It's time to retire Hawaiian Shirt Day. This business casual tradition is just one of many stale strategies that companies have clung to in an attempt to reward employees. These tactics fail to boost employee motivation and engagement because they don't create a truly memorable and enjoyable experience.

Companies are realizing that if they want to effectively encourage employees to work more productively and think like a team, they need to raise the bar on their own team building and rewards programs. To do so, many organizations are planning memorable and dynamic events at conference centers and other off-site locations. By moving the team out of the office, companies are better able to create experiences which produce a camaraderie that cannot be duplicated in a traditional office environment.

It has been shown that positive common experiences lead to greater bonds between employees. And when group members play together, they relate better as a team. Here's an overview of a few creative, yet practical programs that enhance corporate team spirit:

Adventure Programs

Adventure programs often make use of low-intensity physical activities such as obstacle courses, raft building or indoor rock climbing. This high energy meeting strategy is a perennial favorite for corporations that want to foster teamwork among employees while engaging in skill-building challenges. Other outdoor-based challenge competitions combine the experience of a scavenger hunt with participation in hands-on activities and intellectual brain teasers. Employees utilize key skills in an informal environment while learning through experience and group reflection.

Culinary Team Building

Culinary team building is currently one of the hottest trends in the field of employee performance improvement. Both conference centers and cooking schools offer a wide selection of culinary programs for organizations. During a typical session, each team draws upon the ideas and skills of its members to create unique and inventive culinary creations. The most effective programs are those which encourage teamwork and build camaraderie while using the culinary activity as a tool for exploring group dynamics.

Custom Themed Events

Some businesses have taken meetings to a whole new level by building themed activities into a broader event schedule. It's a novel approach that leaves a favorable impression with attendees. Q Center, one of the world's largest conference centers, organized a custom event of this type for a leading construction equipment manufacturer. They turned the Fortune 500 group's biannual national sales meeting into a vibrant college campus experience. The five supercharged days of training were enhanced with team activities that included a broom hockey face-off and a trip to a Chicago Cubs game. As demonstrated by the group's sales meeting, the possibilities for a themed event are only as limited as your budget and imagination.

Employees and businesses alike benefit from a more creative approach to team building and employee motivation. Not only will attendees look forward to future events, they'll come away from the current one feeling energized and with renewed motivation. That then translates to smarter thinking and better productivity for the employer – definitely a win-win situation. As the popularity of these "outside-the-box" events grows, and as the great success they have in improving morale and motivation continues to make news, more companies will say farewell to Hawaiian Shirt Day and aloha to creative employee engagement programs.

About Q Center

This article was provided by Q Center. More than an ordinary business conference center, Q Center is a conference complex built by training professionals for training professionals. Q Center provides lodging for more than 1,000 guests as well as dining, abundant recreation, top-flight technology and a host of customized conference services. A central U.S. destination, Q Center is located just west of Chicago with easy access to Chicago's O'Hare and Midway airports and downtown Chicago. For further information, please e-mail Communications@QCenter.com or visit www.qcenter.com.