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Why Corporate Summer Retreats Can Be Great Investments

Have you been weighing your options for something fun and productive to do with your employees? Perhaps a company barbecue, a summer party or even better, a corporate summer retreat.

The latter is a great idea if you have the time and resources available. Let’s take a closer look at some of the benefits of investing in a summer retreat (it’s not all fun and games) as well as how you can be ready with branded corporate gifts that make great summer swag.

Why Corporate Summer Retreats Are Beneficial for Employee Growth

While corporate summer retreats are usually a great time for everyone involved, they’re also an investment in your employees, your process, and your organization in general. Here are some of the top reasons why.

1.They build trust and foster an environment of collaboration

For better or worse, the larger and more organized a company is, the greater the risk of “silo effect,” in which each department might work well internally, but doesn’t work well inter-departmentally.

A corporate summer retreat gives people a time to bond and enjoy activities outside of work – or at least it feels like it’s outside of work. They can build trust and encourage employees across the organization to work better together.

2.They encourage creativity and break down barriers to communication

Sometimes you just need a change of scenery to get into new habits and break the mold. Routines can be good for productivity but they also have their drawbacks. Changing things up stimulates creative thinking and encourages people to change up their angles of attack to common problems.

3.They help build relationships

It’s normal and healthy to have friends that are coworkers, and morale and productivity benefit when those in the workplace are friends. Still, the nature of the circumstances can make it challenging to befriend coworkers. Giving employees a chance to meet and bond outside of the office can break down some of these barriers and foster an atmosphere of friendly openness.

4.Beat the burnout

According to isolved, a human resources management system, as many as 65% of employees experienced some degree of burnout in 2023. One Deloitte survey was even more concerning; it indicated as many as 77% of respondents experienced burnout at work. Among respondents that indicated they were not passionate about their job, the figure was higher – 84%.

Burnout is disastrous and doesn’t just hinder morale and result in higher turnover. The consequences of burnout are severe. It can increase stress levels and fatigue and exacerbate employees’ risks of heart disease and high blood pressure. Worse, it can result in a higher use of sick days and loss of productivity – affecting the company directly.

A summer retreat certainly isn’t the cure for burnout, but it will give employees a change of scenery for once and can help counteract some of the negative effects of burnout.

5.Improve employee morale and perhaps even reduce turnover

A corporate summer retreat isn’t the only way to improve employee morale, but it definitely is one way to make employees feel seen and more appreciated.

Moreover, many industries are dealing with high employee turnover. In 2021, it was as high as 47%!

Finding and training new employees is time consuming and expensive, so anything you can do to keep them around, and happier, benefits you both.

6.They’re fun

Last but not least, corporate summer retreats can be a blast for all involved. No other explanation needed.

Why a Summer Corporate Retreat

While any time of year can theoretically be great for a corporate retreat, summer is a great time because productivity often sags in the summer. It’s hard to keep your mind on work when the sun’s shining and the weather is nice. Again, a retreat also gives you an opportunity to break up the routine for your employees.

Be Ready with Customized Business Items and Summer Swag

As part of the planning and booking process, you should think about bringing along corporate gifts or customized business items that make nice summer swag.

High-quality branded corporate gifts can increase employee morale by making them feel more appreciated, and can increase brand awareness.

Moreover, anything that leaves over can be saved and used at trade shows, conferences, and other professional conventions where you might need to have business gifts for potential clients or promotional items to give away to support marketing.

Branded promotional products that make great summer-themed gifts include:

This is only a snapshot of the many great items that can be branded and given out as summer swag at a corporate retreat. Take a closer look through our catalog (which represents the top brands) and investigate how you can customize these business items for use as employee gifts today!