7 Tips for Planning an Employee-Centered Retreat
Company retreats tend to bring about some pretty polarizing reactions. It feels like employees fall into one of two camps: they either love them, or dread them. While we know we can’t always please everyone, at the end of the day, there is something you can do to enhance the employee experience during staff retreats… and that is to put your employees at the center of your planning.
Goals need to be set, processes and procedures need to be evaluated and discussed, but if your team is not open, engaged, and genuinely excited for this experience, you won’t get too far in building a culture that supports each other, or your company values. There are an endless number of ways to approach a retreat, so we’ve broken down our top tips for planning an employee-centric experience:
Go off-site: create a breath of fresh air experience for your staff by moving business for the day away from everyday offices. Consider a venue with multiple meeting spaces so you can mix it up depending on the day’s activities. Open air or fresh air environments help clear the mind and enhance creativity. Moving around also increases the likelihood of side conversations and genuine check-ins among employees when walking from one meeting room to the next, vs feeling like they need to “talk shop” all day long. Consider hosting your retreat at a fun or new location in town that staff will be excited about! And ensure the set-up allows for staff to get up, move around, and not feel like they are stuck in a stuffy board room all day long.
Lighten the agenda: Try not to pack your agenda so much that you leave little to no room for casual conversations and real relationships to form across employees. A lot of life can be discussed in those in-between moments during a retreat. Yes, there is always a lot to cover in a short amount of time, but when creating your agenda, really focus on which items are most prevalent, what can be tabled for a meeting at a later date, and what could even be an email post-retreat. Consider some fun “get to know you” activities where employees have the opportunity to really show who they are outside of their 9-5. Along this same vein, build in time for reflection, journaling, or “quieter” activities that are helpful for everyone, but appeal greatly to the introverts of your group who may find the idea of a day-long retreat to be overwhelming and exhausting.
Consider an outside facilitator: The most engaging retreats blend a mix of business discussion with employee professional development. Weaving the two together can be tricky, and often an outside facilitator can help bridge the gap. Bringing in an expert focusing on a specific area of PD for all employees takes some of the facilitation pressure off of you, and also provides your staff an opportunity to engage with someone new. It’s a win-win; you are no longer the talking head at the front of the room, and it gives you some breathing room/a bit of a break, so schedule the facilitator’s time slot with intention! If you do bring someone in from the outside, make sure planning meetings occur prior-to so they are well-versed not just in your organization, but also team dynamics. This helps everything run smoothly, and allows your staff to feel like this facilitator was selected with sincere intention, and truly understands their work.
Engage in meaningful work together: One specific thing that has been known to enhance employee engagement in your retreat and well beyond is engaging in a philanthropic initiative together. Engaging in philanthropy provides employees with a shared purpose beyond their regular work tasks, and can foster a sense of camaraderie, trust, and unity among employees. It also reinforces a positive company culture that emphasizes social responsibility and encourages employees to take pride in their workplace. Careful planning and alignment with company values (more on that later) are key to maximizing the impact of philanthropic activities on employee engagement and participation. Whether you decide to volunteer at a local food bank together or bring in an organization like Wish for Wheels, who brings teams together to build bikes for under-resourced children in your community, your employees will deeply feel the positive impacts.
Involve your employees with the planning: Poll your employees prior to building your agenda. What are the items they feel most need to be discussed? Is there someone who genuinely enjoys event planning on your team? Solicit help when needed so your staff feels like it’s a team effort and they truly have a say - from food options (this is NOT the place to penny pinch - the food can make or break a retreat experience!) to fun activities, there are a lot of great ideas hidden among your staff! It’s also equally as important to learn what employees do not want. Maybe your young professionals are itching to compete against one another at Top Golf, but you have a few employees with physical limitations; it’s important to hear everyone out, but also not exclude anyone from an entire portion of the day. Remain open to ideas, but use your leadership and discretion to find a happy balance.
Company goals and values: There’s nothing worse than sitting in a retreat setting and thinking “why are we even here?” Or “what does this have to do with me/my role?”. Ensure your day is grounded in how each agenda item and activity connects back to your organization’s overall goals and values. You want employees to leave with an even greater understanding of how their work today, and every day, leads back to the purpose of the company. This helps to create even greater buy-in throughout the year, but also enhances participation during the retreat itself.
Remember that the ‘work’ doesn’t stop for retreats: Imperative to the success of your retreat is remembering how your employee’s jobs don’t stop simply because you have this event scheduled. Built-in time for staff to check emails and adhere to existing responsibilities will ease pressure not only throughout the day, but before and after the retreat as well. By allowing for more spaciousness, you will increase engagement and collaboration, leading you further towards a successful retreat experience for everyone involved.
Planning an employee-centered retreat involves a thoughtful and strategic approach to create an engaging and beneficial experience for participants.The last thing you want is for a retreat to feel like a meeting, only longer.
By focusing on your employees, and your company values, with elements of new and fun sprinkled in, you can create an experience that helps to build great organizational culture and moves your entire team closer to reaching personal, professional, and company goals.
The success of an employee-centered retreat lies in its ability to create a positive impact on employee engagement, collaboration, and overall well-being, with lessons and connections carried forward into the workplace for sustained growth and improvement.
