When it works, an off-site event or retreat for employees, can be a great team- and culture-defining enterprise.

But when it goes off the rails — such as what happened when home-streaming platform firm Plex famously sent its team to a Survivor-themed getaway in Honduras back in 2017 — often the money and effort spent on it, is wasted.

So, what do companies and HR professionals need to know in order to conduct a successful event?

PeopleNX spoke with events-planning expert Loren Maisels, founder and president of Toronto-based LOMA Agency, about the pros and cons.

“We’re all sick of sitting in front of the computer all day long. Events, the best way to do it is face-to-face but also for employee engagement and culture building and connection and forging relationships, being together for a period of time, there’s nothing that’s like it,” she said.

“The value — when done correctly — is exceptional.”

Justifying outlay of money for fun

For employers, the upfront cost can sometimes be hard to defend. “Events are expensive; it’s an investment both financially and time, so we all know that they’re sometimes the first to get cut from the budget. If you can’t show value for what’s being executed, then you’re likely going to lose the opportunity to do it in the same fashion again,” Maisels said.

In order to conduct it effectively, the planning beforehand needs to take into account some questions to justify the sometimes-high cost.

“A lot of companies, they focus on the logistics and they want to do an event but they’re maybe not so focused on the why, and really being clear on the objectives at the outset, so why are we doing this? What are the goals? Because if they want to measure success after the event, how are you going to do that if you don’t set your intentions and goals before you go into it?”

HR leaders should have a clear idea of what they are trying to achieve among the workforce before jumping into the details, she said.

“A lot of companies just quickly run to the fun stuff which is, how do we throw a great party or retreat or have a good time, which is great: we love that, but then afterwards, when the question comes up of was it a success? That’s not always easy to answer if you don’t have a clear benchmark or guideline at the beginning.”

HR professionals should be looking to find out such things as, “did we accelerate cross-function with collaboration? Have we improved retention? Have we moved the needle on whether people understand what our goals, mission, vision and values are?”

“Everybody needs to have a clear vision as to what they’re hoping to achieve,” Maisels said.

Don’t overload list of things to do

When it comes to what types of events are best, it’s helpful to “evaluate your internal team’s bandwidth and skill-set,” before a final decision is made, according to Maisels.

Don’t try to pack too much into a day- or week-long event, she said. “Less is more. Often these events are packed with two days of intense amount of content, and that’s honestly the worst thing you can do because people are just bombarded with work and meetings, and so not creating enough space to let people breathe and connect, and just meet one another and enjoy their surroundings, or have fun.”

If you don’t leave that extra space, employers will see a bunch of exhausted employees when returning to work.

And when back in the office, holding a post-event survey can be valuable to see if the stated goals were achieved. “And then measuring those after the event to see . . . Did we improve the perception of people? Did we improve collaboration? Did we improve people’s perception of where the business was?” Maisels said.

Having an off-site event can also be a great way to combat disengagement, which continues to plague HR professionals.

“People are exhausted, and so they need time to step away from the day-to-day work . . . Everybody is doing more with less time and less resources, and so creating that reprieve to take a break, whether that’s quarterly; once a year, to bring up spirits and take a moment to show people appreciation, can have a big effect,” she said.