How Corporate Wellness Retreats Can Help You Retain Your Employees
If you have experience managing human resources, you will know by now that replacing an employee can be very costly for an organization.
According to employee well-being company Limeade, the cost of losing a worker amounts to 33% of their annual salary. The same report indicates that employees are twice more likely to begin the search for a new job when they perceive that their efforts are not valued by their current employer.
The scenario gets worse among women, especially those in leading positions. A joint report by LeanIn.org and McKinsey & Company has found that women leaders are quitting their companies at increasing rates. In 2021, we witnessed the highest gap ever recorded between leading women and leading men leaving their company jobs. Many of these women feel they are working more while being recognized less than their male counterparts.
Not to mention that these days employees look at more than just financial incentives when determining their level of satisfaction with their current workplace. It’s not a coincidence that employers who look after their workforce’s wellness are usually more successful at retaining it.
In this blog, we will focus on how a well-planned corporate wellness retreat can significantly boost your organization’s employee retention.
The Increasing Importance of Corporate Wellness
Not long ago, looking after the well-being of their workforce wasn’t one of the main priorities for most companies and businesses.
In recent years, things have changed significantly. Many organizations have even adopted employee well-being programs and engage regularly in activities or events that foster their workers’ physical, mental, environmental, and social wellness.
Based on data provided by Grand View Research, the corporate wellness market will continue to expand during the next decade.
What Are Corporate Wellness Retreats?
Corporate wellness retreats (like corporate retreats) are a key part of the shift towards more employee-centered organizations. As their name suggests, they are getaways of different durations that allow workers to take a well-deserved break from their stressful work routine. The organization will plan and manage the retreat with the following goals in mind:
- allowing workers to focus on their physical health and inner balance
- promoting healthy social relations between employees, as well as between employees and management.
- boosting their workforce’s engagement and their identification with company values
- generating performance improvements when employees return to work after a successful retreat.
Depending on the type of atmosphere you want to create and the preferences of your workforce, these retreats can be organized in different locations and include various activities. Some of these getaways are more inclined towards creating peaceful and relaxing ambience, while others tend to be more entertaining and colorful.
Examples of effective wellness retreats include:
- A ‘mind and body retreat’ in a quiet, nature-immersed venue with open-air yoga activities and workshops about growth mindset or finding the right balance between performance and wellness.
- A long trip to a major tourist city inclusive of a hotel stay, corporate convention, and nightlife activities. These events, like the Incentive Conference we recently organized with and Online Casino in Las Vegas, can be very effective if you want to bring remote workers together to strengthen their bond and team spirit.
- A 7-day wellness retreat in a beautiful seaside location in the US or abroad with daily sports activities and excursions, as well as a healthy diet plan. The stay could also include access to spa facilities and seminars on embracing a healthier lifestyle.
- A two-day event hosted in a unique venue and revolving around a major global topic your organization is involved with. This type of event, like our NEOM Gala and Conference, can be a mix of conference-based activities (e.g., breakout sessions, guest speaking, networking) and leisure activities (e.g., gala, fine dining, shows).
As the corporate wellness market keeps growing, more hospitality businesses are increasingly catering to the needs of companies that plan to organize wellness retreats for their workers. They do so by tailoring their venues and programs to the needs of organizations and employees.
An experienced event partner like Event Solutions can help you find the best mix of location, venue, and program for a successful corporate wellness retreat, as well as manage its operational aspects.
How Can a Corporate Wellness Retreat Boost Employee Retention?
The benefits of well-planned corporate wellness retreats are numerous, and they all contribute in different ways to employee retention.
For starters, they provide all the benefits of a holiday. By allowing employees to take a relaxing break from their stressful work routines, you are creating the conditions for a surge in your employees’ productivity and work quality when they’re back at the office, factory, or store. You are also reducing the risk of your employees suffering from severe burnout (and its adverse effects on a worker’s performance). The less your employees associate their work environment with high stress, health issues, and low energy, the lower the chances they will consider quitting their job.
Wellness retreats also reinforce the social bond between your workers, including the one between those at different levels of the hierarchy. For the duration of the retreat, the interaction between your workers will happen exclusively at a human level. This promotes friendship, team spirit, and a sense of belonging. The stronger the connection your employees feel towards each other and the less rigid the relationship with their managers, the more motivated they will be to remain in the same organization.
Finally, a positive aspect of corporate wellness retreats is their effectiveness in communicating to the workers how much their organization values their hard work and looks after their physical and mental health. As we mentioned earlier, financial incentives are no longer a sufficient deterrent against employees leaving an organization. Feeling valued, respected, and nurtured by the company they work for can be more effective than a bonus when trying to generate loyalty and commitment in your workforce.
What are the Main Features of a Successful Corporate Wellness Retreat?
To organize the best corporate retreat for your employees, your organization needs a clever strategy that takes into account:
- your budget
- your time availability
- your preferences and restraints in terms of travel distance
- your workforce’s characteristics and challenges
- your primary objectives.
Based on these factors, an experienced event planner and organizer will help you get the most out of the retreat and maximize its impact on your workers’ well-being, satisfaction, and retention.
From selecting the ideal duration, evaluating the potential locations, and determining the right mix of activities, to handling the logistics cost-effectively, every aspect of the retreat must be planned in extreme detail. The same goes for managing the registration process and the internal promotion of the event to maximize interest and engagement.
Finally, a partner like Event Solutions can make sure that the retreat unfolds as planned by minimizing the risk of unpleasant surprises and, when necessary, developing a plan B to deal with unexpected occurrences. Get in touch today and let us know your goals and expectations for your corporate wellness retreat. We’ll be happy to advise you on how to turn them into reality.
