Working environment: Team building
Invest in team building it´s a great idea, especially in a sector as competitive and with as many job options as the technology industry, a worker’s decision to stay and pursue a career in the company depends on various factors. These factors range from work-life balance, working environment, location, possibilities for professional and personal development, job stability… what we jointly call emotional salary, to the economic factor.
Why invest in team building?
The work we perform, at least in S4G, involves TEAMWORK. And what does that mean?
In S4G we encourage collaborative work, we are all actively involved: the operations team, sales team, administration… this way we share hours of effort and unite energies to find more effective solutions in order to achieve our goals.
This is how we generate a fully collaborative environment with a high degree of commitment and a sense of belonging. We work in an environment of trust in which we are all committed, with the good atmosphere among colleagues rubbing off on each other and reaching the entire company.
Good working environment. This phrase does not in itself express how truly important this is for professionals. To come into work every day in a cheerful mood not only reduces turnover in the company; it also affects the career development of work colleagues.
And ultimately this is what the company needs to continue growing: to have the best professionals in its field (in our case Salesforce) giving the best of themselves. To this end, a good atmosphere and investing in team building is essential.
“…We work in an environment of trust in which we are all committed, with the good atmosphere among colleagues rubbing off on each other and reaching the entire company…”
The working environment is not a given; it must be “worked on”. The company must be committed to it and must include it in its objectives.
This climate is achieved thanks to the sum of several factors, such as those we mentioned as forming part of the emotional salary. The company can implement several initiatives to achieve this. Such initiatives range from: having career plans for employees, a good system for assessing professionals, comfortable offices for the staff, training plans, technical aspects, English or soft skills… and team building and after-work initiatives among employees.
What do we do, how and when?
How do we invest in team building? The idea we have at S4G is to stage team building events every 2 months at the very least. Although in truth we have reached a point in which we have the official team-building events and others that are spontaneously organised by the colleagues themselves and which we all sign up for.
“…to come into work every day in a cheerful mood not only reduces turnover in the company; it also affects the career development of work colleagues…”
Once a year we have our internal Hackathon, now in its 5th edition! It is a challenge to organise such an event and succeed in having more than 60 colleagues taking part at the same time. The reality is that it is a success every year, so we continue to do it year after year, not only for developers, functional consultants can participate too!
And every year, we also have our star party: The anniversary of S4G! On that day we have a very full agenda, starting the day with the Team Update where we analyse how the year is going in terms of our plans compared to the reality (always with full transparency). We then organise several games, gymkhanas, food and then…. a lot of partying!
“…The working environment is not a given, it must be ‘worked on’…”
In addition, every year we come to work dressed up for Halloween, the whole company takes part in Secret Santa (yes, this year there will be 100 of us!), Christmas dinner, CEO’s home (yes, he invites us all, the company’s CEO himself). Last but certainly not least, the day we bring our children into the office at Christmas.
“…Once a year we have our internal Hackathon, which is already in its 5th edition!…”
Over the years we have had events such as improvisation live happenings, escape rooms and Amusement Parks. We’ve gone to the planetarium with the kids and organised concerts to raise money for a school in Kenya (St. Martin´s School Kibagare).
The possibilities are endless and it costs nothing for colleagues to want to do activities with other colleagues. Investing in team building is simpler than it looks!
And does investing in team building work?
Well, yes. The working atmosphere is very good, you can feel it, and the workers say so. It was made clear in the survey through which we won our seal as a Great Place to Work and it says so in our survey on work climate, and in personal reviews…so, invest in team building is worth it
Challenges to the company’s growth
Doing team building together is increasingly difficult due to the company’s growth. Finding an activity that works well for 25 employees is easier than for 100, but the challenge is there. We are sure that with imagination and enthusiasm we will come up with new activities so that our “family” enjoys them the way it deserves to.
