How to Engage Your GPTW Team

Creating a truly engaging workplace doesn’t happen through surveys alone or once-off initiatives. It happens through people - the individuals helping shape culture, champion employee voice, and drive engagement across the organisation.

One of the biggest mistakes organisations make is treating workplace culture initiatives as administrative rather than influential. The organisations seeing the strongest results in employee retention, high-performing culture, leadership development, and talent attraction are the ones empowering employees to actively influence the employee experience in meaningful ways.

Position Your GPTW Team as Culture Drivers 

Creating a dedicated group of culture champions, engagement leads, or employee advocates can play a major role in strengthening workplace culture across an organisation. Whether formal or informal, these teams help keep employee experience visible, encourage participation, and create stronger connections between employees, leadership, and organisational goals.

The most effective teams do far more than coordinate surveys or organise events. They act as a connection point between employees, leadership, and culture, helping organisations better understand what people actually need to thrive at work. When people understand the impact they can have on shaping workplace culture, engagement naturally becomes stronger.

This becomes especially important in organisations focused on long-term retention and workplace trust. Employees are far more likely to stay when they feel connected to the culture around them and believe their voice genuinely matters.

 Not sure where to start? Why Culture is Key to Retaining Your Talent explores how strong workplace culture directly impacts retention, trust, and long-term employee engagement.

Create Clear Roles and Expectations 

People engage more when they understand exactly where they fit in. Without clarity, enthusiasm fades quickly. But when GPTW teams understand their purpose, responsibilities, and influence, they become far more invested in driving real change across the organisation.

The role works best when it operates on two levels:

• Locally: understanding team experiences, gathering feedback, and identifying opportunities within their own area
• Organisation-wide: supporting wider cultural initiatives and helping bring company values to life across the business

Clear communication also plays a major role in improving participation and trust in feedback processes. Organisations looking to strengthen engagement, workplace culture, and employee experience strategies can also join our upcoming GPTW Insights Forum 2026, where leaders will explore the latest workplace trends, challenges, and culture insights shaping the future of work.

Sign up for the GPTW Insights Forum 2026 👇

Tie Engagement Back to Organisational Goals 

Activities alone don’t create engagement, but purpose does. Recognition moments, celebrations, and initiatives matter - but they become significantly more impactful when employees understand the bigger picture behind them.

Great GPTW teams help employees see how workplace culture connects to:

• Employee wellbeing and retention
• Leadership trust and development
• Organisational growth
• Talent attraction and employer brand
• Day-to-day employee experience

This is where organisations often begin to see real momentum. As highlighted in Why Career Growth Drives Employee Retention, employees are far more engaged when they can clearly see growth, purpose, and progression within their workplace.

Employee wellbeing continues to play a major role in long-term retention, engagement, and performance, with more organisations recognising that support systems, flexibility, and psychological safety are critical drivers of workplace culture. 

Download the Employee Retention & Wellbeing Report 2026👇

Strengthen Engagement Through Consistent Communication 

One of the easiest ways to lose engagement is inconsistent communication. The most effective GPTW teams stay connected through simple, regular touchpoints rather than overcomplicated processes. Quick check-ins, informal conversations, team chats, and short updates help maintain momentum and create space for ongoing collaboration.

These touchpoints help teams:

• Share ideas and successes
• Identify challenges early
• Celebrate progress
• Keep cultural initiatives visible
• Maintain connection across hybrid teams

As workplaces continue to evolve, leaders are placing greater focus on communication, connection, and employee experience to help maintain engagement across teams.

 Read more: The Future of Work: How Irish Leaders Can Elevate Employee Experience 👇

Turn Employee Voice Into Meaningful Action 

Strong workplace cultures are built on listening, not assumptions. Employees don’t always wait for surveys to form opinions about their workplace experience, but they do need opportunities to share feedback openly and honestly. GPTW teams play an important role in creating those opportunities and ensuring employee voice stays visible.

Encourage champions to:

• Actively listen to colleagues
• Understand day-to-day challenges
• Create informal feedback opportunities
• Bring employee insights forward
• Help turn feedback into action

Organisations that listen consistently are far more likely to build trust and improve retention over time. As discussed in Turning Employee Feedback into Action: Lessons from Great Workplaces, employees are significantly more engaged when they can see their feedback leading to meaningful change.

Use Employee Voice to Strengthen Employer Brand  

A highly engaged GPTW team doesn’t just improve internal culture, it strengthens how your organisation is perceived externally too. Employees are often the most credible ambassadors a company has. When people genuinely feel connected to workplace culture, that authenticity naturally carries into recruitment, retention, and employer brand reputation.

Employer branding is no longer just about recruitment marketing, it’s increasingly being shaped by real employee experience, workplace culture, and the stories employees tell about where they work.  The Employer Branding Summit 2025 explored this shift in greater detail, particularly how culture and employee voice are increasingly shaping employer brand perception. 

The organisations standing out most in today’s market are the ones creating cultures employees genuinely want to talk about which help strengthen talent attraction while reinforcing trust internally at the same time.

High-trust cultures continue to outperform when it comes to employee experience, retention, and talent attraction particularly in organisations where leadership, wellbeing, and employee voice remain a clear priority.

Recognising Teams Driving Workplace Culture

Every year, organisations across Ireland are recognised through the Great Place to Work Special Awards for the teams and individuals helping create stronger workplace cultures from within. Among these recognitions is the Great Place to Work Team Award, which celebrates the people driving engagement, championing employee voice, and helping turn feedback into meaningful action across their organisations.

These teams often play an important role in strengthening communication, supporting wellbeing initiatives, improving employee experience, and helping organisations maintain connection and trust as they grow and evolve. Whether through listening initiatives, culture programmes, or day-to-day employee engagement, their work helps bring workplace culture to life in a tangible and consistent way.

Most recently, Laboratory Supplies Ltd T/A Lennox was recognised with the Great Place to Work Team Award for the consistent work their team has done to review employee feedback, identify priorities, and work closely with leadership to turn insight into meaningful action across the organisation.

From introducing wellbeing initiatives and enhanced employee supports to strengthening connection during periods of organisational growth, their work demonstrates the real impact engaged workplace culture teams can have on employee experience, retention, and trust.

More than anything, it demonstrates the impact empowered teams can have when employee feedback is treated as something to act on rather than simply collect.

Explore more insights and Special Awards from Ireland’s Best Workplaces™ 2026  👇

About Great Place to Work®

Great Place to Work® is the global authority on workplace culture. We help organisations quantify their culture and produce better business results by creating a high-trust work experience for all employees. We recognise Great Place to Work-Certified™ companies and the Best Workplaces™ in more than 60 countries. To join the thousands of companies that have committed to building high-trust company cultures that help them attract, retain and take care of their people, contact us about getting Certified today.