February 2022 - Employee Engagement Calendar
February 2, 2022by Molly Johnston in Workplace Wellbeing
Important dates and employee engagement ideas for the month of February.
Black History Month
February is Black History Month - a time to honour the accomplishments of Black people throughout history and celebrate and acknowledge the contributions from the Black community today. At work, recognizing and celebrating employees' racial, ethnic and cultural backgrounds can be effective in building psychological safety and employee engagement.
Engagement Ideas
- Share educational resources and start a conversation
- Support Black-owned business - investing your money in small black-owned business is a positive form of economic empowerment. Share a list of local black-owned businesses in your community and encourage your employees to check them out!
- Organize a book club or recommended reading list - reading books by Black authors can be a powerful and meaningful way to recognize Black History Month and support Black perspectives.
- Volunteer or donate to a Black-led nonprofit - learn about organizations doing work in your area or check out Campaign Zero, Black Girls Code and SisterLove which are great places to start!
National Get Up Day - February 1st
National Get Up Day was first launched by the US National Skating Team in 2017 to celebrate resiliency, perseverance and passion. It serves as a reminder to recognize that each time we fall, we get back up and try again. While it started with skating, the US National team has since been committed to encouraging everyone, both on and off the rink, to continue getting back up!
Engagement Ideas
- Share your #WeGetUp stories on the website, with co-workers and engage in meaningful conversation about what it means to persevere.
- Go ice skating!
Groundhog Day - February 2nd
On the 2nd of February, everyone in town huddles around small little Phil in hopes of an early spring. Each year, we cross our fingers and cross our toes that our trusty groundhog will pop out and see his shadow plastered on the pavement. What do you think - will Phil see his shadow this year?
Engagement Ideas
- Engage in some friendly team competition! Have everyone place their bets and then watch the livestream of Phil the Groundhog together.
World Cancer Day - February 4th
Cancer is currently the second leading cause of death worldwide and can majorly impact mental health. Patients and their loved ones can start to grieve the loss of their health and the changes that come with a diagnosis. World Cancer Day is an international day to raise awareness of cancer and to encourage its prevention, detection and treatment.
Engagement Ideas
- Follow along with the 21 Days to Impact Challenge to help educate yourself, improve access to cancer services and decrease your risk of cancer one day at a time.
- Share some useful links and resources with your team to encourage them to get involved and learn more.
- Wear red to show your support!
National Send a Card to a Friend Day - February 7th
Everyone loves to feel appreciated - sometimes we forget just how good it feels! National Send a Card to a Friend Day reminds us to spread some kindness and show those we care about how much we truly appreciate them.
Engagement Ideas
- Warm fuzzies! Have everyone send an e-card to a coworker with a little note of genuine appreciation.
- Go analog! Send a physical card with a personal note to give it that extra touch.
National Pizza Day - February 9th
On National. Pizza Day, celebrate one of the world's most beloved and iconic dishes of all time. While you might not be able to get everyone together for a pizza party at the office, there are still fun ways to connect over everyone's favourite kind of pie.
Engagement Ideas
- Host a virtual pizza happy hour! Encourage everyone to order their favourite pizza and schedule a lunch zoom call. You could even have everyone show off their favourite pizzeria by having them change their zoom background.
- Engage your coworkers in some friendly pizza style debate - how do people feel about deep-dish vs. thin crust? White sauce or red? And of course, the most important question of all - does pineapple belong on pizza?
Valentine's Day - February 14th
Valentine's Day is all about spreading love, whether it's to our significant others, our family, friends or even our colleagues. This year especially, make sure to take the opportunity to show how much you appreciate your team and encourage them to spread the love too.
Engagement Ideas
- Create a virtual appreciation board where employees can submit anonymous anecdotes that share gratitude for their coworkers
- Speed Dating - use breakout rooms to pair everyone up, set a timer and then have everyone rotate to a new person every 5 minutes! This is a great way to help people who don't often interact to get to connect.
National Clean Your Computer Day - February 14th
February 14th is a day to show some love to your digital tools too! We spend a significant time on our computers, especially when working from home. When "clutter" builds up, feelings of stress and disorganization can increase along with it. While organizing our digital world can seem intimidating, the benefits are well worth it. By encouraging your team to create more digital space, they'll be less distracted, more productive and have more free time for meaningful tasks.
Engagement Ideas
- Help your team to feel more confident about technology and increase their digital literacy skills by providing them with the proper resources and training. Read more about where to start here.
National Random Acts of Kindness Day - February 17th
Did you know there are scientifically proven benefits of being kind? The positive effects of kindness are experienced in the brain of everyone who witnessed the act, improving their mood and making them significantly more likely to "pay it forward." This Random Acts of Kindness Day, help to make it the norm in your workplace by encouraging random acts of kindness and reap some of those benefits for your team.
Engagement Ideas
- Commit to making kindness the norm by becoming a RAKtivist (Random Acts of Kindness Activist). Having an internal kindness champion can help to boost workplace morale on random acts of kindness day and beyond.
- Write a letter - Encourage your team to take 5 minutes to write a letter or card and mail it to a co-worker or someone who isn't expecting it. More Love Letters is an initiative that selects 5 - 6 individuals who've been nominated by a loved one to receive what they call a "Love Letter Bundle" - a collection of handwritten letters from around the world reminding someone why they matter.
- Remind your employees to be kind to themselves. Encourage them to write a kind message to themselves, or take time to do something that brings them joy.
National Eating Disorders Awareness Week - February 1st - 27th
A healthy workplace maintains an open, respectful and healing environment - one where people feel like they can speak up and ask for help when needed. If an employee or coworker is struggling with an eating disorder, detected or not, it can take a significant toll. Encouraging education and open, supportive dialogue can help to break the shame, stigma and silence that affect those struggling with eating disorders.
Engagement Ideas
- Learn more about eating disorders in the workplace and share helpful resources.
- Provide contact information to relevant support and national helplines.
- #ShowUsYourPurple - encourage your team to wear purple to show their support and help to spread the word on social media. Other hashtags to use: #SeeTheChange, #NEDAwareness, #BeTheChange.
National Rare Disease Day - February 28th
National Rare Disease Day is a day to raise awareness and generate change for the millions of people worldwide living with a rare disease, their families and carers. Encourage your workplace to engage and learn more about how we can all work towards equity in social opportunity, healthcare and make access to diagnosis and therapy a reality for all.
Engagement Ideas
- Meet the Heroes - encourage you r team to read stories from those living with a rare disease.
- Download a zoom background or card
