Event Marketer Spring 2023 - 23

IDEAS
The Forecast respondents also pointed
to the critical role that in-person meetings
play in preserving company values,
onboarding staff-a particularly painstaking
process for the event industry-and
increasing overall employee engagement.
Clearly,
the weekly bar cart
requires
is no
longer going to cut it. Crafting internal
events that resonate with today's workforce
intention.
As Whitney
Eichinger, svp-culture and communications
at Southwest Airlines, put it, " You
can decorate anything, but you have to
have culture at your core. "
So, where to begin? Check out six tips
and takeaways on cultivating employee
experiences that deliver emotional ROI.
TRICKLE-DOWN EFFECT
Recognizing and rewarding staffers for
their hard work is table stakes at this point
in the game, and for good reason. Not
only is it the right thing to do, it makes
for good business. When employees are
fulfilled, that positive energy inevitably
trickles down into their work, their internal
relationships and the way they treat
customers, clients and stakeholders.
Take Power Home Remodeling, whose
30-person internal events team produces
a three-day experiential music festival
and employee retreat in Mexico each
December as a thank-you for the staff's
hard work. (It's just one of more than 250
employee events produced annually, from
workshops to conferences to hackathons.)
The 2022 event included intimate performances
from the likes of Bruno Mars, Wiz
Khalifa and Bryce Vine; wellness classes;
interactive art experiences; a light show
installation that literally came from Burning
Man; staff contests and talent shows;
beach games and a roller skating rink.
Every touchpoint was designed to be out
of the ordinary.
" We're big on exposure and creating
something that [employees] don't get to
do in their typical lives that could ultimately
improve the quality of their lives
inside and outside of work, " says Chelsea
Sullivan, vp-people experience at Power
Home Remodeling. " We want the employees
to feel happy and healthy and fulfilled,
and then they can better serve our customers
and hopefully, in the end, we're
better serving our communities at large.
And then the company truly becomes a
full-service business. "
It's a similar story for family-owned
convenience store chain Sheetz, which
eventmarketer.com
" The important thing is seeing how
happy employees are. It's not a direct
ROI that we can provide. It's kind of like
hugging your mom-it just feels right. "
-Chelsea Sullivan, VP-People Experience,
Power Home Remodeling
operates 600 U.S. locations and hosts an
array of internal events each year, from
its year-end managers conference in
the Bahamas (Jack Morton handles), to
Sheetz Fest, which marks employee tenure
awards, to myriad events held regionally.
" We collaborate on: What is the feeling
that we want employees to leave with? "
says Stephanie Doliveira, evp-people and
culture at Sheetz Inc. " What are the things
that we want them to tell their co-workers
when they go back to their store? Or, if
they're a manager, do they feel inspired to
go back to motivate their teams? And so
all of that goes into designing events that
are intended to inspire, inform, celebrate. "
EMPLOYEE EMPOWERMENT
In all of our conversations with brand
h.r. directors and chief people officers,
one word came up over and over again:
empowerment. Employees want a stake
in the game. They want ownership over
their work. And when leadership delivers,
internal culture is bolstered.
" We always lean toward the customer
when there's a problem to solve, " says
Eichinger. " Our employees feel a sense of
empowerment at Southwest that they're
able to hold that door two more minutes
to make sure the customer is making
that connection, or take the extra time
when they see someone celebrating on
the plane to deliver them something or
make a funny announcement about it.
Empowering them is most important, and
then knowing who you are as a company
and emulating that through your culture. "
CAMARADERIE, CONNECTION
Employees don't just want to be connected
to the communities they work with,
they want
to feel connection with one
another. Regardless of the experiential
strategy, fostering a sense of internal
camaraderie is vital to keeping a modern
workforce engaged and driven.
For Sullivan, building activities into
internal events that invite Power Home
Remodeling's employees to come out of
their shells-like the staff talent shows at
Quest-is an effective approach.
" We're encouraging them to put out
what their talents are to their co-workers
and let them have that free spirit opportunity
to showcase their personal side, " she
says. " And they then feel comfortable after
that type of setting to bring that back into
the office in a smaller sense, like getting
together with their co-workers and doing
karaoke on the weekends. They get to see
different sides of each other to help build
that camaraderie back home. "
Doliveira agrees that it's critical to
design experiences that inspire employees
to connect by showing up as their " whole "
selves. Sheetz's employee events are often
informative, but they're also decidedly celebratory
and community-driven.
" People really do enjoy the opportunity
to be together in person to create that
camaraderie, to celebrate together, to feel
the energy, " she says. " So [internal] events
end up being that unique experience for
connection that drives motivation, that
drives engagement, that drives all the
things that we're trying to do to retain
great people. "
Nurturing that sense of authenticity
also applies to leadership, adds Doliveira.
" It's fundamental to build that trust across
the whole organization. It's so great to see
the ceo in person and realize he's a regular
person, or to see other executives wearing
a silly hat or dancing on the dance floor.
Through events, we're able to show that
our leaders and the family are very downSPRING
2023 EVENT MARKETER
23
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Event Marketer Spring 2023

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