In competitive markets, showing employees they are appreciated and giving them time to connect away from the meeting room can be critical to retention and company success. That said, too often these moments are afterthoughts and the default becomes taking everyone around the corner for a drink.
There is an alternative to the happy hour. Take the meeting outside. Here are four reasons to take a deep breath of fresh air together.
1. Happy Hours are Overrated
It’s the default of every office manager or boss to set up an after-work drink session. Let’s face it, the happy hour is cliché; everyone does it and too often they feel like obligations rather than a relaxing reward for a hard-working team. I was just hearing from a friend who is an associate at a law firm about how tired he is of this obligation. “Can’t you get them to take us rafting?” he asked.
2. Green is Good
It has been scientifically proven again and again that getting outside and a proximity to greenery promote mental health and general wellbeing. Whether it is actively kayaking down a river as a group or passively enjoying the vistas from a team picnic at a brewery, just escaping the office for some greenery and fresh air has benefits for employees.
3. It’s a Mobile World, Take Advantage
At Sourced Adventures, we use Wi-Fi equipped vehicles to make sure our clients can get work done on the way. With mobile hotspots, you can even take work onto the water. Just last week we even had a brave finance exec who took a laptop with him into the kayak and was doing emails while floating down the Delaware River!
4. Employee Retention
In today’s competitive hiring market, companies are doing whatever they can to create an appealing work environment for prospective employees. We have corporate clients who take their teams out on a rewarding incentive trip once per quarter. That could be skiing and snow tubing in the winter or kayak and wine and rafting in the summer. Taking it outside the local bar really sets these companies apart, something that employees notice and appreciate.
Matthew Kingsbury is Director of Sales & Operations at Sourced Adventures.
