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Helping Businesses Work Smarter and Healthier through Business Retreats
Businesses Gain Boost by Encouraging Healthier Lifestyles while Lowering Insurance Costs
Employees from a company that develops management software recently began their morning by assembling in a conference room. Following standard greetings and idle chit-chat, the employees focused on what lay before them. They were not concentrating on their latest project – instead, they began concentrating on tennis balls.
The simple act of focusing on tennis balls is one way that The Conference Center at the RWJ Hamilton Center for Health & Wellness is helping transform business meetings into business retreats. The Center offers stress management sessions – complete with tennis balls – to attendees of its business retreats. As companies consider ways to work smarter and healthier, they may choose to have meetings that emphasize releasing tension, like this session led by Integrative Therapy Nurse Pam Jones from Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Hamilton.
"Stress management strategies correlate well with a productive workforce," says Jones. "Companies are beginning to think ‘out of the box' in realizing that the health and well-being of their employees is closely tied to the success of their business. Just like businesses that succeed by using the right combination of tools, it is remarkable to discover that the use of a simple tool, in this case a tennis ball, can change the outlook of a workforce."
In the case of the software development company, the stress management session led by Jones was just the beginning of its business retreat. Employees split the next 45 minutes between Yoga sessions and receiving chair massages from certified massage therapists.
"Companies are showing greater interest in helping their employees pursue healthy lifestyles," says Sharon Dunham, Manager of The Conference Center. "They're discovering that employee well-being correlates to fewer sick days plus lower healthcare and insurance costs. Programs like business retreats are helping companies to cut insurance premiums and better protect their bottom line."
A Conference Center with Resources Above Other Area Facilities
The concept of business retreats is helping The Conference Center uniquely position itself among area meeting facilities.
Meeting space in hotels usually offers limited access to fitness equipment and undersized pools. Clients of The Conference Center, however, may secure day passes to the on-site 86,000 square foot RWJ Hamilton Center for Health & Wellness with its junior Olympic size pool, oversized whirlpool, therapy pool, and 200 pieces of the latest fitness equipment.
Meetings at academic sites often place attendees within site of buildings brimming with knowledge, yet few provide access to the instructors that fill their classrooms. The Conference Center offers business retreat clients access to a staff of healthcare and fitness experts; each can lead sessions that add substantial variety to any gathering.
"Clients have asked that sessions on healthy cooking, massage techniques and health screenings be integrated into their business retreats," Dunham says. "Our staff of community educators, healthcare experts and fitness instructors can customize programs to meet the needs of all attendees."
Meeting organizers find convenience in arranging for business retreats within The Conference Center, which has on-site catering and a day spa. The Center can accommodate groups of 2 to 200 with its state-of-the-art audio and visual systems, Internet access, breakout classrooms and a 17-workstation technology classroom. This leading edge business address is also an approved venue for conference, banquet and meeting space by the State of New Jersey.
To arrange a business retreat for your company, or to discuss a variety of business meeting options, contact Sharon Dunham, Manager of The Conference Center at the RWJ Hamilton Center for Health & Wellness by phone at (609) 584-2159 or e-mail at confctr@rwjuhh.edu.
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