Rise of the Retreat

The rise of China is often referred to as a “resurgence”. After all, China was the world power – politically, economically and culturally – for millennia (for those of you with Chinese friends, you’ll probably have been reminded about China's 5,000 years of history) before fierce competition in Europe kick-started technological innovations that enabled us to explore further and faster. The rest, as we know, is history.

Like the resurgence of China, company retreats in the business world have rebounded since the Great Recession – but this time with different characteristics.

Today, many organisers are not looking to match the pre-recession extravagance (think AIG). Retreats are smaller in scale, executed in teams and have far more focused agendas. It’s not necessary to splurge on a retreat for it to be a beneficial investment for your company.

The Huffington Post has suggested “rather than spend limited company resources on in-office training by guest speakers (an expensive, time-consuming and, in many cases, frustrating process), corporate retreats need to be on your business' radar”.

Combining corporate training with a company getaway can be an economical and efficient way to maximise your team’s potential (if managed by the right people) by helping to revive your staff and empower them to develop skills that in turn propel your company to new heights and to capturing more opportunities. After all, when better to adopt improved thinking processes, workflow and problem solving skills when contented, happy and relaxed? Consider for a moment an employer who offers their team:

• Cutting-edge training in leadership after a morning on the ski slopes
• Mountain yoga before an ideation session with management, where you’re able to clear the mind before strategising how best to achieve your milestones

UK-based Entrepreneurs Retreat is a fine example of an organisation that assists companies to build business confidence, where co-founder Josh Taylor provides training for various FTSE 100 companies at their Cornwall Retreat. This service is vital when, according to Forbes, 70% of organisations cite “capability gaps” as one of their top five challenges. The retreat content must therefore tackle this problem directly for it to have tangible value and real-world application (the success of such retreats explains why the training industry is worth over $130 billion – growing 15% in 2013 in the United States alone).

Outside of the US and UK, there is also a growing demand for company retreats in China. Many State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) are in the process of moving away from being state-led to market-led. Here, the demand for managers with strong leadership skills and international experience is growing faster than the supply of qualified candidates, who urgently need to adapt to a more competitive and international environment. This also makes it difficult for companies to successfully pull off the internal transfer-of-knowledge that they are now so thirsty for.

In sum

Whether you’re from an established multinational or booming start-up, company retreats are a robust way to improve upon the creativity, productivity, efficiency and, ultimately, profits of the company.

Technology and globalisation are shifting business paradigms. The best way to deal with change is to prepare for it through training, cross-cultural learning and by strengthening your team’s capabilities.

John Maxwell, a New York Times bestselling author, once noted that “leaders become great because of their ability to empower others”. Training your colleagues in the right environment will lead to the emergence of an agile team of leaders that is apt, not just to cope but thrive in today’s increasingly non-linear work place and rapidly shifting global markets. Learning and travelling should never cease at the classroom, particularly if hosted in a country of strategic interest.

Sources:

• Forbes – Spending on Corporate Training Soars: Employee Capabilities Now A Priority
• Huffington Post – Why Corporate Retreats Need to Make a Comeback