Intro:
Keeping company employees on the same page requires continuous effort. Since humans are social creatures who need validation, management and executives must find ways to keep them engaged, such as corporate retreats.
Stakeholders benefit from investing in their staff. Some estimates show that corporate retreats cost about $700 per person per night.
Corporate travel managers who nurture vendor and hospitality relationships have a better chance of keeping costs reasonable.
Nonetheless, look at these trips as investments. Changing the scenery for your team can refuel their passion and lead to improved productivity for a few months. The trips also allow them to network, especially with other departments.
We outline seven benefits corporate retreats bring your business.
1. Re-energize Your Team
If your company residesin a sunny location, pick a desirable location for your trip. For example, popular retreat destinations include:
- Las Vegas, Nevada
- Orlando, Florida
- San Diego, California
- Scottsdale, Arizona
Each offers pleasant weather and beautiful scenery. Although the trip is not a vacation, allow your team to experience a mini one.
Most corporate retreats last three nights and four days. The length provides relief from the office and home life and can re-energize staff. Sometimes, employees need a short break.
Sleeping on comfortable hotel beds and eating meals cooked for them can provide the rest they need to hit the ground running again at work.
When planning your next corporate retreat, check on the travel planning services provided by Hotel Engine.
2. Boosts Morale
People feel better about themselves when people feel included in projects, activities, and trips. Higher self-esteem boosts morale – a necessity for every successful company.
Every company retreat needs a purpose. Then, you can establish a plan and incorporate team-building activities into the schedule.
If your team takes a cooking class together or participates in a scavenger hunt, the bonding experience helps boost morale.
3. Allows Bonding
The best employees keep their eyes on the prizes. Thus, they don’t have a lot of free time to socialize with each other, especially outside of their departments.
Corporate retreats encourage bonding. When your team returns to the office, they’ll go back to focusing on their tasks. However, they’ll have bonds with others at the company. Therefore, they might become more considerate of their peers when working together and apart.
The corporate travel manager might not appreciate the budgetary restraints placed on them by the finance department. But they’ll have empathy for the expectations that executives place on them.
4. Discuss Important Topics
Corporate trips provide an excellent environment for discussing important topics with employees, staff, and stakeholders.
Sometimes companies need to pivot. However, severe changes will put team members on edge. Each will want to know how the pivot impacts their job security and salary.
Put them at ease by delivering a thorough presentation at a desirable destination.
5. Provide Training
Ongoing training increases employee retention and job satisfaction. For example, professional organizations and associations hold annual meetings. Members attend them to find out the latest trends in their profession.
It’s also an opportunity to receive continuing education credits and additional training.
During your retreat, hold a few sessions where attendees can receive new training or a refresher. When they return to work, the company reaps the reward for the investment.
6. Encourage Collaboration
No company department is an island. Each works with others. For example, the finance department establishes budgets for marketing, travel, and office supply purchases.
As mentioned earlier, the finance department also places monetary limits company-wide. If a department wants its budget altered, retreats give them the tools to collaborate productively.
Things can quickly become tense when trying to obtain more funding. Collaboration takes the tension out of the picture and inserts a sense of teamwork.
7. Take the Temperature
Management and executives can take the temperature by taking staff out of the office and putting them in a different environment.
Most companies have guiding principles. Sometimes team members go through the motions instead of taking them to heart.
Corporate retreats provide an opportunity to approach the company’s guiding principles in a new way that revitalizes commitment to them by all stakeholders.
Conclusion
Corporate retreats allow stakeholders to break bread together. It’s also a great way to announce new products, services, or company direction. The neutral site can re-energize attendees and recommit themselves to their work. Therefore, company trips provide several business benefits.
