Employees work best when they are engaged and motivated. Workplace challenges and contests are a great way to increase employee engagement and help showcase talent within the company. Everyone likes to feel like a winner, but not every workplace contest is created equal. Here are a few challenges that employees will actually want to participate in.
Video Contest
Employees divide into teams and work together to create a short commercial or video that showcases why their business is amazing. Give them time away from the office to film the video, and encourage the use of props by picking up a selection from the dollar store. Give bonus points for the best use of a specific prop and encourage them to be creative and positive.
Have an impartial judge choose the winner, and give every member of the winning team a prepaid card in the denomination of your choice. Showcase the videos by putting them up on the company website for customers to see. After all, there's no better way to show how great a company is than to have the employees talk about why they love it.
Cupcake Wars
Let the employees showcase their creativity in a very tasteful (and tasty) contest that involves decorating cupcakes. Provide the cupcakes, frosting, and other items to be used as decorations. Have the employees form teams and let them get to work decorating the cupcakes in the best representation of their company. Have an impartial judge choose the winner and give each team member a prepaid reward card as their prize.
Once the challenge is over the employees can all enjoy the cupcakes, or they can share them with their customers. This not only boosts employee morale, but it also shows customers how "sweet" the business really is.
Scavenger Hunt
This workplace contest can be adapted to be as big or as small as necessary. If the company can't spare the staff for the entire day, just devise a shorter list of items that can be found around the office. For a truly fun experience, try making the challenge more difficult and have the employees search all over town for the objects on their list.
This works best if you split employees into teams. Give each team a list of objects they must find and have them either bring the objects to the office or snap a photograph of the objects. Make them related to their company's history, if possible, and end the day by having everyone meet up at a favorite lunch spot for lunch, paid for by the employer, if possible. Recognize the winning team by giving each member a prepaid gift card as a reward.
Game Shows
Why not let employees showcase their knowledge and talents with a gameshow style competition? Customizable Jeopardy templates in PowerPoint format that let you create your own questions and answers are easily available online. Categories can be fun or silly, but can also include company trivia or industry related knowledge.
Choose winners in each category and reward them with a prepaid card. This can easily be made into a community event by holding it in a larger venue and inviting friends, family, and customers to come and cheer on employees.
Employees that are actively involved and often rewarded will be more likely to remain positive team players at the office. Use fun workplace challenges and rewards to elicit the best out of every employee and enjoy great results at the same time.
