New research reveals that 67 percent of workers have not been on a team building away day in the past five years, despite one in five agreeing that they are key to improving working relationships.
Results of the independent survey, which questioned 1,263 UK workers and was commissioned by indoor go-karting company TeamSport, also suggests that men tend go on more team building away days than women (29% vs. 26%).
Fiona Tayler, Corporate Events Manager of TeamSport said:
“Team building away days should be a crucial consideration for any business that is looking to improve the communication and overall morale of its employees.
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“Off-site activities create the perfect opportunity for co-workers to become more motivated as a group, and can even help to break down any political and personal barriers that they may have.
“Many clients often feed back to us on how these corporate events can give them a clear understanding and new perspective of their employees on an individual basis, as well as the company as a whole, often seeing a huge improvement in team productivity and working relationships as a result.”
Nearly one in five workers (18%) agree that the opportunity to bond outside of work improves their working relationships, while around one in ten (11%) said that away days can help them to be more confident within their role. A similar number (14%) said they help improve their communication skills with managers.
In addition, just 39 percent of workers consider their work colleagues to be ‘friends’ and 28 percent only ‘tolerate’ their co-workers for an easier life.
When asked to choose what would make a fun and successful team building away day, both genders said “something logical” as their top answer (42% men and 43% women). However, men were more likely than women to mention high intensity activities – such as go-karting and paintballing (36% vs. 25%) – and also physical activities (35% vs. 28%).
The results also show that workers aged 25 to 34 are most likely to say they have gone on an away day in the past five years (41%), while those aged 55 and over are the least likely to have done so (18%).
Perhaps unsurprisingly, workers living in London were also more likely than any other region to say they have attended a team building day in the past five years (34%). Workers living in the North, the East and Wales were the least likely to have been on one (24% in each of these regions).
Among the options given, the least popular type of activity with workers was motivational tasks – such as speakers – with only 21 percent agreeing that this would make a fun and successful team building away day.
A quarter said that tasks which allow employees to be honest with their work colleagues – such as open discussions and suggestion sessions – would make for a fun and successful day.
To find out more on TeamSport’s conference facilities and corporate booking service visit their website.
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