Corporate retreats are an important opportunity for team building, professional development, and overall employee satisfaction. One common debate is whether partners should be allowed to attend these retreats. This blog explores the advantages and disadvantages of including partners in corporate retreats, supported by expert insights and statistical data from reputable sources.

What is the point of Corporate Retreats?

Corporate retreats serve as a way for employees to step away from their daily work routines and engage in activities that promote collaboration, creativity, and relaxation. Some organizations choose to extend invitations to partners, turning the retreat into an event that also supports personal life. This approach can strengthen family bonds and enhance work-life balance, but it also raises questions about maintaining a professional focus during the retreat.

Are there any benefits to including partners at a corporate retreat?

Inviting partners to corporate retreats can promote a better balance between work and personal life. When family members participate in social activities, employees may feel more supported both at work and at home.

Incorporating partners can create a more relaxed and inclusive atmosphere during the retreat. When employees see that their employers value their personal lives, it can lead to higher morale and loyalty. Forbes notes that organisations that integrate family-friendly policies tend to have more engaged and motivated teams. Not to mention the research showing that this approach can also lead to lower employee turnover.

If including partners isn't one of the best ways to show you care about families than I don't know what could be (except of course ensuring people finish work on time, provide flexibility and give the trust to work in a hybrid environment...).

Why you shouldn't allow partners at your corporate retreat?

What could go wrong? You have all your staff together and some people brought their families, some brought their partners and some brought their friends disguised as partners.

Depending on the activities at your corporate retreat, you may want to consider the implications of alcohol fueled events, or activities and the impact from a Work Health Safety perspective. You need to ensure your representatives and policies cover what happens if someone is injured, who was not an employee, but a direct relation of that employee that you invited.

Beyond the WHS side of things, you do need to note there are likely going to be increase costs (yes there are increased benefits too). Are you planning on covering larger rooms to fit families? Are families able to join in on meals, activities or entertainment?

The final thing to consider is that some employees are likely not going to engage with your retreat, and may spend more time than appropriate doing things that aren't work, or weren't on the agenda.

Do we believe it's a good idea to have partners at your event?

It depends.

The most irritating answer and something we tend to avoid doing at BizziEvents.

If you are running a small executive corporate retreat, where you have a clear agenda and deliverables, perhaps having family isn't the right call. You want everyone focused on the work and likely will be spending longer days than expected completing that work.

If you are running a company wide retreat to launch the newest values, inviting partners and family is a great idea. In terms of costs, we would probably expect partners to be able to join, but if there is a need to book larger rooms or pay above the rate, it is self funded.

Whatever you do, make sure you don't have hot coals as a function of your next event, or risk having two dozen staff burnt during hot coal team-building.

If you are going to be having partners there, make sure you are adding more time into your agenda for family time. After all, if you are allowing partners to your corporate retreat, you should allow for some sort of family time.