The power of internal events

Why internal events have never been more important

Having just returned from treating the Powwow team to a trip to Marrakech to celebrate our 25th anniversary and thank them for their hard work during what has been a challenging couple of years, it got us thinking about the true value of internal company events.

With a quarter of a century’s experience in helping our clients engage and motivate their people, we have long recognised the power of internal events for creating an engaged and productive workforce.

But with a 2022 Gallup survey revealing that only 21% of people globally feel enthusiastic about their work or workplace, with that figure dropping to a rather worrying 9% in the UK, it’s clear that investing in employee engagement is now more important than ever.

The workplace is experiencing one of the biggest transformations ever seen, and the rapid shift to hybrid working accelerated by the pandemic means that companies need to catch up quickly and find new ways to engage their employees. Organising regular internal events should be a key part of this to help mitigate the effects of the loss of daily face-to-face interaction, encourage team bonding and keep your company culture thriving.

The Marrakech trip has certainly done wonders for us as a business – reenergising the team and making them feel valued, enabling everyone to bond away from the office, and giving us an opportunity to celebrate our successes as well as a fun and memorable shared experience.

But you don’t need to take your entire company away to engage people. There are plenty of ways we can and are working with our clients to find solutions to meet a range of objectives – from induction and training events through to leadership summits, and ideas and innovation forums through to incentive and reward trips.

You don’t even need to leave the office. For example, we worked with Nationwide, a long-standing client of Powwow to support them in producing an internal staff event which harnessed creativity and innovation within the business to look at possible time and cost savings. Held in the huge glass Atrium within Nationwide Headquarters, the Arthur Webb Challenge Cup semi-finals were a fast-paced series of thirty team pitches run over three days with a live broadcast and stream running alongside. This was not a formal corporate event, and we had the flexibility to create something completely different and unique in an internal space that not only engaged teams, but also resulted in some incredible ideas for improving the business.

Internal events like these, held within your company offices, can even be used as a tool for enticing people back into the office and giving them a reason to want to be there. As with any event, it’s important to understand what you are trying to achieve upfront. Is it about induction and training? Is it about communications and alignment with your brand values? Is it about encouraging innovation to improve productivity like the Arthur Web Challenge? Or is it to incentivise and reward like our Marrakech trip?

Whatever your objectives and budget, and we realise that budgets are stretched right now, we can work with you to find a solution. Companies that recognise the value in investing in their people, especially during those moments that matter on their employment journey, will have a more engaged and productive workforce. Your people are your biggest asset and if they are advocates of your brand, that will shine through to your clients. After our trip to Marrakech, our team have come back full of energy and ideas to help our clients practice what we preach.

If you would like some help engaging your employees, please get in touch CALENDLY LINK