Forming an employee engagement committee is not just about gathering a group of enthusiastic employees; it’s about creating a diverse think tank that reflects the multifaceted nature of your business. Start by selecting your committee members and defining and implementing the goals of your program.
Follow the steps below to learn more about how to form an employee engagement committee.
Step 1: Determine If It’s Right for Your Business
Employee engagement committees are good for small businesses to help increase your employees’ involvement with both their colleagues and their work. However, not all small businesses have the resources for a full committee.
To gauge if the committee is right for you, consider the following:
Business Support Needed
First, for your committee to be successful, it is important to get buy-in from stakeholders and your employees. Without their support, your committee may fail. To do this, clearly communicate the purpose of the engagement committee and its value to your bottom line. Also, involve them in the planning process, ensuring transparency.
Additionally, you need to consider funding. The amount it will cost to run an employee engagement committee is more than just the salaries of the volunteers in the program. Consider any initiatives that are put in place and what it may cost to implement those. Also, note that participating committee members may have a slight dip in productivity; however, the increase in company and employee engagement may outweigh these dips.
Metrics Needed
When determining if you need an employee engagement committee, consider some of the metrics that can shed light on your current situation.
- Employee turnover rate: By evaluating the rate that your employees are leaving your company, you can gauge employee satisfaction. Learn how to calculate employee turnover rate.
- Employee engagement surveys: These surveys measure employee loyalty and satisfaction. A survey of your employees can help you learn how satisfied they are in their current roles and highlight areas for improvement. Learn how to create an employee survey.
- Absenteeism rate: When you look at the rate that your employees are absent from work, you can see what departments have the lowest engagement. Please note that absenteeism can occur due to other factors, such as working parents and sickness.
- New hire engagement rate: Judging the engagement of your new hires can show you where you need improvement in your onboarding process and if you have a positive company culture. You can use a new hire survey to gauge their engagement.
- Diversity report: Running a report on how diverse your workforce is can help you see where you may be lacking. A diverse workforce can create a more engaged company culture.
When a Committee May Not Be Right For You
There are times when an employee engagement committee may not be right for your small business. For example, your small business may not have a large enough employee base to make an engagement committee worth the time and money.
Although you should make time to increase your employee engagement, a heavy workload could prevent you from being able to find time to hold committee meetings and devote the extra hours to implementing ideas. Additionally, if you don’t have the budget available to increase engagement, you may not have the need for a committee.
Finally, a lack of interest from your employees may result in not being able to successfully form a committee. In this case, we recommend appointing leaders to the committee who can help generate interest. For a start, look to your HR department for their commitment.
Step 2: Select Committee Members
Aside from determining if an employee engagement committee is right for your small business, you need to select the employees who will be your committee members. It might be a good idea to appoint a leader to the committee—but when it comes to other members, it may be best that you follow a volunteer process. To appoint a leader, consider taking a vote among all volunteers.
Recruitment Process
Start by inviting members from various departments and levels. This ensures representation from both seasoned employees and newer hires; plus, it brings workers and managers together for a common goal. This diversity can lead to richer discussions and innovative ideas, as different perspectives fuel creativity and a deeper understanding of employee needs.
Your HR team can then send out a message to all employees by email, an intercommunication network, or through collaboration tools, like Slack, to notify them of the committee and ask for volunteers.
Establish Roles & Responsibilities
Once you have your committee volunteers, it’s time to appoint some members as leads. Consider the following positions:
- Facilitator: A skilled facilitator can guide conversations and maintain focus on actionable outcomes.
- Secretary (agenda minutes taker): It’s a good idea to have someone who will take notes during your meetings. You can also use recording features if you conduct your meetings remotely on platforms like Zoom or Google Meet.
- HR Representative: A member of your HR team will ensure the committee is productive and organized.
- Committee Leader: This individual will be the point person for the group.
- Committee Members: Your committee should have diverse representation from different departments and levels of employees.
- Treasurer: Have an individual (likely someone from HR or your accounting department) secure and manage your budget.
Step 3: Define Employee Engagement Goals
Once your committee is established, set clear objectives that align with the broader goals of the company. Encourage each member to share their unique insights into existing challenges while fostering a culture where all voices are heard and valued.
