So without further ado, let’s take a look at some of the more successful corporate event ideas.
See Related: How to Book Corporate Events
Potluck or Picnic for Employees
The Company Picnic is a classic for a reason. It’s a party with a purpose and a break from (what can unfortunately be) the weekly monotony of office life. A picnic or outdoor lunch at a local park enables team members to socialize outside of the workplace in a semi-unstructured way. It’s a great way for people to come and go at their own leisure.
If you’re looking for an event that will bring people together in a relaxed environment and don’t have a big budget, encourage employees to bring their family and a favorite dish. Or, if you want to provide lunch instead of making it a potluck, your employees aren’t likely to mind the free food.
Having an organized game or competition, along with music, will add to the overall merriment. And if you want to throw in a fun surprise, like a bounce house for the kids, then you’ll be a big winner for the whole family.
Do Some Good, Together
One way to boost morale among your team members is to spend time together doing something in your local community. Ask employees what causes they care about, or if there is an organization for which they volunteer. Perhaps you already know of an activity, like a beach clean-up or food kitchen, that might be a good fit.
Carve some hours out of the work week so that you’re not asking employees to do this on their own time. If the event needs to take place on a weekend, consider letting employees take a half-day on Friday. Again, this is a company-sponsored event, not outsourcing your workers for free labor, so make it fair and offer some extra hours off.
If you’re a fitness company, maybe you could host a friendly competition for a youth club in the area. If you’re an eco-friendly start-up, perhaps you could plant trees together or do something else to help the environment. There’s no rule that says you can’t benefit your company image as you do good, hard work.
You can plan the event with input from employees in your office, or check out Outback for assistance with your company event.
Bonus: List of Comedians Who Had Their Own TV Show
Morale-Boosting Motivational Speaker
Having a corporate event where you host a motivational keynote speaker or entertainer at the office is one way you can encourage employees to step away from their desks, take a break, and enjoy some stress-free time. With this type of event (as opposed to a contest or group puzzle of some sort) not much is expected of employees, so they can simply sit back and enjoy the show. Of course, you should communicate with the speaker about what kind of interaction they might have with the crowd and let them know which employees might be up for it.
Some events might make employees feel put on the spot, but having a talented stand-up comic, magician, or another type of entertainer perform can be a way to create shared memories for everyone, without adding any pressure or expectations. Also, you don’t even have to leave the workplace to do it. However, if you want to get everyone out of the office, there may be a place where you can find food and a local space to bring in funny people.
Wherever it is that you decide to hold your event, Clean Comedians can take the stress out of planning and ensure that employees enjoy themselves. There are performers of all kinds in our roster of professional entertainers and speakers, so if you want the job done right, don’t hesitate to reach out. Laughing together is a great way to build relationships, which is a major factor in boosting morale.
Happy Hours are Always a Hit
Another way for co-workers to commingle and strengthen personal bonds is to hold a happy hour event. This type of party can take place in the office or at an outside venue. Happy hours can even be virtual.
If your company has remote workers, this may be the best option. Snack Nation has collected a bunch of ideas and tips for how a business can hold a successful virtual happy hour.
If you are holding the event in your office, beverages of all sorts should be offered. It’s not the booze that makes the party, but the ambiance that sets the scene.
Consider some decorations or a change in lighting to signal that the party has started. Try to create a stress-free environment that doesn’t remind everyone of all those pesky responsibilities.
An appealing part of happy hour is getting to sign off early, so make sure you don’t schedule it too late in the day. You can also incorporate video or board games, though it’s not essential. Impromptu conversations between co-workers also contribute to boosting morale.
You could ask employees to bring in a game of their choice. Alternatively, the organizer may want to set up different sections for a variety of games. Bringing in a karaoke machine or something like Rock Band is also a wonderful way to promote a fun time.
Trivia Night
If you want to see which workers have a competitive streak and an awareness of random facts, consider hosting a trivia night. There are plenty of virtual and in-person options, and you can even write your own questions. If your business has various branches, you could have regional offices compete against each other – as long as you remind them it’s all in good fun.
Here are 20 general knowledge trivia questions that you could borrow for your next trivia event:
Spoiler alert: a group of porcupines is called a prickle. Sorry, but that information is just too perfect not to share.
Dance Contest
Although it may not directly impact weekly productivity, a dance-off between employees has several other benefits. First, exercise releases endorphins, which generally contribute to a good mood.
Secondly, wouldn’t we all prefer to see tensions worked out as they were in 80s movies like Footloose and Breakin’ 2 Electric Boogaloo? Maybe Barbara and Barry in engineering can do the centipede to determine whether or not they will adopt agile.
Of course, this is one of those events that might work better for the younger set and not those of us who now have to think about hip health. If you can encourage a dance event of any kind, see about getting permission to use the video for promotional purposes.
People love a good office dance video. If everyone’s okay with it, you could post it to your company’s social media accounts and maybe go viral.
Run, Corporate, Run!
Considering that not everyone will be down for a dance contest, there are other ways to incorporate a little physical activity. Perhaps you could support a cause and get moving.
Channel some of that Forrest Gump spirit and run! If you think there might be interest from employees, you could get a team from work together for a 5k or other type of race, and if it’s for a good cause, even better.
If you happen to work for Schwinn, maybe you could make it a bike race, or if you’re with Zwift you might want to make it virtual. Whatever form it takes, you should publicize it far enough in advance to get more people on board.
You could encourage team members to train for the race by walking or riding during their lunch hour or finding a work buddy for an after-hours training session. If you incentivize participation, you’re likely to have more joiners.
You can do other things to support participants as race day approaches. Share motivational messages, buy healthy snacks or lunches, and maybe even get team shirts to commemorate race day.
Team Spirit
Some events don’t have to be a one-and-done type of thing. If you’re getting ready for a product launch, or gearing up for something special, you could have weekly competitions that encourage team spirit leading up to the big day. You might want to surprise employees with prizes if they go above and beyond, or just make it more playful and low-stakes.
You’ll probably want to choose a specific theme each week to provide some direction for “spirit week.” You can steal some of those Red Ribbon week ideas that they do at schools, like crazy hair day or weird socks, or find some theme that’s relevant to the work you do. Then employees can vote for the co-workers that kill it.
Be sure to capture some pics or it didn’t happen! I’m kidding, kids. Things actually do happen without being recorded digitally or on film. It’s an expression that seems to have morphed into a real fear, though. Anyhow, you may want to share some of the fun from team spirit times on your company’s social media outlets. But either way, it DID happen.
Or did it?
Arrange for a Food Truck
How does that old adage go? Feed a cold and starve a fever? I always forget and just go with food whenever in doubt. In fact, that might be some pretty dated medical advice we may want to revisit.
Anyhow, when it comes to pleasing employees, food (and cold hard cash) are rarely wrong answers. So why not treat your team members to some free food? Get a food truck to stop on by and surprise employees with some tasty treats!
In addition to putting on a corporate event, your business or organization can encourage a work-life balance for employees. The human resources office at a company should make employees aware of their benefits and ensure that the workplace is understanding when personal needs arise. Employees often report positive feelings about their place of work when they feel that they are treated like whole human beings and not interchangeable pieces in a machine.
A company that can create space for fun will be more likely to succeed in a variety of ways. So let the games begin!
Keep Reading: What is a Single Camera Comedy?
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Adam Christing is a professional comedy magician, virtual MC for hire, and the founder of CleanComedians.com. He is a member of the world-famous Magic Castle in Hollywood and a popular virtual comedian, magician, and virtual speakers.
