By Robert Furman
How well do your employees know each other and engage within the company? This is a crucial question, as the topic of employee engagement is becoming important in today’s workplace. Disengaged employees are less productive and can make your team less cohesive. Engaging staff on a corporate travel day is an ideal way to solve this issue, encouraging workers to bond and better understand what makes each other tick.
Why Choose a Corporate Travel Day?
Leaving the office to travel somewhere new and do something different can really boost employee morale. While afternoon team building exercises in the office may be more cost-effective, taking employees out of the office, out of their comfort zone and integrating with different people in a new environment creates three key benefits for your business:
1. Staff Get to Know Each Other and Work as a Team
Some staff may know each other well, but many will be unfamiliar with their co-workers outside of the office — or even the floor they work on. An employee in HR may just be a name to someone in marketing. Putting everyone together for the day allows staff to get to know each other beyond the name. What’s more, organizing activities which encourage working as a team often leads to that cohesion coming back to the workplace afterwards.
2. Bring Creativity Back into the Office
Creativity isn’t always a word which people associate with their jobs, but getting creative in a different context can help diversify your approach to work. Allowing employees to get creative on a corporate travel day improves confidence and demonstrates that creativity is welcomed back in the office, too.
3. Increase Motivation
Some employees may lack motivation when coming to work every day, or have personal issues causing them to be demotivated at work. Giving staff a day out, far away from the office environment and atmosphere, can trigger a big increase in motivation. Coming into work after having a really positive day with colleagues will encourage them to work together and better represent the entire company.
Where Should I Take My Employees?
While there are plenty of external companies that organize corporate travel, it’s very easy to organize internally, too. Hiring a minibus or coach for the day is the best way to get your staff around with minimal hassle and expense.
Depending on your budget, staff size, location and interests, there are a huge range of options for corporate days out to consider. So which are the best? Here are some top choices:
1. Paintballing
Fun, active and encouraging of friendly competition, paintballing is always a winner. Heading out to a paintball complex is a really simple, yet effective way to get the team interacting and strategizing — two skills they can easily bring back to the workplace.
2. Escape Room
Have you heard about escape rooms? These are areas designed for a team of people to try and escape from together using teamwork and logic — the quicker the better! Escape rooms are a great way to get a team working together on a task radically different to those they’ll find in the workplace. As it requires a little less running around than paintballing, escape rooms are accessible and fun for any team member.
3. Sports Match or a Day at the Races
Popular with all different ages and taking place all over the country, a day out to watch a game is perfect for a sport-savvy workforce. If you can’t decide on which team to watch or which sport to take in, a day at the horse races could be the ideal answer. Getting everyone involved in a sweepstake can make it that little bit more fun, as well.
4. Murder Mystery Night
An unforgettable night of real life Cluedo! This role-play activity is great for taking employees away from the office environment and giving them a whole new role to take on. Murder mystery nights often involve a meal and drinks, so you can make a real evening of it. You can guarantee that the event will be the talk of the office the following week!