Establish Mission
Part of a successful employee engagement committee is a common mission that incorporates the core values of your company. This mission should not only define the committee’s purpose, but also inspire participation across all levels. A compelling mission acts as a guiding star, ensuring that all goals align with a shared vision.
Determine Meeting Agenda
Your employee engagement committee should meet at a minimum once per year. However, we recommend that you meet quarterly. This will allow you to set your employee engagement goals with overall company goals.
Additionally, implement regular brainstorming sessions aimed at developing initiatives that align with employees’ interests (e.g., wellness programs, team-building activities, or flexible work schedules).
Goal Ideas For Your Employee Engagement Committee
The goals of your employee engagement committee may include the following:
- Increase employee retention by 50%
- Gather key performance indicators to increase productivity
- Foster collaboration among employees
- Enhance work-life balance with flexible schedules
- Decrease absenteeism due to low engagement
Step 4: Communicate Goals to Your Workforce
When communicating your employee engagement goals to the rest of your employees, authenticity is key. Start by sharing the ‘why’ behind these objectives by explaining how enhanced engagement can directly impact their daily work, foster creativity, and lead to a more cohesive workplace culture.
Regular communication to your team about the committee plans will ensure everyone knows what is going on. Additionally, allow your employees to provide feedback on your efforts. This can help you see what areas your employees feel need improvement and what initiatives you have put in place that they like and want to see more of. Plus, it is a great way to gather ideas for initiatives that your committee can advocate for or work toward implementing.
Step 5: Implement Engagement Initiatives
The goal of your committee should ultimately be to increase employee engagement. You can do this by implementing the following:
- Flexible work schedules: Making your workplace flexible can increase employee work-life balance.
- Professional development training: Employees who increase their knowledge and skills generally feel more connected to their work.
- Employee recognition programs: By recognizing employee achievements, you show that you value your employees and care about their work.
- Fair compensation and benefits: When employees are paid fairly and have access to benefits like health care and paid time off, this can lead to a happier and more engaged workforce.
- Team-building exercises: When you create an atmosphere where your employees can work together for a common goal you increase overall engagement.
Step 6: Measure Success
Your committee doesn’t end when you have implemented activities to increase engagement. It’s important to measure the success of your committee efforts. You can do this by conducting employee surveys, running retention reports, and tracking shifts in employee engagement metrics.
Employee engagement software can help you measure the success of your committee by using survey tools to align employee goals, provide data insights, and give you the tools to successfully reach your employees. I recommend Workleap Officevibe for its DEI surveys, eNPS surveys, and filterable engagement metrics—and it’s our best overall employee engagement software. Plus, it has a forever free version that’s ideal for a single team and offers pulse surveys, peer-to-peer recognition, and goal planning.
Why an Employee Engagement Committee is Important
An employee engagement committee is important because it can help increase employee satisfaction and the overall engagement of your workforce. Follow our employee engagement committee guidelines to:
- Increase Retention: When employees are fully engaged with their company they generally are happier and are more likely to stay with a company long term. According to the People element 2024 Engagement Report, disengaged employees show a turnover rate of up to 43% higher than engaged employees.
- Decrease Absenteeism: Engaged employees tend to call out of work less. Additionally, companies with engaged employees are 10x more likely to have lower absenteeism rates.
- Boost Productivity: Employees who feel valued and appreciated are more likely to have higher productivity than those that are unhappy.
- Foster Innovation: Your committee members will work towards the common goal of coming up with innovative ideas and ways to increase engagement.
- Build Trust: When employees see that their company cares about them and are working to create a more engaging work environment, it helps build trust.
- Encourage Collaboration: The whole purpose of the committee is to bring together diverse employees for the sole purpose of collaborating on ways to improve employee engagement.
- Create a Positive Company Culture: Having an engagement committee focused on making the workplace a more positive place to work helps to create an ideal company culture where employees are engaged and want to help the company succeed.
Real-World Employee Engagement Committee Examples
Click through the tabs below to learn more about how businesses are using employee engagement committees to increase morale and productivity.
