Team building can often be seen as a means to improve the morale of an employee and nothing more. This is about as far from the truth as you can possibly get. Since a company is built around its employees, it stands to reason that the more effective the employee, the more successful the company. This is still a pretty abstract concept though, one which can be hard to put into context statistically speaking. However, there are certain very real factors which can be measured statistically which will reveal just how significant employee morale and empowerment can really be to a company’s bottom line.
Replacing Employees is Costly
As mentioned earlier, one of the chief costs of any company is hiring employees. Depending on the size of the firm, advertising costs can range from moderate to ridiculous. The fact of the matter, however, is that any money spent on replacing unnecessary turnover is too much money. Thus, team building can help to shore up a hole where revenue can leak out faster than you can imagine. By using team building exercises to constantly improve employee morale, as well as increase their sense of importance, you can retain employees for longer and longer. Not only will this reduce the cost of hiring, but it will also increase the value of the employees as well. After all, an employee who is with a company for more than five years is an expert at whatever job it is that they do. Now, rather than spending money on hiring in a beginner, you have an expert performing the job day in and day out.
Engaged Employees are Twice as Productive
Another way that team building can increase the bottom line of a company is by increasing productivity. It is a proven fact that employees who hate their jobs, or who are just disinterested in their jobs, have a much lower productivity than employees who love their jobs. Depending on the studies you choose to read, productivity by employees who are happy and engaged in their jobs can be almost double to that of disgruntled employees. This means that if you take the time to maintain high morale and good communication, you can virtually double the effectiveness of the workforce you already have in place. Thus, if you have a team of 50 happy people you can get as much productivity as if you had 100 unhappy workers!
Team Building Helps to Reduce Mistakes
Finally, there is the issue of mistakes. It has been demonstrated that one of the biggest liabilities of any company is the money wasted on mistakes, accidents, and other avoidable issues. The fact is that most of these events are the result of poor training or poor communication. In either event, team building exercises, when done effectively and regularly, can go a long way to improving both training and communication. The result is that mistakes, accidents and the like can be significantly reduced, thus reducing unnecessary spending and increasing profitability. The key is to keep your employees motivated, knowledgeable and pointed in the right direction. Few things can accomplish these goals like solid team building exercises.
