Chilly mornings, crisp air, and the scent of pumpkin spice and apple cider—fall is underway, making it the perfect time to celebrate the season with your coworkers. Research shows that October often sees an uptick in employee engagement, likely due to stabilized routines, fewer personal distractions, and a desire to finish out Q4 on a high note before the holidays begin. Organizations can reward and encourage this increased attention by offering fun fall-themed employee engagement activities that build camaraderie and improve workplace culture.
For hybrid or remote teams, investing in engagement is especially important. With a little creativity, you can adapt many activities so everyone can participate, no matter where they’re working.
Here’s our list of fall employee engagement activities for hybrid and remote teams:
Pumpkin Decorating Contest
Whether painted or carved, miniature or giant, your employees can have a whole lot of fun flexing their creative muscles with a pumpkin decorating contest! Remote employees can send photos of their creations, or you can even use an app or website for virtual pumpkin art.
Halloween Costume Contest
Ghouls, ghosts, and goblins—oh my! Spread a little spooky spirit with a Halloween costume competition! Vote on categories like funniest, scariest, best group, or most original. Participants can strut their stuff in the office or join a virtual meeting in costume for an added spooky bonus.
LCS’ annual Halloween costume contest is a great example of how seasonal spirit in the office can look!
Employee Appreciation Activity
Get into the Thanksgiving spirit by encouraging your team to show their gratitude with an employee appreciation activity. Whether through physical thank-you cards or digital recognition platforms like Reward Gateway, letting employees show their appreciation for one another, no matter where they work, is sure to spread the feel-good vibes.
Desk Decorating Contest
Let your employees showcase their workspace creativity with a fall-themed desk decorating contest! Remote employees can send photos of their WFH setup, while in-office or hybrid teams can work together or individually to deck the halls with colorful leaves, spiderwebs, and other fall or Halloween décor. Use judges or company-wide voting to pick the winner.
Trivia
Who played Freddy Krueger in A Nightmare on Elm Street? How old is apple cider? Test your team’s fall or Halloween knowledge with themed trivia games using Kahoot or similar platforms. Whether competing on a team or individually, the competition is sure to be fierce.
Book Club
Give the bookworms on your team something to talk about with a fall-themed book club. Assign a festive book—like a Stephen King novel, cozy romance, or chilling thriller—and set aside a meeting time to discuss it together.
Movie Night
Using a streaming platform like Teleparty or Hyperbeam to invite your remote and hybrid teams to a virtual movie night! Let employees vote on the film to watch and create a dedicated chat for real-time discussion during the movie for even more connection. All they need to bring is popcorn!
Fall Recipe Exchange
Give your employees something new to try for the upcoming holiday season and host a fall recipe exchange! Create a dedicated group chat to discuss favorite recipes or have your team send in their top dishes to compile into a virtual recipe book. Because who doesn’t love food?
Volunteer Event
As Thanksgiving approaches, tap into the giving spirit and host a volunteer or charity event. 71% of employees say it’s important to work for a company that supports giving or volunteering, and it’s easy to host a charity event that even remote and hybrid employees can participate in. You can also have donation drives for items like school supplies, food, clothing, or household goods to support families in need.
Virtual Game Night
Whether competitive or collaborative, games can bring your employees together no matter where they are. Host a virtual game night—you can go spooky with a Halloween-themed murder mystery, escape room, or games like Jackbox or Kahoot. All you need is a smartphone to join the fun.
Celebrating the Fall Season with Employee Engagement
At LCS, we know a thing or two about employee engagement. Year-round, our events team organizes a variety of activities that get our team involved, excited, and connected. And the awards speak for themselves—we’ve been voted a Top Workplace in Cincinnati since 2012.
