14 Outstanding Employee Engagement Examples Across Diverse Industries

Employee engagement is one of the most crucial aspects of any organization. It’s essential for retaining employees, improving company culture, and increasing productivity. According to Gallup, employee engagement refers to the extent to which employees feel involved in and enjoy their work.

In today’s fiercely competitive job market, businesses continually seek new strategies to maintain a competitive edge. To provide a comprehensive understanding, we will present case studies of 14 notable companies that excel in employee engagement. Additionally, we will explore methods to engage remote employees and offer practical employee engagement activities.

Hyatt: Building emotional connections and empathy with clients

Hyatt took a different approach compared to hospitality industry standards. In an industry rife with obsessing over perfection, Hyatt opted for the unconventional route by prioritizing emotional connections and empathy with clients over perfection.

Instead of using a script when talking to guests, Hyatt’s employees can be their true selves during guest interactions. This creates a genuine customer experience and encourages employees to be authentic, sincere, transparent, and empathic with guests.

The company leverages empathy to create an excellent customer experience for its guests and an excellent employee experience. For example, its housekeeping flextime program allows housekeepers to leave if they complete their tasks on time or clean additional rooms to make more money. Also, its family assistance leave offers at least eight weeks of paid leave to primary caregivers.

The Cheesecake Factory: Putting training and employee recognition before everything else

As the only restaurant listed on Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For every year since 2014, The Cheesecake Factory has an employee engagement strategy worth following.

The company’s dedication to employee engagement doesn’t stop in front of its restaurants. CEO David Overton says that training and recognition are high on the priority list within The Cheesecake Factory because employees who feel appreciated tend to give better service. This improves customer satisfaction and further increases The Cheesecake Factory’s reputation.

In addition, the Cheesecake Factory recognizes its frontline associates’ outstanding performance through its employee recognition program, Wow Stories. The program circulates stories of excellent service throughout the company, boosting morale and spreading best practices.

Southwest Airlines: Giving employees more freedom in the decision-making process

Southwest Airlines has had extremely high scores in their NPS for the past ten years. They built a team full of enthusiastic people who are passionate about their vision and brand and want to contribute in any way they possibly can.

They’ve created a healthy work environment for everyone by allowing workers to decide over aspects of their jobs, from designing their uniforms to giving them autonomy over their work-life balance and careers.

Customers have noticed this because their employees are happy and excited about where they spend most of their time each day—at their jobs.

The company provides a platform for people to stay inspired and continue doing things differently. The viral video of one flight attendant rapping the safety information shows the attitude the company has towards keeping things fun and unique—and it highlights employees that they’re appreciated.

The former CEO of Southwest Airlines, Herb Kelleher, pointed out competitors can’t replicate or copy the level of employee engagement that Southwest Airlines upholds. This is because the company’s foundation rests solely on mutual respect and a sense of understanding.

Yousician: Opting for extraordinary changes occasionally

Yousician is a Finnish interactive and educational music service designed to help people learn and play musical instruments. In July 2014, Yousician took its entire team to Saarenmaa, Estonia, for a team bonding experience that allowed them to spend time discussing how to improve its product.

Suddenly, the company’s leadership realized that they could work anywhere as long as they had their computers. Therefore, when the company discovered that its office in Helsinki would undergo a one-month renovation, it decided to get creative.

With offices in Finland being expensive enough for them to book a month’s space, CEO Christoph Thür rented an entire villa in Greece and flew the whole team, alongside their families, to work for a month. They all lived and worked together, had evening jam sessions and pool parties, and turned what might have been touted to be a nightmare into a memorable experience for their employees and their families.

Gong: Diversifying perks and work culture offerings

Renowned for enabling revenue teams to reach their full potential by unveiling customer reality, the company is also known for offering an excellent employee engagement experience.

87% of employees at Gong say it’s a great place to work compared to 57% of employees at a typical U.S.-based company. It’s no surprise that Gong has been named a Great Place to Work in the competitive San Francisco Bay Area market repeatedly for over two years.

However, Gong doesn’t adhere to a single strategy. They’re committed to creating a worthwhile experience for their employees by building genuine, meaningful change in the diverse representation of their workforce. Employees or Gongsters are encouraged to join a Gong Circle, a self-organized, employee-led community dedicated to fostering a sense of belonging.

Additionally, they provide an extensive set of employee benefits to cover health and wellness, financial well-being, professional development opportunities, and more.

Intuit: Setting diversity and inclusion goals

Up to 94% of Intuit’s employees believe this financial services giant is a great place to work. Intuit has earned that positive reputation by prioritizing its diversity and inclusion efforts.

For example, Intuit regularly sets diversity and inclusion goals. They hold multiple courses and training sessions for staff to support these, including the Leading Inclusively e-learning course.

Also, Intuit understands that pay equity is essential for keeping their company running effectively and critical for employee engagement. One strategy they use is to regularly analyze pay equity and ensure that everyone, regardless of gender or race, is paid what they deserve.

Additionally, they offer transgender benefits under the healthcare umbrella. This benefit includes medical coverage for a wide range of gender-transition services and procedures including direct access to a dedicated Gender Affirmation Support Team.

GitHub: Empowering its people to build new opportunities for themselves

GitHub is a code-hosting platform that allows developers worldwide to collaborate on projects. The company has become renowned for hosting millions of tasks and helping people fix bugs or contribute new code to existing ones.

GitHub believes in empowering people to create opportunities and take advantage of them. To ensure employees have access to the support and resources they need, GitHub offers unconscious bias training, awareness of privilege, and allyship programs.

