Building a Future

The office can be a scary place these days. With the downward-trending economy, corporate bankruptcies, job loss and an overall air of uncertainty, it feels like no company and no position is safe. So is it time to throw out the employee extras, like team builders and incentives, conserving precious cash in lean times? To the contrary, say the experts in employee motivation. It’s more important than ever to create a sense of camaraderie and security in the workplace to keep employees from becoming disheartened — and even better, to increase productivity.

The Economy-Productivity Connection

In May of this year, North Haven, Conn.-based The Marlin Company, which specializes in workplace communications, surveyed nearly 800 working adults and found they have a lot on their minds to distract them from their work. Over 30 percent of workers admitted to feeling hopelessness or despair about their financial situation. Another 30 percent stayed awake at night worrying. This means that workers are coming to the office sleep-deprived and distracted as these financial stresses follow them into their workday.

Personal worries about the economy and its overarching effects have also infiltrated the workplace, causing decreased productivity, disinterest and irritability. Nearly 25 percent of working adults admitted to being distracted at work by financial issues, the survey found. Nearly 12 percent said their personal financial situation has led to friction between them and someone else in the workplace.

“In today’s working environment, many employees are wondering if their company will be the next to go under,” says John Krol, marketing manager for Chicago-based WhirlyBall, which offers team bonding activities. “[These days], communication between departments, employees and management is the key to keeping morale up and stress levels down.”

Boosting Morale in a Down Economy

Whether large or small, national or local, for-profit or non-, any organization can benefit from team building activities, especially in times like these.

“By presenting a fun and physical (but not strenuous) activity, employees relieve stress and get to know their managers better,” says Krol.

Lloyd Davis, president of Sonoma, Calif.-based Viansa Vineyards, says that team-building activities are important at any time — but especially now. “During the current economic environment, when companies are filing for bankruptcy or downsizing, team-building activities are a very effective way to boost morale and bring energy back into the organization,” he says.

Viansa offers team-building events in which groups create a new wine with their own custom-designed wine label.

Matt Williams, corporate sales manager for Phoenix-based The Bondurant School of High Performance Driving, echoes the sentiment: “People have enough to worry about in their private lives, let alone their work lives. An employer that takes the time to [utilize team-building events] scores points.”

Bondurant offers team-building activities that encourage teamwork and bonding while driving around a fast-paced race course.

What about Cost?

Let’s be realistic. Financial worries are by no means limited to employees — many companies are under considerable financial strain, and saving money usually takes precedence over “just a fun activity” for employees. But before you or your management make this decision, factor in the costs of hiring and training new employees after others quit due to stress or are fired because of poor productivity. Cohesiveness and teamwork aren’t just good workplace practices, they are a recipe for success.

“There has never been a better time to remind people of all the good things they can do, especially those that are employed,” says Todd Davis, president of Phoenix-based Team Play USA, which offers corporate team building activities. “You can’t achieve more and reduce turnover and costs unless together everyone is united in the process.”

“There is so much infighting and divisiveness, not only in the world but among people who are supposed to be on the same team,” adds Daniel Dancer, founder and director of Art For the Sky. His company gathers groups of up to a thousand people at a time to create “living paintings” that are visible in aerial photographs.

Team-building activities help get people working and thinking as a group, and with that mindset, financial goals are easier to obtain, explains Davis. “In today’s economy,” he says, “no organization can be successful if everyone is working solo.”

Courtesy: Art For the Sky

Case Study: Painting with People

Group: The entire community of Franklin County
Group Dynamics: 1,300 schoolchildren and 250-plus firefighters, sheriff’s deputies, school bus drivers, teachers and administrators
Challenge: Bring awareness and community to an entire county
Activity: Giant picture of a seahawk made out of people
Solution: In the spring of 2008, Andrew Smith, executive director and one of the founders of Apalachicola Riverkeeper, a Florida-based non-profit organization dedicated to protecting Florida’s rivers, set out to connect with the communities around him. His goal was to introduce the community to Riverkeeper and bring awareness to conservation issues the area faced. What he got was an event that brought people to tears.

To aid in his pursuit, Smith contacted Daniel Dancer, founder and director of Art For the Sky, a non-profit that brings people together by creating art on a massive scale. Dancer’s vision was to create a giant Seahawk image composed of event attendees.

After months of fund-raising and getting the word out, 1,300 schoolchildren from three towns converged on an empty school campus, along with many public officials, law enforcement officers, teachers and administrators. Together, their bodies created a work of art visible only from the sky.

“We had people from small communities that had been sort of rivals and this was the first time they’ve ever really come together,” says Smith. “I had people crying about that. I’ve never seen community come together like that. It was great for community spirit.”

Smith says the community formed relationships with Riverkeeper and each other, and the event garnered a lot of respect from those involved.

“I think we gained more respect among the community, and appreciation,” says Smith. “They saw we could pull off a pretty massive project. I think that impressed the heck out of them.”