Back
During the next two weeks, millions of people around the world will tune in and cheer on their country in the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics.
For internal communicators, the Olympic Games offer a reminder and opportunity to focus on several key employee engagement areas. While the Olympic Games only come around every two years, employee engagement is an everyday focus and challenge.
Here are four Olympic inspired employee engagement opportunities to use now and long after the Rio Olympics.
1) Improve Employee Wellness – To compete in the Olympics, athletes must be in top physical and mental shape. Similarly, employees need to be of sound body and mind to put their best foot forward every day at work. Use the Olympics as an opportunity to challenge employees to make healthy choices at work and home. Create easy and fun weekly challenges that can be completed for points and prizes.
2) Facilitate Team Bonding – The Olympics offer an opportunity to get employees outside of the office for a fun afternoon of office Olympics. From chair races to paper airplane javelin, you can bring together employees for a fun team bonding exercise. This can become an annual competition and is a great way to break down walls in siloed offices.
3) Recognize Employees – The medal ceremonies are dedicated to recognizing Olympic athletes and their successes. They also offer a reminder to recognize employees for their accomplishments during the past year. As the end of the year approaches, don’t forget to show and tell employees how much you appreciate their achievements. Create a companywide employee recognition program or hold an office appreciation celebration.
4) Use the Latest Technology – With more than 4,500 hours streamed online, the 2016 Rio Olympic Games will be the most watched Olympics ever. The technology and interaction with fans improves at every Olympic Games. For communicators, tools have also come a long way. Gone are the days of printed newsletters, Outlook emails and outdated intranets. Today you can reach employees using mobile apps, text messages and social media. You can even take your email communications to the next level by switching from Outlook to an online email platform like Emma.
Olympic athletes train for years for what can come down to fractions of a second. That same persistence and hard work can be found in every internal communicator. The above ideas take time and are not achieved overnight. Stay persistent and keep working hard to achieve your employee engagement goals.