Mark Fanning examines corporate events and discusses the potential benefits they pose to employer and employee alike
Company days out have taken many forms from directors sitting a box watching their favourite clients watching a football match to taking the staff down the pub for a drink, all of which could be classed as a corporate event.
In times of recession however many companies and especially those in the finance sector are very nervous to the whole idea of taking staff or clients to a day of “fun” in case the press grab hold of it and advertise it as a waste of tax payers/ shareholders money.
ACF Hospitality an event management company base in Bristol, has run over 3,000 events through the boom and bust years and believe that you can put a value to a business that hosts company events.
Over the years, entertaining clients has been on the decrease as selecting the perfect day out will not always attract all the top clients. As leisure time is at a premium for most management, a half-day on a golf course might not be ideal, especially if your handicap is over 40! By clients not taking up invites or worst still, accepting and not turning up it is very difficult to justify the expense.
On the other hand, staff days out are on the increase as more companies recognise the importance of staff retention and keeping morale high. Investing in teambuilding or even team bonding can be justified by off setting the costs of recruitment and training. A recent study calculated that the cost of replacing an executive within the company could cost up £ 75,000 even though their actual salary was only £35,000. Stress related absentees have also hit companies and taking the staff out of the office for a day has seen a reduction in these cases.
Establishing the right day for the staff however is not always easy as many PA’s or secretaries will tell you. The idea of going on a teambuilding day can fill some employees with dread as historically they have included confronting your fears with stories of skinning rabbits, orienteering or being suspended from great heights. The decision shouldn’t be taken lightly on what activity the company chooses, as there will always be those who have an opinion on what they should or shouldn’t be expected to do. Health and Safety also plays an important part as rules are continually tightened up. Further consideration should be given to the fact that 1 in 10 of the country’s workforce is classed as clinically obese, which will in turn create limitations.
In order to choose the right company event companies have to look at the staff demographics. An example could be a factory that has a workforce of an average of age 35 and in turn the majority of them would have families with young children. Therefore providing a family fun day will be a popular one. This can help cement relationships with not only their colleagues, but their partners will meet with other partners and children will play and befriend other children. This has the great benefit of creating a community that becomes in bedded within the workforce. Once established the idea of someone leaving a company has wider range of consequences that would affect all the family.
It’s a Knockout from the popular television program of the seventies has become a very popular part of a family fun day. Having people signing up to a team before the event helps secure their attendance and a great way of people being able to laugh at colleagues as well as at themselves.
Other companies that incorporate call centre staff will often have a much younger demographic and so family fun days wouldn’t work as well. A publishing company in Bath for example advertises to new prospective employees that they have the biggest and most extravagant Christmas parties in the city, this as is regarded as one of the top five selling points to attract their ideal demographic to join their company.
It is, however more than likely that most companies will have such a large diverse selection of staff that family days and big Christmas parties are not necessarily the answer.
The term Multi Activity Days (used more in the industry than in public domain) is one of the better ways to keep everyone happy. The idea of splitting into teams, creating a competition and taking on a number of activities such as Archery, Tank Driving, Mini Racing and Clay Pigeon Shooting is still very popular.
Team building in its truest form is about how staff communicates with each other and understanding and respecting how people like to work. For events to add value to the bottom line many blue chip companies will have a check list that requires a number of boxes to be ticked. An example of this would be the need to examine and practise skill sets such as “problem solving, leadership, creativity and teamwork”. On the day staff would practise and consider best of practice and revise ways of working together and creating an action plan that they take back to the workplace.
Tailor made programs are becoming the way forward for events and a thorough brief will generally produce the best results. Recently DSG a company that supports the Ministry of Defence wanted to provide a two-day team building experience for 3 of their staff that had just completed their apprenticeship. The brief was to create a memorable experience while learning the importance of teambuilding. The program that followed took the three employees from the classroom discussing their psychometric behaviours and the theory of teamwork through to solving mental and physical challenges while dressed in combat fatigues. The experience was escalated, as there were required to sleep in woods, prepare their own sleeping arrangements and take turns in keeping watch for the enemy snipers. Towards the end they took part in a fire fight (using air soft guns) finishing with an airlift from a helicopter.
Television has also played a part in team building days. The popular series The Apprentice has driven the demand for challenges such as filming and acting out commercials or making chocolate and marketing it. Other popular programs such The Crystal Maze and the Krypton Factor have also inspire teambuilding days that have teams running around solving clues and using the different skill sets of those involved.
Probably the biggest spend on corporate events is the Company Christmas Party. This is often overlooked by management as an opportunity for team building and as with most staff events can become the headache for the secretary who ends up organising it.
A typical Christmas Party involves a meal and a disco, to break with tradition should be considered a good move if the numbers start to dwindle. A recent example of a company that changed the format of their party was after half the staff disappeared to the pub straight after the meal, while the others wanted to sit and chat and play games. The solution that ACF Hospitality came back with was to have the meal but afterwards open the doors to reveal all the pub games you could want to play. A games tournament took place and everyone stayed together for the evening. Another popular idea is having a company quiz night. With the latest technology guests can stay at their tables and compete in teams and answer the questions through electronic handsets. With a compare, large screen and the right mix of questions this can engage all the staff and get people playing along side each.
Like any investment a company makes, careful thought should be given to what is required when putting on an event and if planned properly will deliver the desired results.
If this article has not yet convinced you to hold a corporate event it is worth reading the quote from Herodotus “If a man insisted always on being serious, and never allowed himself a bit of fun and relaxation, he would go mad or become unstable without knowing it”.