Maintaining employee productivity can feel like a bit of an uphill battle.

Employees may feel refreshed and revitalized from days off or small corporate events. Yet, all too often, productivity slowly decreases over time until the next event or organized project.

For the most part, companies are forced to fight an uphill battle for the long-term productivity for their organization. And while you may feel as if the problem lies in the motivation and dedication of your workforce, think again.

No matter how dedicated and motivated employees are, a general sense of normalcy will begin to seep in if nothing changes for them in the long-term. You can only make so many phone calls, talk to so many clients, and help so many customers before the enjoyment begins to seep away.

That’s why company retreats are incredibly important. More so than most other corporate events, company retreats re-energize and revitalize the workforce. After employee retreats, you can expect to see everything from group morale to overall productivity boosted and lasting longer than ever.

Also read: Motivating Your Employees with Awards: Types You Can Implement in Your Business

So why is that? What is it about company retreats that improves employee productivity so much?

We’ve taken a closer look at what happens at company retreats to help explain why a company retreat needs to be on your end of year plans and needs to be one of the most important events for your workforce.

Getting Out of The Office

You may be wondering why your evening dinners and potlucks have done little to boost motivation, and a large part of that may be proximity to work.

Even when it comes to recreational activities held in the office space of work, your employees will still associate all activities there as activities required by the job. Therefore, there’s much less motivation to connect, revitalize, and recharge.

Corporate retreats take your employees and often deposit them somewhere where they’ve never been—forcing them to readjust to whatever new environment is around them. Since this environment is new and not work-associated, your employees will have an easier time treating this event as unique than other options you may have tried.

One of the best parts about getting out of the office is that you can work to take your employees to unique nearby locations that work for them. For example, if you’re in the market for corporate retreats in New York, you may be able to find options less than a few hours away that look like a far cry from the Manhattan skyline.

You can also take your employees further and further away, depending upon the budget of the retreat and the size of the company. The most important thing to remember, however, is that you need to get as far from the office as possible. This crucial element of company retreats is much of the reason why they boost productivity so much.

Talking as People — Not Employees  

No matter how hard you try, talking to your employees in the office is going to come with the binds and implications of a social and office hierarchy.

Co-workers will be talking as equals to each other under the control and influence of their superiors. Superiors that want to get to know their employees on a more personal level will struggle with talking to them without the pretense of seniority hanging over their heads.

That’s one of the many great benefits of corporate retreats. Employees this far from the office will begin to see each other as people—not as their respective positions and the ties that come with it. When employees are working to fight their way out of an escape room or beat each other in sports, they’re not thinking about the implications that their workplace roles have on the event.

This total disconnect from the office makes it easier to talk to people across departmental lines of management or separate groups. Employees will look to each other in a more human light, which promotes interdependent behavior and boosts productivity significantly.

Refocused Goals   

Due to the compartmentalization that many companies utilize, it can be difficult for employees in an organization to be on the same page when it comes to goals.

Company goals are also often vague and related to continued growth and capital, which can be difficult for individual employees to relate to. Employees are often focused on their own goals and lives, and during a typical workday, it can be hard to see why helping others in the company helps them.

Company retreats, however, take away the roles and the pretense from everyone. Your employees are forced to see each other as equals and understand their own needs and requirements for the job. That way, when it comes time to talk about corporate goals, your employees will be focused on how to help each other—which comes vicariously through helping the company.

It’s a bit of a roundabout way of getting your employees on the same page, but it is similarly crucial. No matter how many times you preach the company culture to your employees or try to get them to care about helping the company, they’ll need to see how it benefits them and others.

Bonding together during corporate retreats and seeing the company as a collection of unique individuals as opposed to a group of faceless drones is one of the easiest ways to boost productivity.

Final Thoughts

Remember that not all corporate retreats are created equally—and that means that you need to get all hands on deck to ensure that your investment goes to the right place and into the right hands for the best chance of success.

You can work with a planner to organize logistics, or take the time yourself to get yourself acclimated to the world of corporate retreats, but in either case, we recommend you do everything in your power to find the retreat that best matches your company.

If executed properly, your company retreat will not only boost employee productivity, but be an experience to remember, cherish, and repeat for years to come.