The year 2021 has bowed out to usher in 2022, so it’s a happy new year for businesses and individuals. As a part of work culture, quite a number of organizations have an annual staffs retreat. Some had theirs in December, some in January, and some others during the course of the year. It could be a general staff retreat and/or a senior management retreat.
Why is it necessary? After all the work, work, and more work, it is okay to take a day or two to just relax, play and discuss. It does not have to be done in January or in December. You can do it at the end of your business year if your business does not operate with the conventional January to December calendar. There are a few businesses that run an April to March calendar for instance.
The retreat also does not have to impinge on operations at all, and if it is necessary, a little work could still be done during the retreat. But majorly, your staff retreat should be fun and have open discussions to review the just-ended year.
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Now, here are some possible things you could be discussing during the retreat.
How did the business perform in the last year?
You want to discuss with your staff how the business performed in the last year, in relation to the year before it, the expectations and targets you set, and the economic realities. You have the books to tell you this, but there are insights to this discussion that can only come from your staff.
What was your staff turnover rate and why?
The best people to tell you the real reason why your staff is leaving are the staffs themselves, especially if it is an open discussion where they are allowed to speak freely. Office politics is another factor that causes businesses to lose good talents. Poor remuneration, poor welfare policies, unreasonable targets are other factors too.
How effective is your business structure and how can you improve it?
A business structure can and should have occasional reviews and adjustments until you have something that works perfectly. If there is a part of it not working well or things are not going as planned, then make the necessary changes.
What month had the highest sales and why?
Your records will show you what month or period had the most sales, but you can also find out from the staff why they think sales were higher during that period. If done right, it can reveal one or two things you need to fix in your sales funnel. Of course, there are peak periods in every business or sector, but there could also be other periods in the year where you recorded high sales. It would help you to know why that happened.
Of all the campaigns you ran, which had the most result and why?
Advertising campaigns, marketing campaigns, social media campaigns, and other promotions should not be done just for their own sake. They should be targeted at specific results and if there was a particular campaign that yielded the most result, you should find out why so that you can better structure your campaigns in the coming year.
Rewards
It is a great idea to reward top-performing staff over the course of the year. For better results, you should have your staff vote on the categories, or probably have the team leaders vote on them. It is up to you.
Retreats like this can improve productivity and boost team morale. There is no restriction on the number of retreats you could choose to have over the course of the year, but you should have at least one.