Content Ideas to Keep Your Employees Engaged for 52 Weeks

Content Strategy

By Martta Rabago

Last updated August 29, 2021

Internal communications can sometimes be a challenge, especially when your company has remote teams. It involves planning and managing an editorial calendar to keep engaging content ideas front and center. But with the right information and incentives, you can make a successful employee engagement program. For Intranets, content is everything! In Simpplr’s Intranet Content Blog Series, we focus on practical content and fun ideas that your organization can use to keep team members returning to your Intranet all year round!

We have designed a unique calendar that you can begin at any time of year. Just pick a week and jump in. Learn how to engage employees with ideas that motivate team members to participate in employee-centric fun activities which help build company culture, aid in employee engagement, and produce employee retention. It begins with choosing a week, providing some structure, and a spark of inspiration for this engagement to ignite the employee experience.

Here are tips to get started:

Always get governance committee buy-in. It is necessary and effective to ensure everyone is on board.
Spread the good news about the program. Before launching, you want to pique people’s interest and get them excited. An excellent place to start is at a company meeting. Also, consider company newsletters and emails to help people understand the details around the program and where to find the content. Once you get some momentum, it will take on a life of its own.
Offer incentives, such as prizes. People become attracted when there is a prize involved. They are an entertaining way to promote engagement. Congratulating and publishing winners helps drive more attention towards the program.
Get all employees involved! Have employees vote on submissions through polling capabilities or the simple “Like” button. Also, ask them for ideas that they may want to participate in.
A little team competition. We know that team building can be a complex lift. Add a bit of competition to the mix, and you have the building block for collaborative fun.
Publish all forms of Media. Posting photos and announcements will create an allurement for participants—the more interactive and media-rich the content, the better.
Give your initiative a name. Catchy titles, such as “Company cook-offs” or “Chair Charades,” helps make contests memorable and builds camaraderie.
Plan out the whole year and provide a monthly preview to employees. Devise themes around games to keep the momentum going.

Engaging Intranet content ideas for every week!

Planning out your program may take some time, but the result is worth it. Remember, not every challenge or fun game has to be over the top. What you are looking for are participation and engagement. So, here’s a list of 52 Intranet content ideas we’ve compiled for you to use throughout the year.

Weeks 1-4: New Beginnings!

If you are starting your initiative in January, consider a theme of resolutions and new beginnings. You can even switch the theme to January Resolutions in July.

Share your New Year’s resolutions: Putting your resolutions can help promote accountability and encourage new habits.
Healthy Habits: Encourage people to post their new exercise regimens or a recently purchased exercise machine. It’s a perfect way to allow people to show their progress in their health.
Introduce a Club Page for Exercise: Introduce an Intranet homepage for a new hobby or exercise club. Many companies have Pelaton clubs where members share their results. You can turn the clubs into a year-round activity.
Healthy-Me: This idea is centered on challenges. Some of our favorite co-workers carry the burden of chronic illness. It takes a brave person to share their difficulties. Put a page together that helps the community encourage one another as they battle their way to wellness.

Weeks 5-8: If this content plan falls in February, celebrate love in all forms.

A Picture of Us: Encourage employees to share wedding and anniversary photos or even a picture of your first date.
Who has been attached the longest? Celebrate the length of loyalty and commitment of employees and significant others. Send a care package or a bottle of wine to the top couples who have been together the longest.
How did you meet? Every couple has a story. Where and how did your story begin? Share your story and vote for the most romantic.
A Time for Romance: What is your favorite romantic place to visit and why? If you have been there, send a pic of you and your partner in that place.

If this initiative falls in March, this is a time when organizations need more volunteers. Many people want to help but don’t know where to go. Others want to rally their cause.

