Our coworkers are part of our lives 40 hours a week. Getting to know them as people can help build a positive workplace and increase team member engagement. Social interaction is a strong way to get to know each other and foster a collaborative and authentic workplace culture.
F&G is continuing to grow, and many new hires may not otherwise have opportunities to interact with team members across the company. This is why the Social Committee, led by F&G team members, provides opportunities for people to meet and engage with others from other departments.
How do we promote team engagement?
In a pre-pandemic world, the Social Committee hosted in-person events — like coffee and smoothie bars, a pumpkin decorating contest, the annual holiday party and more. Like all things, the pandemic brought a new challenge for the Social Committee: promoting virtual team engagement in a way that felt just as authentic as in-person events.
In early 2020, team members created a private social media group to interact and engage with one another virtually. It evolved into a space to share about our personal lives: first day of school photos, marriages, new additions to the family and much more. It also quickly became a useful platform for the Social Committee to host virtual events and activities.
For example, the Social Committee hosts week-long challenges in the group, and these include activities like sharing photos of families building forts or creating motivational chalk art. They’ve also hosted virtual minute-to-win-it contests in both the social media group and video chats.
These activities have allowed team members to see each other in a more human setting and gave them a chance to showcase their creativity in ways that may have otherwise gone unnoticed.
The Social Committee also sends out gifts to recognize and thank our team members for all they do for F&G. These gifts include things like an annual holiday gift, just-because gifts in the summer and more. The four pints of ice cream representing our four core values were a big hit!
This approach to virtual team engagement has been fun and successful with a high level of involvement across the company.
Why F&G values our engagement committees
F&G has been named an Iowa Top Workplace several years in a row, and we owe that recognition to our team members. They’re the ones who make F&G a great place to work, and that helps create an engaging environment.
The Social Committee is one of the many committees at F&G that help facilitate this healthy and positive workplace culture.
Learn about F&G’s culture and each of the committees that help engage our team members across the company.