The company’s leadership sets and tracks goals regarding inclusion efforts, such as hiring, retention, and promotional plans with underrepresented communities. Specifically, they support racial and ethnic minorities in technical and management roles and women in management roles.

FullContact: Paying your team to relax

This Denver-based tech company pays employees to go on vacation. FullContact pays its employees $7500 if they fully disconnect from work while on vacation. This perk is unlocked only if employees can prove they’re completely off the grid during their time off by not checking work emails, texts, or calls. If employees don’t completely disconnect themselves from their duties while on vacation, they must pay back the $7500 in full.

These paid vacations aim to alleviate the pressure on employees to manage everything themselves and foster trust by demonstrating that they can rely on their colleagues during their absence.

Patagonia: Adapting benefits to employees’ needs

Patagonia, a clothing company based in California, believes in various ways to build a positive work culture and drive employee engagement.

For example, the company offers an in-house childcare solution for parents who need it. Patagonia is widely recognized as the company with one of the most generous family policies in the world.

Patagonia’s founder, Yvon Chouinard, believes the key to an engaged workforce is to hire the people whom one trusts and let them do their jobs, and they will get things done. In addition, autonomy gives employees more responsibility for critical areas of their job, creating a better work environment for highly engaged employees.

Starbucks: Thinking differently about every employee engagement opportunity

As the world’s largest coffeehouse chain, Starbucks is an excellent example of a brand that understands the value its employees bring to the business in more ways than one.

Starbucks recognizes every employee as a valued member of the team. From its inception, the company has prioritized employee-friendly policies. For instance, Starbucks supports its staff by offering tuition assistance for participation in online or university programs.

Another benefit of working at Starbucks is the opportunity for employees to own company stock through the “Bean Stock” program after a certain tenure.

Additionally, Starbucks’ organizational structure is distinctive. Managers refer to their team members as “partners” rather than “employees.” This initiative enhances employee engagement, motivating and inspiring partners to perform their jobs well and remain with the organization long-term.

Salesforce: Creating a framework for employee-company alignment

The V2MOM framework by Salesforce, developed by Marc Benioff, is designed to create alignment within a company by focusing on five key elements:

• Vision (what you want to achieve)
• Values (what’s important to you)
• Methods (how you get it)
• Obstacles (what’s preventing success)
• Measures (how you know you have it)

This process helps in prioritizing, adapting, and maintaining a cohesive direction. It encourages continuous dialogue, transparency, and updates, fostering a dynamic and collaborative environment. Each employee and department creates their own V2MOM, aligning individual goals with the company’s objectives.

Salesforce realized that traditional management tools were inadequate in today’s dynamic environment, where continuous adaptation is essential. Organizations that fail to evolve face long-term challenges, and outdated methods do not promote ongoing change.

In contrast, the V2MOM framework fosters meaningful dialogue and informs decision-making throughout the year. It encourages employees to continuously discuss their priorities with their managers, ensuring alignment and adaptability.

Zappos: Life coaching programs and achievements celebrations

Zappos incorporates life coaching programs and achievement celebrations into its employee performance reviews to foster a positive and supportive work environment.

The life coaching program offers employees personalized guidance, helping them set and achieve personal and professional goals. These sessions are designed to enhance employee well-being and development, contributing to their overall job satisfaction and productivity.

Achievement celebrations at Zappos are another key element. They recognize and reward employees for their accomplishments and contributions. This practice boosts morale and encourages continuous improvement and engagement within the team.

By celebrating successes, Zappos creates a culture of appreciation and motivation, positively impacting employee retention and company performance.

Google: 16+ Employee resource group

The Google Employee Resource Groups (ERG) provide a platform for employees from diverse backgrounds to connect, share experiences, and support each other.

There are 16+ ERGs at Google, with 52 countries represented.

The Women@Google ERG, for instance, focuses on the advancement and empowerment of women at Google, while the Google Veterans Network supports veterans and active military personnel working at Google.

The Greyglers ERG creates a community for older googlers. They advocate for “age positive policy change within Google, promote awareness of age diversity and issues related to age, and support transitions throughout Googler careers, so that Google remains a workplace that works for everyone.”

Buffer: Team building events for engaging remote workers

Buffer engages its remote workers through regular team retreats. These retreats, held in various global locations, combine work and leisure to foster team bonding, collaboration, and cultural exchange. Each retreat typically includes a week of co-working, team-building activities, and personal storytelling sessions.

The retreats have evolved to become more inclusive, accommodating families and diverse needs. Buffer aims to continue adapting its retreat strategy as the team grows, ensuring it remains a valuable and enriching experience for all participants.

Buffer’s team retreats typically begin with arrivals on Sunday or Monday, with an option for some teammates to arrive on Saturday to adjust to time zone changes. Throughout the week, the team collaborates from 9 AM to 5 PM in a shared workspace, fostering both productivity and camaraderie.

Alongside work, the retreats include shared meals and selected group activities, providing ample opportunities for team bonding. Workers also get timeconnecting with family back home, ensuring a balanced and enjoyable retreat experience for everyone involved.

Build an engaged organization with Deel

At Deel, we provide all the tools to track your workforce's enagement and integrate engagement strategies into your organization. Our offerings include:

• Deel’s Pulse Surveys plugin is designed to help companies gauge worker sentiment and gather feedback efficiently
• Connections help foster stronger relationships and improve communication within teams, particularly those that are remote or distributed
• Learning management and development solutions are designed to promote continuous learning
• Development plans provide a clear path for career progression, helping your people understand the and experiences needed to advance in your organization
• Feedback systems can be tailored to competencies, culture, and teamwork
• Deel HR, our truly global HRIS solution, is always included for free

Book a demo today to see how our solutions will help you build a high-engagement workforce.