ENGAGING EMPLOYEES THROUGH VIRTUAL EVENTS

By Stephanie Mangrich, Events Coordinator, VGM Group, Inc. \

Large employee engagement events and fun gatherings have always been a part of what makes VGM such a great place to work. When COVID-19 began, we all started working from home, and restrictions were given regarding large group gatherings/events. I wondered how we would continue to show employee appreciation and have fun at work. Fortunately, with all the technology we have available, virtual events have become a reality for the employees at VGM.

Answering Employee Questions

During this time, there are obviously a lot of questions from our employees. When will we be able to go back to the office? Is our company going to be okay? These questions (and countless others) could be answered and explained by our senior leaders, so we created virtual events where employees could get answers directly from our senior leaders.

[ Virtual events are a great way to network with other employees and stay connected with what is going on in the company. ]

Employees are invited to sign up for afternoon calls with our CEO Mike Mallaro to ask questions and get updates about the state of our company. We also have another set of events—Coffee & Cocktails—where employees can sign up for calls with other senior leaders, either in the morning hours for coffee or the afternoon for cocktails. We have gotten great feedback both from senior leadership and the employees who attended the events. It’s a great way to network with other employees and stay connected with what is going on with our company and other employees.

[ Our Employee Owners’ Annual Update actually saw an increase in attendance when it was moved online. ]

Family Fun

Fun for our employees and their families outside of work hours is a big part of VGM’s culture, and we wanted to maintain that as much as possible. We still held our Employee Owners’ Annual Update on May 5. The event is usually hosted at Gallagher Bluedorn in Cedar Falls, Iowa, with around 350-400 in attendance (including spouses). It’s an event full of important information—and fun—for our employees and their families. Since we were not able to hold this event live, we turned it into a successful virtual event.

We were able to create video recordings of our speakers and put them together into a one-hour video that was broadcasted to our employees and their families at home. The presentation included live elements such as company trivia and comments section, and we even hosted a “pre-party” in our internal Facebook page ahead of time (since we usually have a cocktail hour before the live event). Our ESOP Communications Committee members asked engaging questions to our employees, and we had nearly 500 comments and almost 1500 “likes”/ reactions to the posts during the “pre-party.” For the main presentation, 428 individuals logged in to watch and participate (that does not include the spouses/ family that also viewed), so we saw a jump in our attendance and participation for this event since it was turned virtual.

[ Virtual events can engage ALL employees, not just the ones who traditionally work out of the main office. }

Another benefit to the event going virtual was that we were able to include ALL employees. Not all employees are local (Waterloo, Iowa) anymore. So, to be able to turn this into a virtual event was great because all employees, no matter where they live, could participate.

[ Create an employee-only Facebook page where you can share company information and engage with your employees. ]

Some other family fun events for our employees include a virtual cooking competition, TikTok/video competition, and hiring a band to do a Facebook Live concert. We’ve also increased the engagement and activity in our internal Facebook page, asking employees to share pictures of their pets (#officepets), their family movie nights (#vgmmovienight), and their at-home gardens (#vgmgarden).

Engaging Employees

We’ve still been able to keep our employees engaged and updated during this virtual time with Facebook page communication, video calls, instant messaging, and emails. We’ve even seen an increase in participation since we are all at home. While we still have great attendance at our in-person events, we have a large amount who cannot attend due to the distance or personal schedules (kids, activities, etc.). We are thankful we have been able to continue making fun events part of VGM during this time. Even after everyone is back at work, we will continue to host some virtual events and look into virtual options. That way, we can continue to engage ALL our employees in the VGM family.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stephanie Mangrich is an Events Coordinator for VGM Group, Inc. Her position includes planning, coordinating, and executing monthly events for employees. She also coordinates VGM customer events and manages the VGM Farm. Prior to her current position, Stephanie was associate director of training and employee development for VGM HOMELINK. Originally from Dysart, Iowa, Stephanie currently lives in Cedar Falls where she enjoys spending time with her family, friends, and golden retriever, Ruby. Connect with Stephanie via email at Stephanie.Mangrich@vgm.com or follow her on LinkedIn.