As a small business owner, you know that a successful company is nothing without a strong team to build and nurture it. This means finding the best and brightest employees you can and holding onto them for as long as possible. Unfortunately, some business owners repeatedly watch some of their top employees walk right out the door and are left wondering why despite having never done anything to make them feel appreciated or encouraged to stay. With this in mind, it’s time to consider your own team members and how you can honor their hard work and loyalty. Here are a few ideas for team building that can increase employee retention at your office, ensuring that your excellent staff will remain on board to help you achieve your business goals.

In order to create a great company culture, you must first consider who your employees are as people in their everyday lives. Where many businesses venture to reach out to their team members by simply offering the same leadership-led activities time after time, change it up by ditching the corporate model and gathering everyone together for a group endeavor that can be enjoyed by all. Let the growing connections between colleagues occur naturally by simply attending a sporting event, concert, or other group activity that doesn’t force any type of particular lessons or textbook employee-employer principles that can drag down the collective attitude of the team. Creating a space where you can learn new things together, complete a project as a whole, or effectively find any situation that leaves everyone feeling included and important to the task at hand is a surefire way to improve company relations.

Another important factor behind great employee retention is reminding yourself that investing in your team is worth both the effort and finances. Investing in your employees is never a time to skimp, though this doesn’t mean you need to shell out for highly expensive trips or gifts, either. Simply surprising your hard-working staff members with enjoyable plans and positive, relationship-building opportunities can encourage sharing and communication on another level, and the overall cost should never be an issue for holding back in these instances. Once you’ve returned from your fun and friendly group activities, it’s also crucial that you support the same positive feeling left over by those activities within the office environment.

Employee retention doesn’t have to be a struggle if you’re simply willing to invest in your staff’s needs. Using these team-building ideas to find a new means of encouraging communication and appreciation can go a long way towards your business success.