Inclusive events have the power to bring your team closer, fostering connection and growth. Yet, creating a safe environment can feel challenging. A holistic approach to planning can make all the difference. To help, this post offers resources for creating an inclusive offsite experience to unite, nurture, and empower your team.
Learn More Deloitte has found that nearly 85 percent of millennials are actively engaged at work when they believe their work culture is inclusive. Beyond that, Harvard Business Review also discovered that team members who have a stronger sense of belonging and inclusion at work have a 167% higher eNPS score (a score that ranks whether or not they'd recommend their workplace to others), and the companies they work at perform better and have lower turnover.
So, if your business is struggling with low engagement or turnover, one factor could be your company's approach to inclusion or lack thereof. And since offsites and events are some of the greatest ways to foster connections within teams, it's an area worth considering in your efforts to be more inclusive.
Today, we're sharing tips for how to get started with your inclusive event planning strategy.
As event organizers start to plan for an offsite company event, it's important to keep a focus on inclusion from the very beginning. An inclusive event is one where all attendees feel welcome, heard, and valued regardless of their background, identity, or ability.
Inclusion isn't just a buzzword, it's a real strategy that can help organizations achieve their goals and build a stronger team. To prioritize inclusion, take the time to think about how you can make it as inclusive as possible before booking activities, travel, and talking logistics.
Additionally, your organization may have existing inclusion policies, strategies, and best practices that are shared with C-Suite and manager-level teams but not necessarily with event organizers. So, company event planners can set up meetings with HR teams, DEI teams, employee resource group leaders, etc., to glean information on optimal approaches for inclusion already in play, which can then be infused into the event strategy.
Select a destination that is easily accessible via multiple modalities of transportation (think planes, trains, and automobiles) so team members can decide how they're most comfortable traveling.