Top 5 Reasons a Company Retreat is More Important Than Ever

Looking for a way to improve employee productivity and enhance overall team cohesion? With most business professionals working from home for the past year, company retreats will be crucial in resocializing teams no matter the size. As the world begins to come back together, connecting with your team offsite provides employees an opportunity to reflect, reconnect and establish new team culture norms. Reflection is also a necessary tool to understand past performance and improve across posterity. An employee who does not reflect has little chance for improvement. A company retreat allows your team an opportunity to get out of their normal routine and reflect on where the company has been and strategize where you want to go. We’ve put together a list of five reasons why retreats are more important than ever.

1. Reduce Team Stress Levels

Company retreats provide opportunities for stress reduction through physical activity, outdoor excursions and mental health initiatives. It is no secret that the workplace can be stressful as hours are long, responsibilities are plentiful and people are more pressed for time than ever before. A retreat can provide an escape away from screens, phones and other electronics, which can feel like a miniature vacation getaway in itself. As companies plan retreats, health-conscious and stress reducing activities will be a key part of planning the experience like hiking, meditation, yoga and socializing over nourishing meals.

2. Health Benefits of Outdoor Fresh Air

Incorporating outdoor activities into your retreat allows your team an opportunity to enjoy the fresh air many have been craving along with the associated health benefits of sunlight (hello Vitamin D) and connecting with nature. This time away from the office will refresh your team's batteries and inspire productivity. Research from Ambius; a British Human Resources consultancy reveals almost 40% of office workers spend a maximum of 15 minutes outside each day. Creating an event for employees to be outside in fresh air has direct correlation to higher productivity.

3. Boost Team Morale

Employees work sufficiently better when morale is high and there is focus on building strong working relationships. Studies have shown that companies with a high moral outperform their counterparts by 20 percent. Modern day workers are looking for something more than a paycheck, yearning to be a part of a team that means something to them. According to Entrepreneur.com, the best way to achieve the ultimate goal of attracting and retaining workers is to make people feel like they are part of a family. Offsite team building activities allow colleagues to recognize they're all in this together and greatness is achievable for your company if correctly executed. A corporate retreat is also a great opportunity to synergize within large companies, especially those spread out across different cities and countries. An “us vs. them” mentality can develop in teams with a global workforce where employees feel detached from one another when their only interaction is during regular team meetings, emails and video calls. Through a team offsite, someone who works in HR in Denver has the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the VP of Finance in Sydney, Australia in a professional, personal and friendly capacity. Corporate retreats can bring about hidden talents/commonalities in team members that can be lost when one is doing the same things every single day. Coworkers often fail to realize just how extraordinary each person is because most team members are provided the opportunity to reveal who they truly are. Team retreats allow a group of people to indulge in tasks that just don’t happen in the normal office environment. You may even bond over the fact that you have the same interests as them.

4. You can actually save money

Contrary to popular belief, annual corporate retreats can cut down cost elsewhere. Even if you’re spending a thousand dollars a head for such an event, you’re saving money throughout the year on:

• Multiple work trips between cities for meetings and trainings: teams can make the most out of the annual retreat by organizing their strategies in-person and having regular digital follow-up afterwards.
• Meetings without much advance notice, leading to more expensive short-notice flights and increased costs related to employee fatigue (and burnout): on the other hand, a business trip that’s planned months in advance leaves more room for scheduling and communication among colleagues, plus the increased “personal touch” between colleagues after a retreat helps make video meetings easier than ever.

However intangible the benefits are, when a corporate retreat is executed well, it can be a real financial benefit to your company in terms of increased morale, productivity, and engagement.

5. Show Appreciation for Hard Work

Corporate retreats are a way to show value to employees and to just generally have a good time. For companies like Cireson (link to their client story), having a team retreat is not only a way to strategize and provide meaningful organization development training, but also a way to bond and show employees they're appreciated. Retreats can be a chance just to hang out as a group, laugh, and talk to each other.

These are all things to keep in mind as you consider your next company retreat. Whether it's a much-needed team-building time or help with a major decision, getting together in person can have a positive impact on your employees and on your business.