5 Best Reasons To Offer Corporate Wellness Retreat To Your Employees

Modern workplace cultures can be detrimental to your physical and mental health. Stress and fatigue are among the leading causes of sedentary lifestyles, costing employees and employers.

Did you know that rewarding your employees with a long vacation can surpass the average employee well-being strategy? Well, it's time for you to reconsider your corporate programs with Wellness retreats.

Your employees spend half of their life doing their 9 to 5 jobs. A 2021 Gallup Study convinced that 76% of employees face burnout sometimes, and 28% of the others report experiencing burnout very often at work. It is a common myth that reducing working hours will help prevent burnout. However, that is not true.

Around 50% of them consider being workaholics living a worse work-life balance. Another study by the U.S. The Travel Association reports that 768 million vacation days of an employee go unused in a year.

It supports the idea that retreating from mundane life and seeking peace and tranquility is the need of the hour.

Traveling improves mental, physical, and spiritual health. It keeps one stress-free, rejuvenated, purposeful, and productive. It means leaders can use this way of employee wellness for greater effectiveness.

So are you curious to know what's in store for today's blog?

Well, I will take you in-depth with Corporate Wellness Retreats.

But before that, let's start with basics!

What Is A Corporate Wellness Retreat?

A retreat is a way of disconnecting from the regular hustle of a stressful life. A corporate or wellness retreat is an invaluable experience in culture building and brainstorming to create a healthy work environmentstress to produce more innovation and creative thinking.

A corporate wellness retreat is a specialized program that promotes health and well-being. It generally has an organizational value or agenda. It is usually used to solve a particular problem or create a strategy to manage stress and plan for the year ahead to increase camaraderie, employee engagement, and productivity.

The goal of holistic wellness can be achieved through physical, spiritual, or psychological exercises either through a trip or a therapeutic session. The options for creating the best wellness retreats for your employee health and well-being are endless.

The purpose of a corporate retreat is to support the organization's growth and improve communication and team building across departments. It is a quick getaway that helps your employees unwind from their hectic work life, providing them with a zen respite of peace and harmony.

Suggested Read: 12 Fantastic Ways To Relax At Work And Let Go

Benefits Of Offering A Wellness Retreat

• An upsurge in participation in corporate wellness programs.
• Better performance at work
• Increased productivity and quality of work
• Able to brainstorm new ideas
• Enhanced loyalty for the organization

Suggested Read: The Benefits Of Outdoor Activities For Work Productivity

Reasons To Offer A Corporate Wellness Retreat

1. Create a strong and resilient team

Building a solid team with a common goal is the foundation of every successful business. Also, diversifying the team encourages new ideas and gives a different perspective on organizational success.

Lack of communication within these differently skilled employees can be a massive roadblock in achieving a shared goal.

Hence, a group or company retreat can counter the communication gap and build employee trust

This will boost team morale and will help you to identify their strengths and weaknesses during team performances.

So when you return to work after the retreat, you will be able to focus on their performance management and provide solutions for better interpersonal relationships.

2. Foster better work-life balance

Balancing work and personal life is the biggest issue faced by many corporate employees.

Then it's high time to offer them a health retreat such as an Ayurvedic one.
Health retreats will educate your employees about the correlation between mental stress and well-being. This will help them in living a meaningful life.

As our daily busy life pressurizes our mental wellness, this retreat will foster a better work-life balance.

3. Better involvement in physical fitness

In a typical work environment, your employees are busy scheduling and rescheduling deadlines and meetings. This hectic work culture unintentionally wreaks chaos on their physical wellness. Unfortunately, they become a victim of sedentary life, inviting various health hazards.

Taking a wellness retreat will not only boost camaraderie but also inspire leading a healthy life.

After the resort, they will eat with caution and involve in daily physical activities.

4. Develops problem-solving skills

If yes? you would like to offer them a weekend retreat, a hiking retreat, or a volunteer retreat. This will give them new perspectives on dealing with their life problems.

