Make Your Corporate Event Something to Remember
When you get your employees together to talk about the success of the previous year and how you are looking forward to future, are your employees going along on that journey with you? Are they really interested or are they looking at the watches wishing they were anywhere but in this conference room listening to a lot of stuff the think has nothing to do with them?
Are you in the conference room with 10 chairs and 40 people and the only reason they are there is because it was mandatory attendance?
The goal of your annual meeting is to get people excited to be there and celebrate their achievements. You also want your team to excited enough to go out and do even better this year. A forced meeting in an uncomfortable setting that started with a calendar invite labeled “mandatory” is not going to get anyone jazzed about working for the company.
When you work in a corporate setting, meetings are just a fact of life. When you start working there you are required to go to HR sessions and training. You may have weekly staff meetings, and project meetings, and budget meetings. The last thing anyone wants to do is attend another meeting.
Think Differently About Your Corporate Events
It is time to break out of the box and start to think differently about your company and your employees. If you want to get people together to tell them how great the company is doing, you have to get people together in a way they will appreciate. They know that if you say the company is doing well, it is because of the work they did. You are now showing them how much you appreciate it.
Think about last year’s meeting? How did it go? Did it involve a person in a suit quoting procedures and statistics while pointing out those same bullet points on a handout flyer or PowerPoint? Ugh, right? Despite the best of intentions, meetings of old had very little to work with in terms of jazzing up a message that resonates and energizes employees. If fact, it usually has the opposite effect. People walk away frustrated and bored thinking they sat in a long, meaningless meeting. They are sure the higher ups were thanked in a more substantial way.
Multimedia Events are the Way To Go
Enter the multimedia platforms of today. Employees today have so many options when it comes to throwing an “event”. They often fall back on those “trusted favorites’ just because it is seemingly easier. Throwing an effective event does NOT have to be complicated when dealing with experienced, creative event planners.
Your event planner can soup up that annual shareholders’ meeting in any number of ways, from the venue and food to locating and booking relevant, exciting speakers. Most importantly, though, your event planner can utilize today’s technology to make a routine business meeting into something that will be talked about for the whole year. Until the next great event you throw.
This is important, because you don’t want to have to go into the details of planning an event with your own IT guy and executive assistant. You all certainly have better things to do with your time. An event planner has intimate knowledge of what the tech is capable of. There is usually a technology expert on staff who is an expert at all those event specific equipment, programs, and applications. These folks will arrange to set up all the projectors, monitors, cameras, and AV equipment to your specifications. They will teach you how to use it. Then break it all down and haul it off when the event is over.
The benefits of this are many. Mostly you want to throw an event that inspires the best from your employees. This means getting their attention off the doodle pads or smart phones, and onto the business at hand.
Get Interactive
Previous entries on this blog have gone into the specifics of what multimedia is out there. Growing every day, the tech industry offers real time, interactive solutions to cross-global meeting issues as well as providing constant data collection and tabulation. What we have not discussed previously is the human effect that using these methods to engage employees has.
“According to research by Gallup, only 33% of corporate employees in the USA were engaged in 2016 – “involved in, enthusiastic about and committed to their workplace” On the other hand, employee disengagement costs the USA alone over $500 billion annually.”
Engaged, motivated workers have higher employee satisfaction, lower turnover; higher productivity; increased profitability; less absenteeism, and increased employee loyalty. Ultimately, this leads to decreases turnover, which is good, because turnover is expensive.
Make Your Corporate Culture One That People Want to be a Part Of
Most businesses in the US today tout what is known as “business culture”, depending in what category of profession you are in. Some law firms like to typify themselves as family oriented and hold events like yearly barbeques and park days. Many tech businesses see themselves as more creative, with extreme casual, laid-back environments and flex time hours. All employers have one thing in common, though. They would LOVE it of their worker bees were really invested in the work. They love employees who are loyal to the company and highly productive.
So, taking into consideration the business culture that clients have intentionally cultivated, planners can tailor their events to maintain that vibe. You wouldn’t expect to engage a workforce of t-shirt wearing, creative types with a formal sit-down dinner and guest speaker, but rather something more fun and interactive.
Likewise, serious business professionals would expect a more somber affair, while still offering opportunities to learn and enjoy. These events have the potential to be entertaining and informative experiences. Employees will remember and discuss, leaving everyone with a positive experience.