Corporate Special Events A Strategic Tool in Internal Marketing to Motivate and Retain Employees

Abstract

To have a high rate of absence as well as employee turnover is very costly for organisations. Having personnel, who are motivated, inspired and diligent, might assist in avoiding such inconveniences. In today's global and increasingly competitive workplace, events have become a strategic means in many areas for companies to attract and retain both customers and employees. Corporate special events (CSE), such as Christmas parties, kick-offs, company celebrations, incentive trips, recognition dinners are one of the strategic tools available to companies that can be used to satisfy the social needs of the employee. CSE also provide an opportunity to communicate corporate policies, strategies and goals to employees, or to enhance the team spirit and the feeling of belonging to the company. Despite the enormous amounts spent on CSE annually, very few companies measure and evaluate the effects and potential benefits of the events.

The main focus and purpose of this thesis was to examine how CSE are used in companies’ internal marketing (IM), as a strategic tool, to motivate and retain employees. More specifically we studied what perceptions managers and employees have of CPE; why they are being held, their potential benefits and effects on work motivation and employee retention, how these effects are being measured and evaluated, how they are used in IM, and how they contribute to form an organizational culture. We used five Swedish companies for our case study. In-depth interviews were conducted with both managers and employees in order to consider the two different perspectives.