In today’s dynamic corporate world, companies can get a bad rap for being workhorses. Today, an organization is meant to be a family, and work is meant to be fun and meaningful. From acclimatizing new employees to retaining older ones, companies must run from pillar to post to ensure their employees stay with them and are happy with them.
This is where team building comes in. While a monetary bonus is an excellent motivation to stick to a company, the environment and attitudes of coworkers, managers, and higher-ups rank high on the employee satisfaction scale. This makes Human Resource managers look for new ways and activities where hierarchy takes a break, and everyone gets a level playing field, sometimes literally.
However, employees have had enough dinners, outings, and fests. Not just because these activities are seen as ‘cringe’ by Gen-Z and now even millennials who make up a large part of today’s modern workforce, but also because these mandatory team-building activities may be seen as enforced by most in stressful jobs and especially introverts or neurodiverse members of the workforce.
So, how then can HR managers go beyond typical team-building exercises and make them valuable and effective for employee performance and motivation?
Companies can get a bad rap for being workhorses in today's dynamic corporate world. Today, an organization is meant to be a family, and work is intended to be fun and meaningful. From acclimatizing new employees to retaining older ones, companies must run from pillar to post to ensure their employees stay with them and are happy with them.
This is where team building comes in. While a monetary bonus is an excellent motivation to stick to a company, the environment and attitudes of coworkers, managers, and higher-ups rank high on the employee satisfaction scale. This makes Human Resource managers look for new ways and activities where hierarchy takes a break, and everyone gets a level playing field, sometimes literally.
However, employees seem to have had enough dinner, outings and fests. Not just because these activities are seen as ‘cringe’ by Gen-Z and now even millennials who make up a large part of today’s modern workforce, but also because these mandatory team-building activities may be seen as enforced by most in stressful jobs and especially introverts or neurodiverse members of the workforce.
So, how then can HR managers go beyond typical team-building exercises and make them valuable and effective for employee performance and motivation?
By getting rid of the fluff - Most team building exercises are ‘fluffy’ in the sense they are mere band-aids applied to cover gaping wounds within the organization. A sports fest or a dress-up party cannot address any discord within teams, lack of praise from managers, dropping motivation levels, and bureaucracy. In such situations, HR managers should identify team issues and get leaders to dive into sticky topics head-on to iron out differences.
By not forcing it - Employee happiness will only follow when employees want it. Participation in team-building activities should not be made compulsory, and employees should be able to opt-out discreetly without having to fear the wrath or displeasure of their managers. Not doing so will work on the contrary, and neither the employee nor the company will benefit from it.
By letting employees be - Instead of going the conventional route with typical team engagement activities, HR managers must identify who the employees are and ‘let them be.’ Undertaking diversity, equality, and inclusion training, inculcating a culture of respect, working on employee feedback, fostering a healthy work-life balance, and recognizing their contributions on the work floor are some ways HR managers can ensure that employees feel that they belong in an organization.
By making it more than a one-time activity - HR managers should ensure that team building is a continuous, in-office process instead of a monthly picnic or a year-end outing. Getting employees to engage with each other outside of regular meetings by fostering cross-functional collaborations, providing a space for safe and open exchanges, and a space for constructive criticism are musts.
While there are a few knowledge nuggets HR managers can benefit from to plan team-building activities, it is essential to note that not all companies have a dedicated employee engagement team. Besides this, the HR department has more than one core competency to focus on. HR managers have a lot on their plate, from recruitment to payroll and more.
This is where they can benefit from using a third party to ensure smooth employee team building. Third parties are experts in what they do. A third party specializing in HR services will know how to best develop leaders and their teams in an all-around impactful way. Third parties specializing in these HR services are also exposed to different industries. Hence, they stay on top of current trends, providing your company benefits. Also, third parties have more access to technology. From attendee registration databases to mobile apps, third parties drive event engagement for your employees in the most seamless manner. A third party like ours, Black Pearl, is one such that you can engage for all your team-building efforts, design experiences that matter to your employees, and foster company success in the long run.
Team building has to be more than lip service if a company intends to keep its employees happy and nurture its brand value. It is no longer a picnic. Moving away from conventional and typical engagement activities and remembering “what employees want” will be the cornerstone to cut the mustard and making team building an effective, impactful, and valuable activity for employees.
To learn more about our team-building services, book a consultant session with our Lead Experience Consultant at rhency@blackpearlconsult.com
Black Pearl is a leading HR consulting and recruitment agency in the UAE and the wider GCC region, covering Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, and Bahrain. We have specialist recruitment partners handling various roles from junior to senior positions in healthcare/medical, engineering, construction, property, facilities management, FMCG, supply chain/logistics, defense, aviation, financial services, banking, oil and gas, and government firms. Our unmatched recruitment service aims to help our clients find the best expatriates and nationals here and overseas.