Corporate retreats are an effective way to build teams that are better at communicating and collaborating. However, the quality of corporate events hinges on buy-in from the participants. If your employees are not adequately engaged, they won’t want to participate in your event or get any benefit from it. The key to getting employee buy-in is to base the event on their interests. 

Get Your Employees Interested in Your Company Retreat

Here are a few of the best ways to incorporate your employees’ interests in a company retreat:

Ask Your Employees What They Would Like to Do

The most important part of planning your retreat is to find out what your employees want to do. Depending on how long the retreat is and how many employees you have, you can choose a few different methods to conduct this poll.

The best way to get every employee’s opinion is to conduct an online survey. You can also have an open forum meeting, with an anonymous voting system, or host a virtual town hall event.

Let Them Choose the Activities

Once you know what your employees want to do, you can start to plan the activities. You can choose a variety of activities that appeal to a wide range of interests. Keep the activities relevant to your field or business. 

You can use company-related activities as a way to build camaraderie between departments. When choosing activities, make sure they are appropriate for your audience. 

While it’s important to let your employees share what they want, you also need to manage expectations. If a significant number of employees want to go skydiving but that is not a safe activity for a team of employees, you may want to suggest something else.

Go Somewhere They’ll Enjoy

When choosing a destination for your corporate retreat, the most important thing to consider is the interests of your employees. You should also consider how far a wide range of employees can travel without breaking the bank. 

When deciding where to take your corporate retreat, you can choose a location that meets a wide range of interests. One example is taking your company to a sporting event. Sports events are a great way to foster a competitive spirit between departments, especially if you choose a game that has a mixed departmental team. 

Another option is taking your team to a music festival or artistic event. These types of events are perfect for employees who want to experience something new and see new things.

Base the Trip on Something You Can All Enjoy Together

One of the best ways to incorporate your employees’ interests into a company retreat is to base the trip around a shared passion or interest. You can choose to base your trip on a cause your company supports. Taking your employees to a cause that they feel strongly about is a great way to foster a sense of unity and camaraderie among your team members. 

Another way to base the trip on a shared interest is to base the trip on a shared hobby. If you and your employees share a common hobby, you can use the trip as a way to collaborate and build stronger bonds between team members.

Find the Right Partner for Planning Company Retreats

If your employees are not adequately engaged, they won’t want to participate in your event or get any benefit from it. The key to getting employee buy-in is to base the event on their interests. Now that you know what you need to do to make your next company retreat a success, you can focus on having fun and fostering a sense of teamwork and camaraderie between your employees.

Make your next event a massive success by partnering with Frogbridge Events. We specialize in planning events for companies. Call us at (609) 208-9475 or fill out our contact form to schedule a talk with our event planners.