Employee Experience Roundtable

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Every month, Epoch is bringing together Employee Experience and Workplace leaders to share learnings, compare notes, and lean on each other! Scroll down to see key takeaways from the conversation! 

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Empowering local hubs and Champions

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During our roundtable, the question of creating connections among employees outside the office on a small budget was discussed. A key theme that emerged was the importance of meeting employees where they are in their local areas. This can be achieved by creating hyper-local Slack channels where employees can communicate and plan events with those who are close to them. Empowering employees through proper budgeting and toolkits helps guide them in organizing cluster events. Leader presence is also crucial.  Having a champion (someone responsible for each location) plan programming with proper funding for locations without an office can initiate and encourage remote employees to engage. 

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Creating hybrid connection

Companies face challenges in maximizing workplace connections, and zoom fatigue is a significant factor. Providing remote employees with the choice to come into the office and participate in in-person events can greatly enhance employee connection. Allowing employees to decide where and how they engage meets them where they are and increases participation.

Building FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) is an effective tactic to bring employees together and make them eager to come to the office. Utilizing Slack channels to promote events and foster connections across locations is beneficial. Budget-friendly popup events can also create connections. Consider scheduling events at different times to accommodate various teams.

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Hybrid event ideas to build micro-connections

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• Asynchronous scavenger hunts
• Amazing race
• Slack channels where employees can share interests / see what others are doing across the globe

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Best practices for creating larger-scale events

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Organizing larger-scale events can be challenging, especially when it comes to managing attendance and inventory. Standardizing processes wherever possible enhances the overall experience by allowing individuals to choose the food, drinks, and swag they want without resorting to excessive hoarding. One effective approach is to distribute swag at the entrance, ensuring that everyone receives something. When it comes to food ordering and estimation, collecting data on attendance and leftovers is crucial for more accurate forecasting.

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Helpful vendors

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• Snack magic: Allows companies to send snack boxes to their employees, enabling them to choose what items they prefer.
• Swagup:  Provides a streamlined platform for creating, automating, and distributing high-quality swag globally.
• The Go Game: Offers virtual, in-person, & hybrid team-building events at every budget to improve corporate culture & employee retention, & have fun.

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Leadership buy-in and participation 

Leadership buy-in and participation are crucial for providing support. A common practice is to invite executive assistants to promote events as soon as registration opens. Sharing event wrap-ups with the executive team helps them evaluate the impact on employees, generating excitement and buy-in among both executive assistants and executives. Additionally, considering the interests of leadership and planning events around those interests can increase the likelihood of their participation and provide your team with fresh event ideas.

Want to be part of the conversation?

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Join the Epoch Employee Experts community, an invite-only community for like-minded individuals in the Employee Experience space. Get access to a private Slack community and receive event invites first. This safe environment fosters meaningful conversations and connections. Apply here to be a part of future conversations!

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