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One of the interesting trends that has been growing over the last couple of years has been an increase in the use of corporate team retreats. The idea is to get all the workers out of the office for a couple of days so that everyone can see and get to know each other in a less stressful environment. Although a team retreat is certainly not a magic bullet for a company that's failing or has huge problems within their management, nevertheless it can, if used correctly, improve employee productivity in many positive ways.
Though we can talk extensively about team building, the fact of the matter is that most work tasks revolve around the individual. In some ways, this can make it difficult to build up a real team atmosphere in the workplace. And that's where a corporate team retreat comes into play. All businesses need to attract the best people, but need to create systems to retain them. One way of doing this is to make people feel as though they belong. In other words, you create a family and ensure that they feel part of it, with the feeling of trust and security that goes hand in hand with a team that are familiar with each other. Through the ups and downs of business, and the good and the bad, it's essential that all employees feel as though they are in this together as one. Especially when there's a downturn in the market and people have become worried about their work situation. Then knowing that the team comes first, is going to matter a great deal to everyone involved.
Probably one of the largest issues in present-day work environments, especially the office, is the ongoing mental health of the employees. It's common that the office work environment can be a very stressful place. With many work situations there is an ebb and flow of tasks to do, often based around a yearly calendar. So when the busy periods come around then it is easy for people to become overworked, stressed and irritable. At that point many workers no longer wish to be in that position. If they are not taken care of, some of them will leave. And the remaining ones will have to work even harder to take up the slack. Company morale will plunge. For the company boss this is a serious problem as the atrophy of those leaving and training of new employees is going to be taxing both financially and in terms of time.
So once a busy period is over, then it's a good idea to think about removing all the employees from the office environment so they can decompress in a totally unstressed environment. It's a given that the less stress there is in life, then the more happy and productive people can be.
The workers of yesteryear just got on with their jobs, and to a great degree there was a kind of company loyalty. That has all disappeared today. Just because you are paying an employee to do a job doesn't mean they owe you anything or even are going to do their best. They are more concerned about finding a life-work balance. To that end, a salary is just a means to an end. In other words, they work because they have to. As the employer, maybe this doesn't sound like the best mindset to have under your employment. The only way you can make today's modern employees into happier and more productive people is if you can find ways of improving their happiness and job satisfaction, which inturn will lead to better company morale.
Study after study has shown that companies with high morale consistently outperform those without by over 20%. That's massive! One way of doing this is via the corporate team retreat. By encouraging your employees to let their hair down on both company time and company money, shows that you care about their well-being. In some ways it's both a reward and a period of leisure time. As an employer, don't do it just because you feel you should. This comes across as cynical and will make your employees like you that much less. When you decide to do a retreat, then have your heart in it and encourage all the employees to take part. And whatever you do, make sure they don't need to contribute a single penny. Remember you're doing this because you want to increase productivity when they're working. So in some ways you should look at this as a kind of medicine, a tonic that will ensure your teams are functioning at their healthiest level. And this will only bring benefits to your business. So, in some ways it’s a good investment.
It's basic that without time for reflection we cannot improve ourselves. It’s actually the same for employees performing their essential work tasks. You'll find that virtually all the top CEO's of large companies take a large chunk of time to get away from the working environment and simply think. Doesn't matter if this is a bungalow by the beach, a cabin in the woods or sitting on a luxury cruise ship. The important factor is introspection. Well, your employees are no different. And a retreat will give them the time to collectively analyse their work together.
Being able to relax and reflect together allows everyone to take a look back over the last month or so, and consider if there are any ways they could have improved situations and outcomes. Likewise, it's an opportunity to look at mistakes and flawed thinking that might have bought about less than perfect results. This form of self assessment is absolutely crucial for a sense of self development. Not only that, but it also will help the company progress into the future as both minor and major issues are being constantly ironed out.
In most cases, if you’re doing the same repetitive job everyday, then it's no surprise that any creativity or talent will die. In the office environment, where each individual member of the team is concentrating on their own task at hand, it's very easy to fail to realise just how amazing the person is sitting at each elbow. This is simply because, in the office situation, along with a stressful work environment, no one ever gets a chance to see the real person behind the facade. Of course, go for drinks on a Friday afternoon after work you can have a chat. But again, this is often aligned to the office work hierarchy, with employees slightly wary of each other.
Team retreats allow each individual member to really get to know each other. And once you know someone you can identify with them. Whether it's bonding over the same interest or sharing memories, you'll find that these softer skills are, in many ways, just as important as the hard skills used in work. If a team retreat centres around an activity, then that's a great purpose for the whole venture and can only add some focus to the whole retreat. But beware of continuing the office hierarchy when you are all out of the office. Office titles, such as management or head of departments, should disappear when you're all together. Likewise any self-perceived ideas of office status. Otherwise these job titles can act as a barrier to completely open and honest communication.
To sum up, it's important that everyone feels involved, gets to know each other, and learns about the person behind the job title. It's this familiarity that will create the family environment we spoke up previously, and lead your employees to care about the work they are doing as well as the people around them.
