Jessica Ennis has seen corporate team building from every angle. As an HR professional, she understands what influences team members to stay at or leave an organization (spoiler alert: it’s not always the free snacks). As a participant in a 2020 corporate service trip to Guatemala with School the World, she experienced firsthand the impact on her personally and on her connection to the employer that made the opportunity a reality.
Five years later she’s still talking about it, and she has thoughts on why companies should pay attention to this unique kind of culture-building.
The Retention Math
“From a company perspective, this is such a great culture builder and retention tool,” Jessica says without hesitation.
If managed well, from the selection process to collective fundraising to the actual trip, an organization is able to create an extended period of shared anticipation – not just for the participants, but also for the team members around them.
The more obvious point is that anyone who has been selected for the service trip is not likely to leave the organization before the trip, so they don’t miss out on the opportunity.
But the effect, she notes, doesn’t stop when the team returns. “It’s hard to view an organization as ‘just a paycheck’ when that organization invested in me and facilitated a life-changing connection to the global community’.
Jessica shares how important having shared values with the company you work for is to the majority of the workforce. Companies that invest in service trips signal commitment to community impact that an employee handbook never could.
Moving Beyond Traditional Team Building
Jessica traveled to Guatemala with five coworkers—people she knew of but didn’t really know. A week of painting murals, mixing concrete, and playing with children in el Quiche changed that completely.
“I was able to walk away with a completely different perspective on what their role is in the company and, more importantly, who they were as people,” she explains.
Traditional corporate retreats and team building can’t replicate authentic human connection through shared purpose. When you’re teaching a craft class together, figuring out how to communicate with limited Spanish, or watching a child go down a slide for the first time, knowing you did that together creates an unmatched bond, and in some cases, friendships for life.
The Power of “Hands-On” Contribution
Jessica emphasizes that the way the trip is designed matters enormously. School the World balanced hands-on project work with meaningful community time. For a painter like Jessica, the opportunity to contribute artistically was particularly powerful.
“At one point, I found myself surrounded by community members making requests. They were showing me images and telling me, ‘I want this one near the slide and this one near the swing,’ which was a really great representation of the local community being involved in the project too.”
She was entrusted with painting Guatemala’s national flower, the Monja Blanca, and led a mural where children added their colorful handprints.
“It wasn’t just about construction—it was about making the community beautiful and creating spaces that inspire learning.”
The Human Case
Five years later, Jessica still thinks regularly about Rebeca, a shy girl who blossomed over the week, and Alen from the Castro family, who chased their van down the hill as they left for the airport.
“I remember the feeling of watching Alen running down the hill after us with tears in his eyes—a reminder that we were leaving, but the community’s needs remained.”
These aren’t just heartwarming memories. They’re the reason Jessica continues to support School the World’s work and why she believes in the model.
The Business Case – Why It Works
When Jessica speaks about corporate service trips now, she brings both her HR expertise and her deeply personal experience. The business case is compelling — these trips benefit organizations because they:
For companies looking for creative ways to enhance retention, culture-building, or employee engagement, that kind of lasting impact is worth serious consideration.
But the reason Jessica continues to support School the World’s work five years later isn’t just professional—it’s deeply personal.
“I can’t share the stories of Rebeca or Alen without feeling a profound sense of gratitude toward the organization that invested in me. They didn’t just offer a standard ‘perk’; they prioritized a partnership that allowed me to live out my values through my work,” Jessica shares, ‘and I love that STW continues to partner with the communities that we poured our hearts into, which means the work we started together is still happening today.”
And perhaps that’s the real magic of corporate service trips: they create employees who, years later, still say: “We showed up once. Let’s keep showing up.”
Jessica Ennis participated in a School the World corporate service trip to el Quiche, Guatemala in 2020. She is an HR professional and currently serves on the organization’s Young Professionals Advisory Board and continues to advocate for expanding corporate partnerships. Interested in learning how a corporate service trip could benefit your organization? Learn more about our corporate service trips and contact us for more details.
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