82% of UK office workers want more team-building events
According to a new survey, the majority of UK workers (82 percent) want their business to conduct more frequent team-building activities.
Just Eat for Business’s Lunch Break Bonding survey dives into office workers’ perceptions on social lunch breaks, scheduled meetings, and team building events, and is accompanied by expert commentary on the value of positive office relations.
The data was gathered from over 200 UK-based businesses and was broken down by role (executive, management, CEO), area, and company size. The survey reveals that – after 18 months of sporadically working in the office and remotely, for many organizations – workers are desperate to reunite with their team, as 75% say they would enjoy their workplace more with more regularly-scheduled team building events.
Larger organizations appear to be particularly eager to get to know their coworkers, as those in organizations with 300 or more employees accounted for the highest proportion (93 percent) of those who would be happy with more frequent socializing chances.
Because it appears that most employees would like their jobs more if there were more team social events, it’s no surprise that the most important outcome for the majority of employees (62%) is to establish a friendlier work environment.
Team lunches were the most popular work perk (40 percent), followed by escape rooms (31 percent), team vs team competitions (31 percent), lunch & learns (26 percent), mixology lessons (21 percent), and quiz or trivia evenings (21 percent), according to the survey (20 percent ).
Team building events are often arranged once a week for most businesses, with Friday evenings being the best day and time to plan an activity.
Larger organizations appear to be particularly eager to get to know their coworkers, as those in organizations with 300 or more employees accounted for the highest proportion (93 percent) of those who would be happy with more frequent socializing chances.
Because it appears that most employees would like their jobs more if there were more team social events, it’s no surprise that the most important outcome for the majority of employees (62%) is to establish a friendlier work environment.
Team lunches were the most popular work perk (40 percent), followed by escape rooms (31 percent), team vs team competitions (31 percent), lunch & learns (26 percent), mixology lessons (21 percent), and quiz or trivia evenings (21 percent), according to the survey (20 percent ). Team building events are often arranged once a week for most businesses, with Friday evenings being the best day and time to plan an activity.
More than half of office workers (51%) indicated they would be less likely to attend a team-building event if they had to pay for all or part of it. Management-level employees are the most resentful of having to contribute financially within teams.
Understanding how team-building events can benefit a workplace was another important component of the research. The most significant outcome for CEOs and business owners was creating a nicer work environment (67 percent), while executives valued demonstrating company culture.
Robin Dunbar, Psychologist at the University of Oxford, comments on the study, saying: “This whole process of creating a bonded community depends on engagement in various activities, one of which is eating together, and that just creates a sense of belonging.
“It has huge knock-on consequences for your health, physical health, and mental well-being, by forming friendships. In addition, it fosters a sense of loyalty to the organization.
“However, you can’t make people engage. The best thing you can do as an organization is to provide the opportunity. If you have people in different canteens, no canteen at all, or people eat at their desk, then they’re never going to meet. Put simply, you have to provide the opportunity for organic meetings at lunchtime through organized events.”
Matt Ephgrave, Managing Director of Just Eat for Business also commented on the findings, saying: “It’s encouraging to see that office workers at all levels are eager to increase the frequency and quality of team building activities, particularly given that many organizations are either heading back into the office or learning to operate remotely.
“The study shows that team building events don’t have to be extensive or costly, as team lunches came out as the favorite activity. Corporate catering services are designed to make organizing office lunches hassle-free, so it’s never been easier to provide regular opportunities for teams to socialize during the working week.”
The most significant components of an activity, who is accountable for organizing them, and how well workers believe they know their coworkers were among the survey’s other key findings.
Please visit https://business.just-eat.co.uk/blog/lunch-bonding/ to read the complete results of the Lunch Break Bonding survey.
