Employee Experience Professionals’ Guide to Events
Magic happens when people gather together. As experienced professionals, we get this. We see how business leaders nurture and maintain their talent, using events to foster positive employee experiences. Events can be used to support the company culture, build internal relationships, and reward employees for their hard work – creating strength and cohesion in your team.
At B Line Events, we are in the business of bringing people together for enriching experiences. In our 20 years of creating corporate employee experiences, we know first-hand what goes into fostering tight-knit, unstoppable team events.
Here is your guide to planning an unforgettable corporate event and how to use events to supercharge your employees’ overall workplace experience.
The Five Ws
Let’s start with the five Ws – the who, what, where, when, and why. These questions are essential in setting your goal for any event.
The Why
Employee retention is one of the main reasons businesses invest in events, retreats, happy hours and a host of other types of gatherings. It’s their way of creating motivational incentives and showing gratitude for the teams that help the business thrive.
Gallup found that the main reason employees leave their positions is due to issues around company culture and work-life balance. Events, retreats, and other social offerings help to create company cultures where employees feel valued and seen as people not just employees.
The Who
Are you aiming to reaffirm company culture? Do you want to foster more collaboration between teams? Is there a specific group of employees you want to celebrate and reward for their efforts?
Understanding the goals of every event will determine the target audience. Once we know who you’re throwing the event for – whether it’s a certain team, a small selection of employees, or a company-wide event – we zero in on the size and scope of the offering.
The What
If the goal is to celebrate and reward the whole company for a great sales year, then the why is celebration and positive reinforcement for a job well done. The who is everyone. And the what might be a large, all-inclusive event like an end-of-year-party.
Another goal could be to foster a culture of creativity and inventiveness, and you want to do this in a targeted way across different teams. This way, each event can be specifically tailored to what is relevant to that team and its members.
The When
Employee experience is shaped over the course of every year, and regular company events and gatherings give teams something to look forward to and get excited about. Event schedules capitalize on key moments throughout the year, like holidays, sales quarters, company anniversaries, as well as touchstone moments for the organization, like product launches, team reorganizations, and new hires and partnerships.
The How
Now, how to make it all happen!
For a DIY version, check out our blog on How to Plan a Corporate and Business Event in 10 Steps. This will give you a high-level guide on how to plan a corporate event on your own.
Most companies that aim to plan truly unforgettable and effective events do so by partnering with event professionals. They know their vision aims beyond what internal teams can accomplish alone, and they understand the value of collaborating with a team like B Line to maximize employee experience through events. (Check out our blog on “When to Hire a Meetings Management Company.”)
For more information on how to leverage meetings and events to boost your employee experience, reach out to the us and we’ll give you the scoop.
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