RECHARGE AND RE-ENERGIZE YOUR TEAM BY INVESTING IN AN OFF-SITE EVENT

DAY-TO-DAY OPERATIONS of your practice can be hectic and stressful. Your eye care team is often the first impression of your business to new patients; so helping your staff to deal with the daily grind is an important business strategy. One way to recharge and re-energize your team is an off-site staff retreat.

The benefits of a staff retreat:

• Much-needed one-on-one time with your team
• Better relationships with each employee
• They show you care about staff well-being and work-life balance.
• They enable you to discuss important business initiatives.
• They allow for feedback and encourage idea sharing.
• They involve the entire team in the company direction and strategy.

OK, so now that you are sold on the benefits of holding a staff retreat, what are some specific ideas for a staff retreat? Here are four:

1 TEAM BUILDING

Teams that play together, stay together! Take the team out of the office, and go have some fun. Consider lots of team activities: bowling, scavenger hunts, mazes or simply going out for lunch. Corporate team-building activities you can pay for, such as a “locked room,” team Olympics or structured team activities, require your team members to work together toward a desired end goal, which can translate to the practice.

2 CONFERENCES

Take your team to an optometry conference. Not only will they get some great practical learning in CE sessions, but built-in social opportunities allow your team to bond and connect. Yes, it is expected you should pay for both the conference and staff time, as both are considered “work.” And, yes, stick with your team as much as you can.

3 TEAM STAFF MEETING

Plan a full-day meeting away from the office. Start with an inspirational message from the practice owner(s), including successes and wins at the office and by individuals. Include a list of goals and objectives. Invite or hire speakers, either from vendors or industry, who can supply informational or motivational talks to get your staff pumped to go back to the office.

4 DESTINATION GET AWAY

Plan a complete getaway for the team. If they hit a huge goal, for example, your team receives a trip to a tropical destination, a weekend in the mountains or a trip to New York to attend Vision Expo. Make it something truly extraordinary.

Perhaps you think this is too extravagant? These types of perks and incentives usually pay back tenfold in employee retention and engagement. Plus, if they hit the goal, the dollars should be there.

FINAL THOUGHTS

You can’t go wrong by investing in your team. Sit today, pull out the calendar, and plan a staff retreat. You and your staff will be glad you did. OM

MS. CHAREST is the co-founder of 4ECPs, a practice management resource company for eye care professionals. 4ECPs has six divisions, including eye care jobs, marketing, social media, payments, events and training. Visit www.4ecps.com , or email trudi@4ecps.com.