NetGain has run annual trips for employees over the years, with all departments participating. These trips are oftentimes at a resort or getaway location that requires some travel, but offers the team a chance to connect outside of work at a fun place. From Gatlinburg, TN to Key West, FL, the Bahamas and even Turks & Caicos, our employee trips have made for wonderful memories and experiences for employees.
The value of team incentive trips can be high for anyone running a business. These group vacations are part of how we built NetGain’s culture. We set goals across our teams each year and our trips are a wonderful reward for those going above & beyond. We’ve found they are an excellent way to improve employee morale, and emphasize the “work hard, play hard.” mentality at NetGain.
These team outings continually grow the company culture and build connections amongst employees. In the rest of this blog, we’ll detail how our corporate trips do much more that offer vacation incentive.
People First: Why Reward Trips Build Stronger Teams
Our company encourages NetGain employees to see our team as a family. In 1984, NetGain started out as a family owned and run business. The importance of teamwork and collaboration has been strongly embedded in the culture since the beginning. Camaraderie is more than greeting someone as you pass each other in the office.
Having shared interests and shared experiences is important. Group getaways put colleagues into an environment outside of the office where they can get to know each other and form friendships.
Reward trips also introduce employees to spouses and other family members in a casual setting. Having families connect with each other is empowering. Not only do our team members look forward to earning the trip, but their spouses encourage them as well. That never hurts with in hitting goals!
Overcome Communication Challenges & Strengthen Engagement
A common issue most companies face is communication between employees. Corporate retreats can create stronger bonds between teams, offering opportunity for conversation and connection about life beyond work. An amazing benefit of a shared vacation is that peers see each other outside of a work setting. It humanizes your colleagues. You start to see them as people—especially when looking at managers. A team that’s like a family tends to have better communication, enhanced trust and appreciation for each other, and increased productivity.
Group trips can encourage new and different interactions. People who may butt heads in the office may start to connect in a new environment. On the other hand, those from different department who seldom interact with one another, now have a chance to connect. These trips can boost morale and bring fun and energy into work relationships outside of the office. Employees have a chance to go fishing together, or ride bikes along an island path. They come back with a more open mind and a desire to see each other succeed.
Celebrate Excellent Performance Together
NetGain is a people first organization, and we want to celebrate our teams and their hard work. After we work hard together to achieve our goals, team trips reinforce our values, allowing us to celebrate team achievements.
Each year, we set goals as a company. Meeting those goals during the calendar year “unlocks” team trips. We always set the goals high enough that they’re meaningful, but at a level that can be achieved. Reward trips are important to our staff. Some engineers said they “work specifically to achieve [their] goals to go on this trip.” It fuels excitement across the company that everyone wants to celebrate as a team!
The Long-Term Impact of Reward Trips on Productivity & Retention
Reward trips are more than fun opportunities for employees to go to the beach or see a movie together. There are long-term benefits to providing employees with trip and event incentives, such as improving retention and morale. Companies need to seek new ways of improving the culture and morale amongst teams. Financial incentives can be great, but they might not go a long way towards boosting culture and teamwork. When employees feel their work is valued and recognized, motivation levels oftentimes increase along with productivity. People who enjoy their work and their team, and who are recognized for achievement, are less likely to look elsewhere for a job.
It can be hard to find time or opportunity for employee trips as it means so many resources are out of office. A great benefit of IT outsourcing is the opportunity for time and space it gives your employees from their work and their technology. Outsourcing offers opportunity for employees to step away from the computers and enjoy team building time. Teams can maintain productivity and efficiency throughout the year, even taking time off, as another team steps in to cover IT needs.
Start Your Own Reward Trip Traditions: How to Plan a Successful Trip
Taking a big group on vacation is expensive. Airfare, accommodations, meals, entertainment—it all adds up. But the planning and prep is worth it for the memories and bonds your employees will create together. For business leaders, try to make reward trips a group decision. Let employees weigh in on what they want to do and where they want to go. Places that are exciting or interesting for teams can bring greater incentive for them to achieve goals and milestones.
In terms of budgeting, the company should cover airfare or transportation, rooms, meals, and special entertainment. Plan some excursions or team-building exercises to encourage interaction. A custom polo or other swag is a nice touch and will help everyone remember the trip.
Choosing the Right Destination
While the actual trip location is important, the resources and events available at the place can be equally impactful on how the trip benefits your team. If the goal of the trip is to offer opportunity for team building and connection, look for a place with group events and outings that employees would enjoy.
It’s also important to determine the best time of year to plan the team trip. Be conscious of academic calendars and government holidays as that can impact employee availability. Depending on where your business is located, it might be safer for teams to travel during the summer or fall to avoid winter weather. We like to ask past attendees of our company trips where they would like to go in the future. Being based in the mid-west and southeast, it’s no surprise NetGain team members want to go where it’s warm in the cold months!
Balancing Work and Leisure
Balancing work and leisure is helpful to ensure the trip is beneficial for employees, on personal and professional levels. Activities that could be helpful for team building could be educational or skill building in nature. Booking a training session to teach employees how to fly fish, or a group cooking session with a chef could be fun and helpful in teaching new skills.
Team trips can be an excellent time to come together as a organization and discuss business. Find time during the trip for employees to sync up about upcoming goals and projects. It’s also opportunity for feedback, idea sharing, and collaboration on work challenges/opportunities you might not have time to cover during typical business hours. Continuous improvement is something that takes place at all hours and in all locations, if you take the time and attention for it.
Be sure to offer time for the team to do things on their own too! The agenda for the trip doesn’t need to be jam packed with team building exercises, team meals, and business discussions. Leave room for people to have time to themselves, enjoy the local sites, and have downtime from work.
Lessons from NetGain’s Employee Reward Trips
NetGain has coordinated several employee trips over the years. From smaller, weekend trips to metro cities close by, to larger week-long travel to exotic beaches. Every trip is a little different, from the people attending to the costs, destination, and what goals need to be reached to go. We’ve found employee feedback on the locations and team activities really help to make the reward trips successful. We take extreme ownership in these trips and want to ensure the time and money invested does the most good for our teams. And the success of our trips was felt when employees made NetGain a best place to work!
The logistics of coordinating the whole trip can certainly be complicated. Dedicate a team member or department to planning your employee trip. They can help to manage the costs for travel, rooms, food, and activity planning. Making and managing a budget is also very important, and something the event coordinator(s) can keep track of. Another piece of advice is to take lots of pictures! Sharing memories of the trip for years to come can help extend the impacts of the trip even further. It shows future employees how your company shows appreciation for hard work and achievement.
The Cost & Challenges of Reward Trips (And Why They’re Worth It)
The most obvious challenge with reward trips is the cost. You may not be able to fly your entire company to Paris, but that’s okay! The trip also doesn’t need to be a full week long. Consider a day trip or maybe a long weekend someplace close by (or even local). Research places within reasonable driving distance to avoid costs for flights. You can also define the expense coverage for attendees, in that the company will cover some or all the costs. Maybe to bring costs down, offer to cover team dinners for the nights of the trip, but lunch and breakfast are at their expense.
Trip incentives bring so much more opportunity for your employees to connect. Cash incentives are nice and have a place for incentivizing employees, however most people won’t remember the reason for that $2,000 incentive you gave them five years ago. The memories of riding together in a safari jeep, or cruising in a boat on the lake, will make a much bigger impact long term.
Having a tight-knit team leads to better communication and collaboration across the business. It can be impactful to also partner with other teams of similar values, who encourage culture building and employee engagement. If your work family is interested in partnering with our IT family, to support the technology needs and goals of your business, contact us.
