It’s the beginning of a new year which means we have an opportunity for a fresh start. With every New Year comes a new set of goals and a chance to sit down and plan your corporate events calendar for the year ahead.
So here’s to 2020! A year to keep staff morale high with regular, well-planned corporate events. By planning these now, you won’t find yourself wondering why you didn’t get around to organising any events for your staff when Christmas rolls around again.
We know it can seem daunting but the benefits of regular staff events are too important to ignore.
Time and time again, studies show that regular events improve workplace relationships, boost staff morale, increase employee retention and raise productivity.
Perhaps 2020 is your year to see these benefits for yourself. With these tips, you can’t go wrong.
Planning your corporate events calendar
Decide on frequency
There is no better time than now to lock in the dates on your corporate events calendar. Depending on how frequently you want to have your corporate events, you have the perfect opportunity at your fingertips to secure dates and venues a whole year in advance.
Corporate events don’t need to be a weekly or even monthly occurrence. Aiming for quarterly events is a good place to start. This way you can secure three good events throughout the year and still have your Christmas function at the end.
Planning now also allows you to see if you have any good dates for smaller functions between each of the quarterly events.
Plan a mix of training and leisure events
Your corporate events calendar should have a mix of training and leisure events.
While it’s great to host events that allow your staff to let their hair down, it’s also important to set aside some dates for training purposes. Training events are a fun and interactive way for your staff to learn something new. Whether it’s learning a new skill or discovering something about themselves, training events are a worthwhile investment that will take your staff’s abilities to a new level.
Now is a good time to look back on 2019 and think of areas you’d like to improve within your company in 2020.
To make it as easy as possible for you, enlist with a training organisation who specialise in training events for staff. This way you can hand over the reins and avoid spending too much valuable work time planning events.
Training events are important but it’s also important to have at least one leisure event during the year. Too often, companies wait until Christmas time for this to happen but to really keep your staff morale high throughout the year, it’s good to have at least one other non-training event for staff to look forward to.
Plan a mix of large events and small events
Planning your corporate events calendar is often made overwhelming because managers feel they need to plan one large event after another.
Keep in mind that smaller events are just as well-received as large events.
In fact, it is perfectly okay to only have one or two larger events per year. Many employees actually prefer smaller events so planning a mix of large and small events will make your corporate functions appeal to more staff.
As long as they’re frequent and well-planned, smaller corporate events are very enjoyable for staff and allow for a much more intimate setting to strengthen workplace relationships. If you run a large company with high staff numbers, consider planning events for each team, rather than all staff together.
Lock in the dates and secure the venues
There are many reasons to lock in dates as early as possible.
Firstly, by adding the dates to your employees’ calendars now, your staff will be able to see what dates they need to keep free. Last-minute excuses are much less common when there is plenty of notice given.
Secondly, securing dates now allows you to see at a glance what your year looks like and prevents planning events on a whim when you suddenly realise it’s been a while since you last got together. These kinds of events are always rushed and can leave staff feeling disappointed that they were taken away from their work for a lack-lustre event.
Lastly, locking in your dates allows you to also lock in your events venues.
We are already taking bookings for the year ahead and many companies who have come to us for corporate events in the past will be returning to enjoy our venue again in 2020.
We love to see the transformation that teams undergo while on corporate events at Markovina Vineyard Estate. By the end of the event, teams have developed an unbreakable bond that they take back to the workplace creating a win-win situation.
When you book your corporate event with us, we will take care of organising everything on your behalf.
We are an all-inclusive venue with an excellent food and beverage menu and all the equipment you need for an epic corporate event. Simply tell us what kind of event you’re hoping to have and how many people to expect.
Our extensive grounds offer space for all kinds of events, including:
- Work parties
- Seminars
- Conference dinners
- Afternoon events
- Training events
- Mid-winter functions
- Themed events
- Christmas parties
We will continue to use Markovina for our functions as the staff always make us feel welcome and go above and beyond what is required every year – Appliance Shed Papatoetoe
This year, add Markovina Vineyard Estate to your corporate events calendar and make planning easy. Give us a call today to secure your dates.
