We’re in a workplace revolution! 96% of talent professionals state that employee experience is becoming more important than ever. As the shift to hybrid and remote work become the norm, teams need a way to meet in person, team build, and collaborate. Likewise, blue-collar industries such as construction, timber, etc. work long, strenuous hours, and often have high turnover. With 65% of employees stating they prefer non-cash incentives, if you don’t put culture first and reward employees for their performance in unique ways, they will continually look for what they’re lacking. In this post, we’ll provide 5 reasons why company retreats are important and how you can reshape your onboarding program. If you’re the company event planner, in HR, or the business owner in a blue-collar or white-collar industry, this post is for you!
Why Are Company Retreats Important?
Company retreats are important for many reasons! When you’re in the office or on job sites day in and day out, it can get easy to get lost in all the day-to-day mundane tasks of work. By offering an exciting way to bring everyone together, with purpose, you can create a stronger culture, happier employees, and a more productive workplace. Some important reasons to host company retreats are to increase team building, retain employees, increase workplace productivity, introduce unique incentive ideas, and offer a space to focus on the bigger picture.
#1 Team building
Employees want something to look forward to. Offering them a retreat will improve loyalty, morale, communication, trust, and positivity while reducing workplace conflict by mixing work with play. Getting out of the office, while working in a more relaxed setting allows for natural ice breakers to happen, and helps eliminate that age-old “water cooler talk”. Because many departments are separated and workplace hierarchies can be intimidating, getting people outside of the norm will help them to lower their guard and get to know the people they spend 1⁄3 of their lives with.
#2 Retain employees
Statistics show that employee turnover can cost your business up to 2x their salary; The cost of putting out job ads, interviewing, onboarding, training, etc. all add up with multiple employees’ time. The job world has shifted and high-level companies have loyal employees for a reason: they value their people just as much as their customers. While job environment, compensation, and security are important factors in keeping employees, so are non-compensation workplace benefits, like company retreats.
#3 Increased Productivity
A strong team means employees show up to work mentally, get in their flow, are productive, and have buy-in for your company and what they do. Culture is more than a poster on the wall: It’s how you show up and celebrate the people that make your business thrive; When you show up for your team, they show up for you, and, ultimately, the business wins.
#4 Unique Incentive Ideas
Company retreats offer a variety of unique incentive ideas. You can bring the entire org together in one central location, or make trips a perk that not everyone gets access to. This is a great way to run a sales competition, celebrate your project managers, or give out holiday bonuses to top-performing staff members. You could also only offer retreats to team members that have been loyal to your company for “x” many years.
#5 Get Bigger Picture Things Done
Leave the day-to-day behind and spend time with your employees on the bigger picture stuff: Your vision, new offerings, new locations, celebrating major milestones, having a business coach inspire everyone, etc. At Got Fishing, we have quarterly retreats where we collaborate in brainstorming sessions on how we can improve, discuss goals, celebrate accomplishments, and more! Most areas that host company retreats have dedicated office spaces or conference rooms so you can have meetings, presentations, public speakers, or whatever floats your boat.
Company retreats are gaining momentum for their ability to help with team building, retain employees, increase workplace productivity, offer unique incentives for various team members, and provide a space to focus on the bigger picture of your business. With more hybrid and fully remote roles available, teams need a central location to meet in person. Not offering the right incentives can be costly to your business, especially with how expensive it is to replace staff. Keep your team excited by giving them something to look forward to.
Got Fishing provides companies with world-class fishing adventures. We work with your company’s size and budget to create a one-of-a-kind trip itinerary that will hit everything important to you: speakers, conference rooms, adventure, marketing packages,… whatever you need! All of our services are free, aside from the trip and travel. If you’re ready to level up your onboarding program, reach out to us for a free consultation on how we can help you create a company retreat that will complement your brand and team.