Giving them a week off from the daily hustle of work, these retreats introduce new avenues to lead their life.

The resort will provide your employees with various tools required during the activities. The hands-on learnings are so valuable that your employees can use their inspiration in their business dilemmas.

5. Better management of emotional stress

Working in corporate life can be a hectic call for a person who isn't strong-willed from inside.

They might often face self-doubt situations while performing their job. They get easily trapped in the maze of self-comparison and become the victim of emotional stress.

Offering spiritual retreats or solo wellness retreats will enhance your employees' mental wellbeing.

They will learn to control their emotions well and will be able to perform better in their roles. It will help them to bring their better versions to work.

Planning And Organizing An Employee Wellness Retreat

One of the most important steps when planning and organizing a wellness retreat for your employees is the need for attention to detail and preparing a proper strategy. Retreats are a great way to focus on your employees' healing and renewal.

A step-by-step guided plan can help you organize the perfect retreat for your employees. You can also use corporate travel management tool to help with this. Here's an example of the same below to help you get started -

1. Be clear about the purpose and goal.

The plan's first step is to determine your wellness retreat's purpose and end goal. Ensure that your employees know what they are getting themselves into, whether it is about managing stress, team building, promoting a healthy lifestyle, or simply for them to unwind and relax.

Suggested Read: 47 Unique Stress Management Activities for Employees

2. Create a budget and itinerary.

Nest step would be to establish a budget for the retreat considering all the factors like transportation, accommodations, activities, meals, and any guest speakers to facilitate the retreat.

You can select the location or the convenient time for the retreat based on the budget. Setting up the itinerary ahead of time will help you save a lot. It will also allow your employees to participate when they know the location's accessibility.

Suggested Read: The Benefits Of Outdoor Activities For Work Productivity

3. Form a planning committee.

To make sure your planning committee is diverse and speaks for all, try to assemble or include members in the committee from all the departments. It will help with planning, as you can access different opinions and views. Assign specific tasks to each committee member to avoid inconvenience or last-minute obstacles.

Suggested Read: Wellness Leadership: Strategies for a Healthier, Happier Workplace

4. Identify suitable activities and workshops.

Retreats can be expensive and ineffective if not planned properly. One of the key factors of any wellness retreat is deciding upon the activity or workshop. Make sure to research and choose activities that align with the purpose and goal of your wellness retreat.

5. Communicate with your employees and consider their feedback.

The next step would be to inform your employees about the retreat ahead of time so that they can register their participation. Ensure you communicate with your employees about the itinerary, purpose, location, time, or any relevant information about the retreat to avoid any last-minute confusion.

Also, try to be more inclusive when organizing the retreat. Make sure to include or be open to employee feedback if you have planned similar events to avoid any mistakes or make improvements if required.

In A Corporate Wellness Retreat, What Can You Do?

The primary focus of corporate wellness retreats should be the healing and rejuvenation of your employees. It should offer activities and programs designed by leading health and wellness experts that offer your employees the time and respite to focus on their health.

You should emphasize using techniques and skills, including physical and mental relaxation activities like mindfulness, meditation, relaxation, resilience techniques, and effective communication methods. It will help your employees to cope better with workplace stress.

Again, resilience from the pressure generated from the working environment can disrupt both employees' physical and mental health. Hence, the corporate wellness retreat activities should be designed to bespeak the organization's requirements.

The activities can vary according to the purpose of the organization's goals. For example, it can be either yoga or pilates sessions. These activities should allow employees to take off their mind and body with daily ingredients of mindfulness talks, Pilates, and yoga to unwind tight muscles and nourishing food so their bodies can heal.

Or you can provide leisure activities or games for them to escape time, relax, reenergize, and realign their body so they can return to work with a nourished mind.

Here are five examples of the most popular corporate wellness retreats ideas that you can incorporate -

5 Famous Wellness Retreat Ideas Your Employees Will Love

Yoga retreat

Yoga retreat helps you to delve deeper into your inner self. It enlightens your energies and makes you realize your capabilities.

