The battle for talent is on everyone’s lips, and companies are finding it more difficult to attract, retain and motivate employees. Work-life balance, meetings in excess, insufficient return, these buzzwords are all traitors of the industry. To remedy the issue, money must be well spent, but how can we make sure of it?
Not another workshop, an experience
Making sure a workshop is truly effective needs a convincing format: strong outcomes can be achieved only with a programme that is playful, humorous and engaging. The journey matters as much as the destination.
During each sales conference, off-site meeting or incentive trip, it is important that interaction, engagement and passion are at its core. At The Experience Company, we tap into a client’s personal interests and hobbies, such as the wine they drink, their favourite cuisine or travel routine to identify what skills they can offer their work environment. The workshop becomes a real experience that benefits the company before, during and once it is complete.
Business trip getaways
When your board is away on business or your sales team has to entertain a customer on the weekend, what do they do? Often someone has to come up with an activity or itinerary to suit a generic interest, and this can be impersonal and unsatisfactory.
For visiting delegates in London, for instance, a great experience would be a comprehensive tour of the region’s wineries over the course of the weekend, a full-day culinary experience and an artistic immersion.
Get expert planners to have everything pre-arranged so that as soon as the working day is done on a Friday, transport, encounters with the winemaker, chef-supervised cookery lessons or painting in a studio along with hotels, meals and tour guide are all ready. This time spent away immediately becomes more valuable, and will resonate with delegates.
Collaborate with experts
Facilitating a memorable experience can only be achieved with the support of experts. It’s important that a team understands what the client needs and how their dynamic works, so they can work out how best to engage with every individual. The facilitators involved should also speak the local language as well as know the location and venue well.
Julien Yung Mameaux is a wine connoisseur and CEO of The Experience Company (www.TheExCo.com)
