Do Team-building Activities Boost Employee Morale?

Team-building activities, ranging from a quick team lunch to external training programs, are widely used by asset management companies to try to boost employees’ spirits and promote better interactions among them.

However, despite their noble intentions, such team-building activities don’t always bring the desired effect of creating harmony among employees.

In an interview with Financial Times’ Ignites Asia, Dr. Anna Tsui, Assistant Dean (Teaching and Learning) and Senior Lecturer of Department of Management at The Chinese University of Hong Kong Business School, says that team-building activities, when not well thought out, can sometimes end up fueling office politics.

“Junior employees with less experience are often more willing to join the staged company- or team-wide activities, primarily with a goal to maintain relationships with the management and to forge better career prospects,” Dr. Tsui remarks. “However, more senior employees, who perhaps don’t have the same impetus to lay the platform for a promotion or a pay raise, may have a lower personal motivation to join team activities or company events.”

“Nevertheless, employees often feel they are under pressure and are obliged to join these formal company team-building events, deemed compulsory by management,” Dr. Tsui adds.

She recommends company management to alleviate such pressure by trying to change the nature of team-building activities into casual and light-hearted events, such as team lunches, gatherings or welcome parties.

While some companies use team-building events as a perk or an incentive to improve morale in the office, this approach has certain limitations.

Dr. Tsui states that while team-building activities may be seen as a temporary fix to reduce dissatisfaction or discontent among employees, they cannot serve as a long-term solution to such problems.

She points out that there are many reasons for employee unhappiness, from frustration over low salaries to a lack of career prospects, and such issues need to be addressed directly. Team-building initiatives may help smoothen up employees’ interactions and generate some positive feelings in the short term, but it is not a retention strategy.

If employee dissatisfaction builds up, Dr. Tsui advises that instead of trying to introduce or diversify team-building activities, management should make more fundamental changes to help employees feel they have brighter career prospects… Read More

Source: Financial Times – Ignites Asia
Date published: 11 May, 2016