Our counsellor, Shivani Misri Sadhoo, on how today’s business era is initiating CSR and winning the hearts of employees
Counsellor Shivani Misri Sadhoo on how today’s business era is initiating CSR and winning the hearts of employees
CSR activities uplift an employee’s sense of team spirit and belonging
Companies today are working ahead of time to maintain balance of performance management while enabling social engagement through CSR activities. Especially in IT companies that have identified it as a way to beat the competition and to stay ahead in their industry, hiring and retaining the best talent is essential. To make an organisation the best place to work and to optimise the performance of its employees, companies nowadays set goals for their team leaders and managers to encourage their team to practice strong team building activities. These activities offer excellent opportunities for employees to improve communication skills, morale, motivation, productivity, and encourage them to help and support other employees. They get to know each other better and learn about each other’s strengths and weaknesses.
Apart from the above, team building exercises deliver the following: a. Team building activities improve personal
relations and strengthen professional bonding. b. Team building activities reduce the chances of confusion and misunderstandings, in a way making communication more effective. The individual is very clear about his/her goals and objectives and what exactly is expected of him/her. c. These exercises also increase trust among
the employees. d. Productivity increases when individuals work as a
team. They tend to divide work amongst themselves and hence, objectives are achieved at a much faster pace. e. Individuals feel more positive and confident. Stress disappears and it reflects on their work. Chances of mistakes reduce and people stop cribbing and blaming others. There is positivity all around. There are four main types of team building activities, which include communication activities, problemsolving and/or decision-making activities, adaptability and/or planning activities, and activities that focus on building trust. These team building activities can be learned and practised under a proper trainer’s guidance or can also be taught to employees by organising Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities where employees get to work together for a common social cause that helps them gain a sense of participation and responsibility along with the opportunity to practise team work. Employees get to come out of their daily office-routine mindset and interact freely and work together without hesitation. They forget each other’s ranks or positions, see each other in informal clothes and behaviour, and forget their sense of internal insecurity and competition, and talk, trust, and act with a sense of belonging to each other. CSR activities are definitely of worth to an organisation to uplift their employee’s sense of team spirit and belonging. They bring a lot of positive PR and vibe.