Volunteer together: Organize a yearly in-person event such as working at a soup kitchen or food pantry. Make T-shirts to commemorate the event for those who shared their time and talent.
Share your knowledge: Invite an internal knowledge share week. Invite co-workers from other teams or organizations to exchange their job descriptions, role responsibilities, challenges, and victories. By understanding one another’s jobs better, you encourage cross-functionality while improving communication skills across the organization.
Sponsor a family/classroom/organization: Everyone waits until the holiday season to support those in need. Consider choosing a family, a local agency, or a charitable organization to support. There are even classrooms and schools that need supplies. Place them and the description of their needs on your company’s Intranet with links to a funding page or an online wishlist at Amazon. Turn it into a competition of whose team or organization can raise the most money for those in need.
Catch them doing good: If an employee or a team are super-volunteers, spend a small amount of time giving employee recognition celebrating their time-sharing abilities. Also, help promote charities that employees spend their time, talent, and money to support.

Weeks 13-16: Laughter is the Best Medicine-Humor and Jokes

If this phase falls in April, take advantage of April Fools Day, but you don’t want to encourage pranks that might be risky. So, share some fun, humor, and jokes that will lighten the office mood.

Dad Jokes: Everyone likes a good “dad” joke. Tell your favorite dad joke, and then vote which one is the funniest.
Favorite Funny Meme: Everyone has a favorite funny meme. You can share your own or send one that represents your team’s behavior or current mood.
A Video Clip of the Best Comedian: Share a video of the best or your favorite comedian. Keep it safe for work!
Funniest True Tales: Do you have a family story or an amusing tale that happened to you that is too good to be true? Share it and vote on the best one.

Weeks 17-20: Show off your pet!

If this lands in May, it just so happens that May is National Pet Month. And you know there’s nothing else pet owners would rather talk about than their fur baby.

Cutest pet photos: Employees submit their cutest photos of their pets—any kind of pet—from a Sugerglider to a Yorkie and even a Ball python.
Pet’s worst behavior: Do you have pictures or stories of your pet’s worst behavior? A recent craze is shaming your pet pictures with signs around the dog or cat’s neck of what they did wrong. Give out awards, like a gift card, for the craziest pet story.
Training Tips that worked: Consider starting a page where employees can trade advice, share tips, and even give you the name of the best emergency vet in the area. You would be amazed at how many pet owners need a community page just like this.
Bring Your Pet to Work Day: One of the perks of being a remote employee is the time you get to spend with family, including your beloved pet. Sometimes, these fur babies show up on Zoom calls and meetings. If your company has a hybrid or an in-person work environment, why not have a “Bring Your Pet to Work Day?” It can be an insight into a co-worker you never knew.

Weeks 21-24: It’s all fun and games

Are you ready to bring your team participation to the next level and have a lot of fun? This week is all about office games, and we don’t mean politics. When employees are collaborative in games, they amplify their teamwork. They prove they are problems solvers in both large, small groups and individual contributors.

Two truths and a lie: this is a great ice breaker game, anytime, anywhere. If you want, you can play it all week or just during a meeting. You can even play a quick game when introducing new employees. Everyone goes around the table or Zoom call and introduces themselves with two truths and one lie. It is an excellent way to present techniques in reading body language and discerning the truth.
Board Games: there are numerous board games, like Bingo with a template found online or something more complex like Monopoly that can be played in-person or via video conferencing platforms. Pictionary can be played on a whiteboard. BingoYou can also host a round-robin tournament with different teams playing each day or week. Some websites sponsor online games. A great Smithsonian article gives some valuable information on this subject.
Offsite Games: a favorite teambuilding activity is an escape room. By combining problem-solving and brainstorming over clues, the winning team escapes the room and out to freedom. Another fun team building activity is a hosted murder mystery. The first person or entire team to figure out who the murderer is wins. Think about a prize beyond bragging rights.
Trivia: Trivia is a fantastic game that can be played in the conference room, used as icebreaker questions, post them in emails and on Slack. You can involve the individual, teams and especially have fun with remote workers. The whole purpose is to answer questions about little-known facts or subjects. Winners can be posted on your company’s Intranet with a devised leader board.

Weeks 25-28: Company cook-offs, picnics, and Happy Hours

Food is something that brings people together and the best out of gathering. In the work environment, food can also bring about team bonding. People can cook, post, encourage people to come by their desks to share food, and even swap recipes. Or you can formalize company events around sharing cocktails or a beer.