You will learn various yoga postures, asanas, and dhyanas from a yogi or a certified teacher.

Suggested Read: 10 Best Yoga Challenges For Your Employees To Boost Workplace Wellness

Ayurveda retreat

Ayurveda is a holistic medical science which also promotes inner wellbeing through herbs and therapy. You will get a complete detoxification of your body through its various wellness offerings.

You will learn how our body depends on the environment and how to improve your lifestyle. A certified Ayurved practitioner will guide you through panchakarma, which is a famous Ayurvedic process.

Weekend retreat

If there is a shortage of time, then a weekend retreat is ideal for your employees. You can book a safari or self organize hiking sport in a nearby hill during the weekend.

This the most effective and cheapest of all, retreats; it will only need a little spirit to call it a grand success.

Company retreat

If you want to encourage team participation, then the company retreat is an ideal choice. This retreat stands to be excellent on so many levels. It gives a chance to shun their professional ways and do good networking with their higher authorities.

Organizing a retreat in some resort or a nearby destination is an excellent way to spend quality time with the entire team.

Suggested Read: Office Fitness Challenge: 8 Fun And Exciting Ideas You Should Try

Food retreat

Food retreats are for food lovers. If your employees love binge-watching, then offering them some healthy food alternatives for some coupons is a great way to win their hearts.

You can also treat your employees with different cuisines around the world. Taking them in various food festivals is one way to enjoy time with them.

Suggested Read: 25 Easy And Delicious Office Party Snacks and Drinks Ideas

Employee Wellness Retreats: Why Should Organizations Do Them?

Corporate wellness retreats are becoming increasingly popular because of workplace stress. In today's work environment, employees are more burnt out than ever before, especially post-pandemic, due to the drastic change in work culture.

According to a recent study by Stress levels rise oracle and workplace intelligence, almost 76% of workers believe organizations can do much more to support their mental health. Here are a few more reasons why you must have a wellness retreat as a part of your wellness program -

1. According to the study conducted by Xerox, almost 74% of employers view well-being as a tool to retain and recruit talent.

2. Another research by WHO has shown that wellness retreat activities like mindfulness, yoga, and many others can help to reduce sick leave absenteeism by 27% and healthcare costs by 26%.

3. A recent Gallup study found that almost 23% of employees experience burnout very often, and 63% of them are most likely to take sick leave, further reducing productivity.

4. Another Gallup research shows millennials appreciate the experience more than anything regarding their emotional well-being. The returns on vacations or activities are measured emotionally, far greater than traditional monetary incentives.

5. According to Entrepreneur, 72% of the global workforce reported feeling lonely at least once a month and 55% weekly while working remotely. Company retreats will help.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the point of a corporate wellness retreat?

The purpose of corporate retreats is to boost morale, foster collaboration, and save money. They enable large organizations to socialize, recognize contributions, and break down barriers.

2. What is the difference between a wellness resort and a wellness retreat?

A wellness retreat is more goal-oriented and structured, with a focus on targeting underlying issues to help the participants change their behaviors. Whereas, a wellness resort serves as a quick fix or a band-aid to fix or make your stay better.

3. Why are team retreats important?

Teams retreats are important as they help your team to brainstorm and come up with creative solutions, as they are in brand new settings. Offsite team meetings encourage better communication and remove barriers that the office might have in place.

Conclusion

A corporate wellness retreat is more than just a peaceful weekend getaway for your employees. A wellness program should include health and well-being, resilience training, stress relief, and specific training around nutrition, positivity, and mindfulness so that you will return home with a whole new perspective.

In organizations with resilient and thriving cultures, teams grow stronger through adversity to achieve their objectives.

It's a process of excellent communication, networking, teamwork, and elevated employee health and wellness.

It delivers long-lasting results that help your employees live by the teachings and apply them in their own lives. It also helps build a reliable and robust team by engaging in various group retreats, ultimately enhancing employee engagement.