These employee engagement ideas and strategies for Q1 2023 will help you increase employee satisfaction and loyalty, improve retention rates and stand out from other employers.

Employee engagement matters more than ever due to its direct connection to profitability. It’s also crucial if you have limited opportunities for hiring new employees due to the current economic recession.

Learn when and how to engage your employees in Q1 2023 so they don’t consider changing jobs!

Download this printable HR Calendar 2023 (employee engagement calendar) to plan HR activities and increase employee happiness throughout the coming year!

HR Calendar 2023: Download Now

Click the links below to go directly to the topic of your interest:

Employee engagement matters more than ever
Employee engagement dates for Q1 2023
Employee engagement strategies, ideas and tips for Q1 2023

Employee engagement matters more than ever

Employee engagement should be a cornerstone of every organization’s strategic planning because of its direct connection to profitability. 

No wonder: it’s expensive for businesses to replace every employee who leaves. Think about the costs of recruiting, interviewing, onboarding, and training new candidates. 

Watch the video below about why employee engagement matters. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITvnYco_J9s

Consider the following stats and facts:

• Almost 7 in every 10 British employees say they feel confident of moving to a new job in the next couple of months. Only 16% of workers feel worried about trying to get a new job (Randstad UK).
• Disengagement among employees costs US businesses around $500 billion annually (Gallup estimates).
• A “non-traditional value proposition” is crucial to keep and attract a new generation of workers. Flexibility, mental well-being, and a strong, meaningful company culture are part of this (McKinsey).
• Improving your retention rates is important, especially in an era when it’s a headache to retain top talent and workers.
• Not all businesses can rely on compensation as a driver of retention (or can’t do it indefinitely).
• Pay isn’t the only reason employees quit. The lack of work-life balance and a poor company culture are also contributing factors.
• Workplaces where workers merely sit at their desks and click their life away are a thing of the past.

Although getting paid on time is the most crucial factor for employees, they also value other forms of compensation and intangibles. 

The reality is that a great and engaging company culture is what employees need during the era of the Great Resignation and quiet quitting as well as the current economic recession.

An engaging culture will make employees more likely to stay in their jobs. As a result, you’ll experience less disruption from recruiting new hires and filling knowledge gaps.

Let’s focus on how you can successfully engage your employees in Q1 2023.

Engage your employees with success in Q1 2023

Celebrating important days and events is a powerful way of boosting employee engagement.

When planning employee engagement activities for 2023, you may want to concentrate most of your efforts at specific times of the year. For example, Q4 in particular is full of special days like Halloween or Christmas.

However, if you want to keep your employees happy throughout the whole year, you need to consistently plan events and activities across 12 months. Let’s start with Q1.

Little actions done regularly can have a disproportionate impact on employee experience. Every month counts and offers opportunities to show your employees that you care.

For every quarter, use an HR Calendar with employment engagement ideas. This will help you plan well, get creative, and have fun along the way.

Employee engagement dates for Q1 2023

Below you’ll find some employee engagement dates and ideas for Q1 2023.

Recognition and honest appreciation never get old. Celebrate your people every day of the year (or whenever you can) and they will celebrate every work anniversary with you!

JANUARY 

• Dry January
• International Creativity Month
• 1 January: New Year’s Day
• 2 January: New Year’s Day (substitute day: Bank Holiday in the UK)
• 4 January: National Trivia Day
• 15 January: Bagel Day; World Religion Day
• 16 January: Blue Monday; Brew Monday
• 19 January: Get to Know Your Customers Day
• 22 February: Chinese New Year
• 24 January: National Compliment Day
• 27 January: National Have Fun at Work Day

FEBRUARY 

• Creative Romance Month
• Ethnic Equality Month
• Human Relations Month
• 2 February: Time to Talk Day
• 4 February: World Cancer Day
• 9 February: Pizza Day
• 13 February: International Epilepsy Day
• 14 February: Valentine’s Day 
• 17 February: Random Act of Kindness Day

MARCH 

• Optimism Month
• Employee Spirit Month
• 1 March: Self-Injury Awareness Day; Zero Discrimination Day
• 3 March: Employee Appreciation Day
• 8 March: International Women’s Day; Holi Festival of Colors
• 12 March: Oscar Academy Awards
• 17 March: St. Patrick’s Day
• 20 March: Spring Equinox, the beginning of spring; International Day of Happiness
• 22 March: The beginning of Ramadan

Do you remember to celebrate feel-good days like Employee Appreciation Day, Fun at Work Day, and lots of other special days? 

HR Calendar 2023 will inspire you with employee engagement ideas you may not have considered. We’ve included a variety of events and plenty of less obvious opportunities so you can choose the ones that fit your organization best and that your employees will simply love.

Employee engagement strategies, ideas and tips for Q1 2023

Celebrating your employees, whether in a physical or virtual setting, is one of the elements within HR that you can control and that can have an enormous impact on employee retention.

Here are 10 employee engagement ideas and strategies for Q1.

1. At the beginning of Q1, make sure you’ve set your goals for 2023 and start planning. To make your goals feel more tangible and achievable, take a quarterly approach. This will help you adjust targets as needed more easily.
2. Kick off your HR Calendar 2023 with a mental health focus. January can be a tough month for employees, especially with long winter nights and Blue Monday round the corner. 
3. Go beyond physical health programs and focus on holistic health. Don’t forget Brew Monday: an event organized by Samaritans that encourages employers and their colleagues to discuss workplace well-being. It’s a good opportunity to broach the often sensitive topic of mental health.
4. Always be there for your employees, not only on special occasions. Let them know that they can get support whenever they need it. Create a safe environment in which they can share their thoughts and feelings.
5. Encourage giving honest feedback and praise, especially (but not only!) on Random Act of Kindness Day. Lead by example and recognize your peers for what you appreciate about them on professional and personal levels.
6. Use days like International Women’s Day to make sure you give women and underrepresented groups a voice in their workplace. Equality, diversity, and inclusion efforts matter.
7. Create a diverse and inclusive work environment. Create a sense of belonging for all employees. According to the McKinsey report, inclusion is closely linked to employee engagement and thus to employee retention, productivity, and financial performance. 
8. Provide opportunities for meaningful contribution. Ask your employees for feedback about how they feel inside and outside of work, either through an anonymous survey or directly in a safe environment. Encourage them to suggest how you can improve their well-being at work.
9. Use automation to support your HR Strategy. Instead of wasting time on manual data entry, repetitive tasks, and outdated processes, make time for enhancing your employees’ lives. Invest in technology that will reduce unnecessary work and will allow you to focus on what really matters: people.
10. This quarter is full of events that can help you boost employee engagement, for example Valentine’s Day, the Chinese New Year, or St Patrick’s Day.

Engage your employees with HR Calendar & Planner

Using the HR calendar will help you keep your employees engaged throughout the year. It will help you make your employees feel appreciated, motivated, loyal and less likely to leave.

Symmetrical’s 2-1 HR Calendar & Planner 2023 includes: 

• Key dates, holidays, meaningful occasions, and other special days for employees and HR professionals
• Key facts about employee engagement and retention (including useful links)
• Calendar pages and notes sections
• Quarterly employee engagement tips and HR & Employer Branding strategy advice
• A handy, printable planner in a user-friendly format

Finally, ready to improve your payroll processes so you can have more time for engaging your employees? Talk to our payroll experts to learn more!

Sources

Gallup: How to Tackle U.S. Employees' Stagnating Engagement
Randstad: The great resignation: 69% of UK workers ready to move job