In recent years, corporate retreats have increased due to remote and hybrid work becoming more common. Hosting your company retreat can help foster relationships which, in turn, leads to higher productivity. This provides great benefits to your employees that may now work from home, as they may experience little in-person interaction with coworkers. One key decision you must make is whether your retreat will be a smaller scale affair hosted at your office or an off-site retreat. Making each option affordable is attainable.
Your Office
Staying on your company’s premises can keep out-of-pocket costs in check. The most obvious is that you won’t need to rent meeting rooms. And, assuming employees live in the area, you won’t have transportation and lodging expenses. You’ll also likely spend less on food and beverages. A local restaurant can cater your meals and snacks, and you could buy beverages in bulk.
On the downside, employees tend to view on-site retreats as just another day at the office. This can hamper creative thinking and team building and limit possible activities. Worse, employees may be distracted if they can frequently run back to their desks to check email and voicemail.
Off-Site Locations
In general, workers are better able to focus on a retreat agenda at an off-site location. They’re in a new, “special” environment with no visual cues to trigger workday routines. So, even though you’ll incur greater costs than if you’d stayed in your office, you may get a better return on investment.
The fact is, hotels and other facilities that host company retreats need and want your business. Many things may be negotiable, and you might be able to snag discounts by booking or paying early. Get several quotes and compare prices and services. You’ll have more leverage if you avoid scheduling your retreat during seasonal peaks when local venues tend to be busy with weddings, trade shows, and industry conferences.
Hotels earn their biggest margins on food, beverages, and meeting setup fees, so they may be willing to provide complimentary or discounted rooms for guest speakers and out-of-town employees. Also, try to negotiate a flat food-and-beverage price for the entire retreat, rather than a per-person or per-event rate.
Possible Tax Relief
Here’s another way to save: Some of your company retreat expenses may be tax-deductible. They need to meet IRS criteria as “ordinary and necessary” business expenses and can’t be extravagant or include expenditures for employees’ spouses. In general, business meals are only 50% deductible, and entertainment costs are nondeductible. Contact us to learn more about tax-deductible costs and the IRS’ documentation requirements.
