The office phone system is clogged with messages and there’s a worried shareholder waiting outside the door. An urgent e-mail missive about the company’s second-quarter results has just landed on your computer screen and your cellphone is beeping the William Tell Overture.

So much for keeping a cool head in preparation for fine-tuning your company’s strategic plan.

While multi-tasking is second nature in today’s fast-paced world, many business leaders are turning to a time-tested solution for getting away TO it all – the corporate retreat.

Photo courtesy Jasper Park Lodge
Jasper Park Lodge is one of many venues around the province with special facilities for corporate clients seeking quiet, fully equipped meeting space.

Whether it’s to create or build on company strategy, train staff or even just re-connect with your business goals, retreats can be a useful tool for learning. And while some cost-conscious businesses are relying more on in-house facilities for planning or training sessions, others continue to seek off-site space where people can relax together yet still engage in some serious work.

Spectacular mountain settings including Banff, Kananaskis and Jasper remain hugely popular destinations for many Alberta firms.

Sue Kavanagh, director of conference services for Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge, says a typical corporate retreat involves a two- or three-night stay, and clients can add hiking, golfing or other outdoor excursions to complement their business agenda.

Chris Buerger

Unlike a hotel room in a busy downtown area with plenty of distractions, Kavanagh says, the quiet lodge setting and its private executive cabins allow for focus and interruption-free strategy planning.

“When you have the people in a resort environment, you have a captive audience,” she says.

“They’re here for the 72 hours they are together, and even after dinner they’re likely to gather in the lobby bar for a nightcap.”

For larger firms such as Burnaby-based TELUS, retreats also offer a chance to bring together staff who may be scattered across the country. “A lot of our people never
see each other – they do their meetings over the phone,” says Brad Harper, electronics human-resources vice-
president for TELUS.

“When you get them away like that and they’re locked together, the operational stuff can get done in a short period of time.”

A change of scenery can make a huge difference, agrees Chris Buerger, head of CEO Corporate Event Organization, an Edmonton-based firm that helps companies and government groups from across Alberta plan retreats and other events.

“We’re so tied to electronics and timeliness and always being on call. It’s really difficult when people are in a familiar environment, with their pagers and cellphones going and their e-mails beeping,” she says.

But retreats aren’t always about how much work can be accomplished in an isolated environment.

Blowing off steam and having fun can be just as important to a company’s performance as drafting next year’s business plan.

“We just had a group doing a canoeing trek that ended with a barbecue at Fort Edmonton,” says Buerger.

“People are just plain old tired these days . . . if you make them think too hard, it’s not going to work.”

While many companies send only their top performers or their executive leadership teams on retreat, others make use of off-site destinations for general staff training and team-building exercises – which can range from adventure-packed excursions such as whitewater rafting or just getting the group together in quiet, pastoral surroundings.


You wouldn’t think that sitting under a tree would be a useful training exercise, but at IKEA, it’s just the ticket for motivating staff and improving teamwork, says Calgary IKEA human-resources manager Abhay Sisodiya.

He says workers at the city’s northeast store are constantly being bombarded with overhead pages, e-mail and phone messages, so it made sense to take them to a retreat for a training session.

“Your mind is more on the training than if you were sitting at the store or at your worksite,” says Sisodiya. “You don’t have to worry about phone calls or memo, nobody comes and disturbs you.

“By sitting under a tree and talking about particular situations, it makes it easier to really be relaxed and
comfortable and know that you’re coming from a good perspective.”

Shawn Ripley of Ripley Ridge Retreat in west Calgary says many of his clients are simply looking for a well-equipped, creative environment close to home. “By changing a group’s environment, taking them outside of their usual day-to-day and putting them somewhere new, they’re going to be inspired,” he says.

Other companies are upgrading their own facilities, or opting for in-house retreats and learning sessions. Shell Canada, for example, has designed and built a special floor to serve as a conference/learning centre, says Janet Rowley, manager of public affairs.

“It allows us to ‘get away’ in that the environment is dedicated to classrooms and conference rooms, and phones are at a minimum,” says Rowley.

“It is decorated in an attractive and functional way, and it’s available for any Shell employee or team to book . . . so it sets the right tone for both productivity and cost management.”

Petro-Canada’s executive team and board head to the Rimrock Hotel in Banff for just the right blend of peace and focus, says Greta Raymond, human resources vice-president for
Petro-Canada – but the trips are never considered perks.

“It really is very intensive work – you’re talking and thinking about the whole business and how to make it successful. It’s a couple of intensive days together with no interruptions,” she says.

Petro-Canada also offers what it calls “off-sites” in Kananaskis to allow leadership teams to get away from their phones and work on specific planning agendas – but keeps a careful eye on making sure the outcomes justify the costs.

“Being cost-conscious, we would look to doing things on-site unless it’s the annual planning meeting or something like that,” says Raymond. “If you spend money to go somewhere, you want to make sure you’re doing it for a reason.”

Calgary-based Axia NetMedia Corp. has added a unique twist to the traditional corporate retreat. Once a year, the company invites spouses and significant others to its leadership get-together – but those family members are asked to do a little homework first. Last year, Axia spouses and partners were asked to evaluate the company’s website, and arrive at the retreat with suggestions for improvement.

“We call them our spousal consulting group,” laughs Axia human-resources vice-president Peta Lomberg. “They can be very frank with the boss, we’ve discovered, simply because we encourage it . . . it’s a good reality check.”

The bottom line can only benefit when a company realizes the value of investing time in learning, training or sequestering its top decision-makers away from the madding marketplace, even just for a few hours or days.

“It builds a sense of team, alignment and spirit,” adds TELUS manager Brad Harper.

“And you can also have a little bit of fun . . . God knows you need that once in a while.”