Favorite Recipes/Cook-off: Employees can share their favorite recipes along with pictures of the finished product. If your office is in person, consider a pot-luck or a friendly competition of a cook-off. Who makes the best chili, salsa, or spaghetti sauce? Employees can vote via Slack. Be sure to give awards to the winners and post the pictures and recipes afterward.
Organize a Company/Office Picnic: It’s a great time to celebrate a wonderful work environment. Even if you can’t go outside and cook out, bring the BBQ inside with a catered meal for your local office. Have everyone dress appropriately in flip-flops or country ware.
Post Your Picnic Pic: If you had an office BBQ, treat it as a family gathering by sharing pictures on the company Intranet. Try to catch someone in a great pose.
Online lunches or cocktail hours: Not all activities have to be structured for your employees. Sometimes just a scheduled lunch or happy hour, helps people, especially new employees, socialize online or in-person. If virtual, let them order a delivered lunch and expense it. Eat and have an easy chat while sharing a meal. No agendas. No shop talk. Just fun and laughter.

Weeks 29-32: Epic vacation videos, photos, trips, and tips

By the end of summer, many of us are physically back in the office but mentally still thinking about our vacation. Get everyone to share their vacations and make other employees jealous. No trips this year? What about a virtual vacation?

Bucket List/Your favorite places to visit: Have employees post their Bucket List places to visit. No Bucket List? Encourage employees to share their favorite places in the world to see.
Insider tips for the best trips: You may find out that some teammates are professional travelers. During this week, invite employees to give insider tips of the “best of” places to visit in countries and cities around the world. For example, the best place to have ice cream in London is Milk Train, the best cannoli in Boston is found at Mike’s Pastry in the north end across from the Old North Church, or the best Roman-Italian food in San Francisco is Ideale on Grant.
An international scavenger hunt: This event can be an online virtual event with a hired host who knows everything about a foreign city. Part-scavenger hunt, with trivia questions, and it’s all fun. It’s a great way to find out little-known facts about interesting places. It is the best of virtual travel, even in a pandemic. Organize in groups. The first team to get all the trivia questions or find all the items on the scavenger list wins a prize.
Post Vacation videos and photos: Everyone likes to share travel photos and videos. Thanks to Go-Pros, you can even take video underwater. Put submitted pics and videos online for everyone to see. If you didn’t travel and you have a sense of humor, make the most imaginative pseudo-travel photos with a green screen, some stock photos, and the perfect travel clothes. It’s one person‘s fun way to stay involved in company team building.

Weeks 33-36: Celebrate kids or being one

You let the pet people have their time earlier in the year. Now you can encourage people to post and celebrate their kids! This is a great experience during back-to-school time.

Back to school tips: Whether it’s their first day of kindergarten, or you are transitioning your teen off to college, everyone with kids can use a bit of help with hacks and tips.
College Days: Share a college photo of yourself and your favorite memory of that time. Who knows, you may find a colleague who either attended your alma mater or is from a rival school. Play it up by decorating your office space or cubicle with school colors on game days.
Funny Kids Stories: Has your child said the right thing at the wrong time? Don’t be afraid to share that story. Maybe make it an icebreaker at an informal meeting: “What is your favorite story about your child or from when you were one.” Vote to see which story is the best and publish it online.
Bring Your Kid to Work: Organize a day where kids can visit in-person or virtually to see co-workers and your work environment. Don’t have a kid? Think about starting a knowledge share program through a local high school for students who want to get into your industry. Spend a few hours explaining your job and what you did to get into your position.

Week 37-40: Spooky Halloween Tales and Photos

This initiative is one of the easiest to pull off. People are already dressing up and showing off their best costumes. Take advantage of this time of year and use this content idea to drive Intranet traffic.

Favorite spooky story: Real or made up, movie or book, get people to share what makes them afraid. Perhaps you can have a story writing contest?
Believe in paranormal? Yes, ghosts are real or no, a total fraud. Design a poll and find out how everyone feels about this. Tie it into your favorite spooky story from the week before.
Halloween Photos: Halloween is a US holiday, but it is gaining ground around the world. While you can’t always trick-or-treat in the board room, you can share pictures of your costumes from Halloween celebrations past and present. Prizes can go to the most creative, scariest, and best all-around costumes.
Werewolf Game: This team building game can be played virtually in a Google hangout room or on Zoom. It is a game of strategy using your skills of wits, manipulation, and deceit. You just need to survive the determined night period with careful listening and speaking abilities. Voting determines who is the real werewolf.