Japan-101, an international online casino, has made good use of its employee engagement committee programs to strengthen morale as well as amp up productivity within its tech-centric and culturally diverse work setup. Its committee is composed of team leaders and staff from various departments.
According to Stephanie Amorin, Project Manager at Japan-101, one of its employee engagement committee’s initiatives is its tech innovation days, where team members showcase new tech ideas that could have the potential to enhance projects and operations.
Amorin states, “We’ve faced challenges, as there’s no innovation without its set of challenges, particularly in setting an alignment of diverse interests and fostering wide participation. However, through well-crafted communication and rewarding engagement, we’ve seen substantial improvements.”
The company’s efforts haven’t gone unnoticed. According to Amorin, their employee engagement efforts “have led to a 22% boost in employee satisfaction and a 17% increase in productivity. These figures underscore a more engaged and cohesive company culture— demonstrating the tangible benefits of our engagement strategies.”
Japan-101’s increases in satisfaction and productivity show how employee engagement and the committee it put together enhances its overall culture.
That VideoGame Blog, which features reviews of popular video games, kicked off an employee engagement initiative to gauge its team’s interests, while staying away from typical corporate vibes.
Dane Nik, Founder of That VideoGame Blog, says, “When it comes to the employee engagement committee at our workplace, I’d say that, by far, it has truly reshaped our working environment— especially among our writers and editors.”
The company did, however, face some hurdles in the process. Nik went on to say, “We had a bit of trouble making sure that everyone from interns to senior editors actively participated. In the end— we settled with having to rotate the leadership within the committee, inviting fresh ideas and perspectives that resonated with the entire team. And so far, it’s been faring quite well, or at least according to what we expected from the get-go—snagging ourselves a good 30% increase in our content production as well as quite the leap in team satisfaction and retention.”
This demonstrates the challenges of employee engagement committee member participation alongside the net positive impact it has on the company overall.
As part of an initiative to increase employee engagement, Orange Line, an Australian digital marketing agency, created a Culture Committee to ensure its values of kindness, empathy, transparency, and growth are embedded in everyday life.
Gavin Chew, Head of Media at Orange Line, says “The committee’s goal is to roll out initiatives that support our EVP—”A great place to work where people thrive”—and help attract top talent aligned with our vision. As a result, we have an industry-low 17% attrition rate, and it’s not uncommon for those who do leave to return as contractors to continue contributing to client work.”
It incorporated Orange Social events—from cooking classes and go-karting to wine tasting—to strengthen relationships and keep employees connected. It also has a structured Buddy Program that supports new hires by pairing them with experienced colleagues, ensuring they feel welcomed and empowered from day one.
By enhancing the new hire experience, Orange Line has shown it is committed to its employees’ overall engagement.
Employee Engagement Committee Best Practices
Each employee engagement committee is different, however, there are some common things you should consider to make it successful.
- Set clear objectives: Ensure to establish clear goals for the committee and its outcomes.
- Celebrate diversity: Encourage diverse groups to participate.
- Encourage interaction and employee contributions: Ensure your committee meetings are not one-sided, but encourage all committee members to contribute.
- Establish culture committees: Within your engagement committee, you can create subcommittees (or culture committees) that allow a smaller group of people to work on specific engagement activities.
- Promote transparency: Have open conversations about the ideas and conversations within your committee with regular updates to your employees.
- Survey employees: Part of your actionable items within your committee should be to get a pulse on the current engagement of employees by conducting engagement surveys. For a list of engagement survey questions, check out our guide.
- Act on feedback: Once ideas or feedback is given, if possible, implement them within your culture.
Employee Engagement Committee Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Your committee, while offering the same objective, may fall under a different name, such as Employee Advisory Committee, Employee Advisory Board, or Employee Action Committee. Each has the same goal to increase employee engagement within the company.
The employee engagement committee should be focused on improving satisfaction and engagement among employees. It should also be committed to creating a workplace where employees feel connected, motivated, and valued.
Your employee engagement committee should have enough members, between 5 and 10, to help enact change. Too few members will make it difficult to get ideas and follow through. Too many committee members can make it difficult to focus on improvements within your culture.
