We're seeing a drive in clients requesting team building events which requires employees to ‘give back to the community'. The Governments Corporate Social Responsibility policies are now hot on the agenda for 2017 in the workplace. A recent Fleishman Hillard survey found that 87% of employees felt greater loyalty to better socially engaged employers. Charity teambuilding activities are a way for HR departments to intrinsically weave social responsibility into their company values. Teambuilding that involves giving back can add depth to employees and create a motivational force in the workplace.
As well as support the HR agenda it provides vehicles to communicate organisational values and encourages fun. However these types of socially responsible events can be perceived as a PR strategy for companies and approached with an element of cynicism. Is adding social responsibility the most important priority to boosting team morale? If a company is desperately trying to repair its own emotional health and culture will this be the most effective way to positively boost team morale?
At Off Limits Events we have giving back to the community events that are very popular amongst clients as team boosting activities. These events have the power to lift morale and help contribute to transforming employee culture.
This event will certainly enable employees to give back to the local community, it's a unique, challenging event that teaches a whole host of workplace-relevant skills and instils a sense of social responsibility at the same time. During the event a team will be briefed with planning and executing a project that adds value to a vital part of the community. It's a rewarding and illuminating event that proved a real success for client Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles who took part in the event last year. The team took part in a whole host of tasks at Alfreton Welfare Park including painting the changing rooms, maintaining the bowling green and play equipment and removing graffiti etc. Following the event the team raised the profile of what they had achieved event by posting videos and images internally on their company intranet, team-briefing presentations and newsletters.
The goal of the Charity Bike Build is to improve access to exercise, through ownership or access to bikes. Teams will get to build a fully-working bike to donate to their chosen charity. This event is great for learning worthwhile skills and is aimed at companies doing experiential team building activities. Plus this event can be run at any type of venue, teams will work together to build a bike and individual roles and responsibilities are assigned during the task.
Giving back to the workforce is also done through day to day team building events. Companies are booking these type of events to contribute to a happier and healthier workforce. Whether team building days impact the community or not it has the power to transform the culture of a business.
Whilst giving back to the community team building can be engaging, it may not necessarily be the right sort of team building event for your company. Especially if it's used as just a bolt-on, the skills learned during these team building events need to be embedded into your company values. You need to remember that CSR isn't just about helping the external charities, it's about creating a healthy workplace where your employees career and training needs are met. If employees are proud of employers supporting their communities it becomes a real motivational force if correctly harnessed. If the profile of these events are increased internally it can help bond teams and boost communication skills whilst making a positive difference in the local community.
What are your thoughts on giving back to the community team building events? We'd love to hear from you on Linkedin or Twitter.
