You’ve Got £100K to Engage Your Employees. How Do You Spend It?

We asked people leaders at Wuffes, parcelLab, and Astrid & Miyu: If you were given £100K towards engaging your employees, how would you spend it?

Budgets for engagement are often tight, and it can be challenging to stretch them across all the initiatives you’d like to do. In fact, the median HR functional spend is just 0.80% of company revenue. A tiny fraction when you consider how much people drive performance. Imagine then, if you were suddenly given an extra £100K bonus from your CEO to spend on your team. Of course, the impact would depend on the size of your company and team – but for now, let’s treat it as a bit of hypothetical fun.

While we all know large budgets are hard to come by, dreaming big is a great way to open up your mind. It lets you step outside the usual constraints and imagine what would really move the needle for your team.

We took this hypothetical £100k to three brilliant people leaders at Wuffes, parcelLab and Astrid & Miyu, to see what employee engagement dreams they would bring to life. Here’s what they said:

Wuffes

If I was given 100k to spend on engagement, I’d invest in 4 areas:

Performance & Development – Investing in an online platform with clear frameworks to embed goal-setting, career planning, and 360° feedback into our day-to-day. Goals linking to both what we deliver and how we deliver it, staying true to our values. Alongside this, I’d invest in targeted learning opportunities, from new skills to external qualifications, so every Pack member can keep growing, no matter where in the world they are.

Leadership Coaching – Invest in coaching for Senior Pack Leaders to strengthen trust, align leadership styles, and lead the Pack forward together. Through 1:1 sessions, workshops and time together, we’d sharpen how we guide, communicate and inspire.

Mini-Retreats – Host small, purposeful get-togethers to connect, collaborate and celebrate, keeping Pack bonds strong and our culture thriving while working remotely.

A Big Global Retreat – I would love to bring the whole Pack together to celebrate an incredible five years of Wuffes, recognise contributions and reconnect with our mission and values, leaving the pack energised for the future ahead

Amy Walker Ditrector of People and Culture Wuffes

parcelLab

With £100K to boost employee engagement, I’d focus on meaningful, lasting impact.

First, I’d allocate £30K to personalised learning and development programmes—courses, coaching, and mentorships—to fuel growth and retention. £20K would go toward team experiences, including quarterly off-sites, run clubs, and creative workshops to strengthen connection and culture.

I’d invest £15K in enhancing onboarding and recognition programmes to ensure every employee feels seen from day one. Another £15K would support ESG-driven initiatives like volunteer days and sustainability projects, aligning engagement with purpose.

Lastly, I’d reserve £20K for a flexible culture fund—empowering employees to pitch and lead their own engagement ideas, from hackathons to wellness events.

This mix of structured investment and employee-driven input ensures relevance, inclusivity, and real impact.

Astrid & Miyu

I’d spend it helping our people feel more connected to themselves, each other, and our shared mission and values. Split between amplifying frontline voices, investing in training and wellbeing, and creating values-led moments that reconnect our team with their ‘why’. I’m imagining things like:

The MI&YU Fund (get it?) – a playful but powerful wellbeing and connection pot. Teams could use it to fund wellness activities, support their communities, or create moments of collective connection and growth – both personal and professional.

An Annual Retail Leaders Event – a day designed to immerse our store teams in the future of experiential retail. Inspiration, innovation, connection, and a deserved celebration!

A Global Exchange Program – An opportunity to experience different cities and cultures. It’s a powerful way to spark curiosity and strengthen our community.

I believe that true engagement comes from purpose not perks, and supporting our team to grow, explore and connect with their ‘why’, that’s where the magic happens!

A huge shoutout to Amy, Charlotte, and Jade for diving into our £100K thought experiment with such energy and insight. It’s clear that when it comes to engaging employees, imagination and intention go a long way.

Of course, most companies don’t have that kind of money lying around, but that’s not the point. Thinking big is a powerful way to zoom out and see what really matters when engaging our teams. You don’t need a massive budget to start making moves! You just need intention, creativity, and a willingness to try something new.

So whether you’ve got £100K or £100, there’s always something you can do. Start where you are, use what you have, and let these ideas guide you toward stronger, happier teams.