Rebuild your culture (in person!) to bolster company retention rates

Before many of us shifted into remote work in the last few years, we used a different term for in-person company events: Team-building. Whether companies were offering a simple happy hour after a day in the office, a holiday party with the best local band onstage, or a two-day retreat away from the office, the goal was clear: To build camaraderie among the staff tasked with accounting, marketing, operations, HR and recruiting and more.

The numbers prove that team-building isn’t just good for morale, it’s also good for business. A Gallup study shows that many companies’ biggest issues – low productivity and profitability and high attrition – can be traced back to low employee engagement. Conversely, when employees are engaged, companies can see a rise of up to 18% in productivity and sales, 23% in profitability and 43% lower turnover.

In short, those who are engaged at work are less likely to leave work early, blow off deadlines or “quiet quit.” Those who feel a true sense of belonging are more likely to act like a team. So, what does team-building look like in a world where many employees and agents are working from home and prefer to be there?

How brokers and team leaders can bring back in-person events

Even though people do have a deep desire to connect in-person, many have grown comfortable working from home and (it must be said) working in sweatpants. You cannot simply host an event and assume that attendance will be maxed out. Instead, you’ll have to do some simple selling to encourage attendance and engagement.

Remember, the five reasons that people attend live events are:

1. Food

2. Fun

3. Fame

4. Community

5. Education

And while you can certainly provide a great food and bev spread, or bring in a guest speaker or offer free CE classes, the primary focus of a team-building event should be connection. Make sure there is plenty of time for people to engage naturally with one another, and enough space for folks to move from one conversation to another.

This is when the “magic” of team-building occurs. Your two top team leaders may end up sharing margarita recipes and their favorite client engagement strategies. Your HR and marketing employees may finally get a chance to establish that they worked together briefly, 10 years ago… and are excited to catch up again. Your broker-in-charge may find out that someone else in the company is a rabid Houston Astros fan. These small connections may seem trivial, but they’re critical to building culture. Having an open line of communication or an inherent connection between decision-makers is what paves the way for higher productivity, profitability and lower attrition numbers.

Build an event people can’t wait to attend! Download our guide for planning and hosting an event with the five motivating factors that drive attendance and excitement.

Build connections and retention

Salespeople – whether they be your agents, your marketing team, your HR or operations leaders who are in charge of bringing in new talent and building culture – tend to be emotional decision-makers. By helping to facilitate a positive emotional connection to your company or organization through in-person events, you will make it much, much harder for anyone to successfully recruit them.

If you’re looking for a way to engage or re-engage your team in 2023, reach out to the T3 Events Group. We plan and execute dozens of events exclusively for the residential real estate industry, and we would relish the opportunity to help get your team back on track.