From Rollercoasters to Toasted Marshmallows: the Importance of the Inzpire Summer Party.
10 Aug 16
Inzpire
He once said “I have always believed that the benefits of letting your staff have the occasional blast at an after-hours get-together is a hugely important ingredient in the mix that makes for a family atmosphere and a fun-loving, free-spirited corporate culture”. Here at Inzpire we wholeheartedly agree; and with 75% of our employees being ex-military we never need much of an excuse for a knees up and a glass (or three) of bubbly. Apart from the obvious end-of-year Christmas party bash, we also think the Great British Summer – rain or shine - is a fantastic opportunity for a get together.
For Inzpire, a great summer bash just wouldn’t work without the perfect venue. Everything about Inzpire is innovative; our products, our training services and our culture, so we like to have a venue that is as innovative as we are. Our last two summer parties have been held at Alton Towers, and a working farm respectively – worlds apart in terms of venue but both perfect for what we wanted. In July 2015 we hired out a hotel at Alton Towers to celebrate our 10th Anniversary, and colleagues enjoyed an all-expenses paid day in the Theme Park or Spa before a Gala dinner and free bar in the evening. One thing that made that summer event super special was that we were allowed to enjoy it “guilt-free” – we all got the day of the event, and the day after off without having to take leave, so we didn’t need to feel guilty when our slightly sore heads prevented us from heading back to the office the next day.
This year for our summer celebration we headed to one of our employees family farms for a weekend of camping, clay-pigeon shooting and marshmallow toasting. This time all of our families were invited too; the wives chatted about the perils of living with fighter pilots, the children played with the dogs and the men observed the BBQ. It was the perfect way to get to know each other’s families; people whom without this event being organised we may never have met. Next year we intend to carry on this theme, but turn it in to a mini festival, with some live music and fairground rides. And of course, plenty of cocktails and prosecco!
Of course, there are far more benefits to a summer party than the prosecco on tap. For us, we find that a mid-year event is:
• A great chance for the CEO and Management to say “Thanks!” to their teams for all their hard work over the first half of the year.
• An opportunity for our geographically-dispersed workforce to get together in one venue. We are in a period of rapid growth (our workforce has doubled in size in the last 2 years) so it’s an opportunity for all the new faces in the Company to meet everyone else.
• A great environment to learn more about the colleagues you share an office with every day; what does the HR lady like to do in her spare time? What is the Office Administrator’s favourite TV programme? What is your bosses favourite chocolate bar (essential knowledge for when you want to butter them up before asking for a deadline extension)?
Taking the time to get to know our colleagues at events like Summer parties leads to the family atmosphere which Richard Branson alludes to. It allows colleagues to create mutually experienced memories, too, which are always a great conversation starter in the future. It isn’t rare for us to joke about me crying whilst on Nemesis at our Alton Towers party (not my finest hour), or two of my colleagues pretending to a couple of slightly bemused strangers that we were all part of one family at a Wedding gone wrong!
Blog originally written as a guest post for breatheHR and published at: http://worklab.breathehr.com/from-rollercoasters-to-toasted-marshmellows-the-importance-of-the-summer-party
Reference: 'Why Parties Are Essential', Richard Branson.
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