Several converging trends make corporate retreats more important than ever — but choose your venue carefully to ensure your retreat achieves your strategic goals.
Corporate retreats are gaining in popularity — offsites and company retreats are expected to grow to $500 billion by 2030 —due to several workplace trends. The rise of remote and hybrid work, changing workforce demographics, and a greater focus on mental health are just some of the factors making these gatherings not just a perk, but an essential for many organizations. Here’s a breakdown of some of the key trends behind the corporate retreat uptick:
- Bridging the remote work gap. By the end of this year, it’s estimated that 32.6 million Americans will be working remotely, making the need to enhance team cohesion and coordination, communication and a sense of corporate belonging more important than ever. Corporate retreats give far-flung employees the opportunity to get to interact face to face, which help distributed teams feel more connected and less isolated. They also can provide a dedicated time and place to realign employees with corporate goals and company values.
- Boosting team morale. Studies show that highly engaged employees lead to both more profits and higher retention, and what better way to engage them, as well as build bonds and celebrate achievements, than at a face-to-face retreat?
- Facilitating innovation and creativity. Just getting out of the office — whether home or corporate — and into a new environment can help teams brainstorm, strategize and solve problems in a more collaborative, creative way.
- Preventing burnout. With everyone doing more with less these days, employees are struggling not be overwhelmed with stress and burnout. Retreats often include wellness activities, such as yoga, meditation and outdoor adventures that help them blow off steam and recenter themselves, so they come back to work with clearer minds and more energized bodies.
- Keeping Gen Z engaged. Younger employees value flexibility, meaningful experiences and mental health on a much higher level than many older generation workers. Corporate retreats can help companies attract and retain the next generation — and workers of all generations who see investments in meaningful, shared experiences such as corporate retreats as a key differentiator when looking for employment.
Where You Hold a Corporate Retreat Matters
While content, activities and programming are important, the venue you choose for your corporate retreat also can make a big difference in your ability to engage attendees and achieve strategic objectives. The venue sets the tone, mood and mindset for the retreat. Whether the venue is energizing, relaxing or innovative directly influences participants’ attitudes and productivity.
You also want to choose a venue that is flexible enough to support the variety of activities you plan to include in your corporate retreat. Check to ensure your venue’s indoor and outdoor spaces can support what you want to do, be they structured workshops, informal networking, teambuilding activities or wellness programming. If you plan to include a strategic planning session, you’ll need a quiet room with all the latest tech, while you likely will need open, interactive spaces or outdoor facilities for your teambuilding activities.
To help reduce stress, comfortable accommodations that are easy to get to can start things off on the right foot. It also helps if the venue has finely tuned amenities, such as reliable Wi-Fi, catering and accessibility features, so participants can concentrate on what they’re there to accomplish with being distracted by logistics. Venues with scenic vistas, fully equipped wellness facilities and relaxation options also can help reduce stress, as well as provide an extra incentive to participate fully.
Some standout options that can elevate your next retreat from routine to remarkable:
- Vineyards and wineries. Known for their sophisticated, relaxed atmospheres, wine tastings, scenic views and gourmet dining, vineyards are a good option for team bonding and creative thinking.
- Dude ranches. While they’re not for every group, dipping into a cowboy lifestyle, complete with horseback riding, campfires and outdoor adventures, can help brings groups together in a rustic, natural setting that is far from their day-to-day environment.
- Wildlife safaris and nature reserves. If your group could benefit from an immersive, adventurous experience while developing leadership skills and team cohesion, nothing beats a real-life opportunity to draw parallels between challenges in the wild and corporate life.
- Beach resorts. Everyone likes a chance to blend of work and play — and beach settings have lots of water sports, relaxation and celebration options while encouraging free-ranging thinking and stress relief.
- Urban tech spaces. Beaches and rodeos aren’t for everyone. If city energy gets your group buzzing, consider urban lofts, rooftop venues with skyline views, and innovative tech incubators.
- Historic venues. If you’re looking to inject prestige and inspire awe, consider holding your corporate retreat at a chateau, mansion or iconic landmark.
- Art galleries and museums. For brainstorming and innovation, art and exhibits can get the creative juices flowing while engaging the intellect.
- Wellness retreats and spas. If a main goal of the retreat is to help teams recharge, reduce stress and focus on wellness, there’s no shortage of boutique hotels with yoga studios, meditation spaces and spa facilities.
- Outdoor adventure lodges. For outdoorsy groups, consider holding the retreat at a mountain lodge, lakeside cabin or forest retreat. They can learn to work as a team and develop resilience while hiking, kayaking or zip-lining.
- Activity-based venues. For short-duration retreats, or as an offsite activity for a longer retreat, think about using interactive museums, amusement parks, sporting venues, or even immersive cinema experiences.
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