Weeks 41-44: Celebrate Your Culture

Helping employees connect is the entire purpose behind these activities. Letting them know that their work environment is diverse and inclusive aids in feeling a valued part of the larger organization.

There is no place like home: Where is your home town? Use your company Intranet to promote hometown pride. Could you generate an interactive map to show people where employees are from? If in-person, place a map in the office with pins to put in their hometown.
Music and Dance: One of the best all-hands meetings ever experienced involved a talent show with karaoke and dance. But it wasn’t just any song and dance. Employees played music from the Punjab region of India and danced the bhangra. Others mustered the strength to sing in their native language or just to sing at all. Sharing music and dance doesn’t have to be in a large group. It can be virtually or on video.
Share an ethnic meal: During this week, co-workers can bring in food reflecting the day’s food choice (e.g., Chinese, Mexican, or Japanese). Employees can provide the food, consider catering it in or meet after work. Trying various foreign foods is an excellent bonding experience.
Establish a culturally diverse online bulletin board: Providing a place on your company’s Intranet to celebrate diversity is a step towards education and inclusivity. By sharing different values, ideas, and geographic/ethnic/racial cultural practices, you build opportunities for open discussions and understanding.

Weeks 45-48:Celebrating sacrifice and surviving.

Think about all the co-workers that have experienced loss, the trial of fighting for their health, and the sacrifice of being a military family. Bringing employees together is not only about laughter and fun, it is being there for each other through difficult times. Spend a week celebrating these events.

Surviving Cancer: This battle truly deserves a whole month. But celebrate the hard-fought battle to overcome this disease. Perhaps do this phase in June, which is Cancer Survivor month. Rally a group of team members to walk for breast cancer awareness or raise funds for lymphoma and leukemia. Put the pictures of cancer survivors, whether employees or family members, upon a company Intranet or virtual bulletin board.
Blue Star Families: One of the hardest things a family can go through is deploying a son, daughter, or loved one, especially into a war zone. Support can come from within the office from encouraging messages, displaying pictures of soldiers, and celebrating homecomings on a webpage on your company Intranet.
Veteran’s Valor: Supporting returning veterans and the service they provided is an honor that everyone can participate in. Around Veteran’s Day in November, support your veterans and acknowledge their service through attention, photos, and care packages.
Loss of a loved one: Going through grief and loss is difficult for everyone. Post in company announcements the ways you can help support employees and their families during difficult times. Even those in remote work, deserve comfort and care. Sending sympathy cards online, flowers and electronic gift cards to help with unexpected expenses is another form of team building.

Weeks 49-52: Looking back, what are you most proud of accomplishing?

Celebrate personal milestones with everyone. Weddings, the arrival of a baby or new pet, should be announced and celebrated with everyone. Take time to celebrate these milestones together and helps people feel valued. You can gather everyone on a Zoom call to see the new baby or wish people well.

Personal health victories: Remember those New Year’s resolutions or those new exercise routines? How did your employees or teams fair? Celebrate the accomplishment of weight loss or better health. If it was a competition, award and announce the winners.
Intention Boards: Some companies encourage team members to set yearly and quarterly goals outside the professional realm. You can post them outside your cubicle or office. Why not put it in a special place on your Intranet. Organize a forum around it. If you know of people who reached their goals, such a buying their first house or starting a family, celebrate their accomplishment.
Team wins: When groups and organizations meet their metrics or Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), they deserve recognition. These are wins that are about shared responsibilities and teamwork. Let the whole company know about these types of wins.
Promotions and new team members: Success for all means celebrating the individual, even new employees. Send flowers, company swag, and gift baskets by delivery.

It’s about engaging and connecting with your co-workers.

Want to swap some content ideas out? Try an office workspace decoration competition, a skills exchange program, gardening tips, an ugly sweater competition, or an outright fitness challenge. The ideas are endless. The critical thing is to put some structure to your Intranet content planning and use your Intranet for its true purpose: connecting your co-workers.