Continuing our series on building employee engagement and satisfaction, I would to suggest that employers start pulling their focus away from offering “things” and start finding ways to offer experiences.

With a little bit of thought and effort, an employer can provide an experience that will have a huge impact on how connected one feels to their employer and will enhance employee engagement.

For example, one of our “Best Places to Work” winners used to have a very nice and elaborate holiday party. While the party was a fun experience, it was very predictable and more of a “thing” than a unique memorable experience.

So, one year the company cancelled the holiday party and decided on another approach. Just before Thanksgiving, the company gave each employee a gift card to the local grocery store to be used for holiday food. Very nice, right? However, the company also gave each employee $50 in cash and said, “Go out into the community and do something nice for someone.”

There were no rules and the employees could do anything they wanted with the $50 as long as it helped someone else. The only requirement was that they had to be prepared to tell the company what they did with the $50 when the company got together for the holiday “Pot Luck” lunch they were going to have (in place of the holiday party).

As you can probably imagine, the stories and “experiences” people relayed about what they did with their $50 were amazing. Many were brought to tears and all felt a real sense of pride and belonging. This was not only a great experience for each individual employee, but also a great experience for the company as a whole.

Another example of giving an “experience” is the “watch” story. In many companies, you get a watch on a significant anniversary (10, 15, 20 years of service). For many, you would come to work on your anniversary and find the box on your desk. It’s a very nice gesture, for sure. The watch is a “thing” sitting on a desk, however the act of giving an employee a watch could be made into an unforgettable experience.

Instead of sitting the watch on the employee’s desk, the watch can have much more of an impact if it were hand delivered by the CEO with a verbal message. For example, “Sally, you have given a significant part of your life contributing to the success of this organization. We appreciate all you have sacrificed and we want you to know what you have meant to this organization. Every time you check the time on this watch, I want you to be reminded about how much you mean to me and this organization.” Wow. That watch is worth so much more now to that employee.

The experiences you create for your employees can make a huge difference. As you move forward in your quest to improve employee engagement, look for ways that you can create a memorable experience that is different than what you have always done or converts a nice gift into something that will be remembered forever. Not only will providing experiences excite your employees, but it could bring those employees closer to you as an employer.