THE EFFECT OF TEAM BUILDING ON EMPLOYEES PRODUCTIVITY IN NIGERIA
CHAPTER ONE
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Teamwork is a
means of improving
manpower utilization and
potentially raising
performance of not just the individual but the organization ultimately, because it can expand the output of
individuals through collaboration. Thus, employees who work in teams become the standard for the
organization (Alie, Bean and Carey, 1998). With support from top management, employees work confidently
in teams to increase organizational productivity. Nowadays, managers are assigning more team projects to
employees with opportunities to strengthen their knowledge and develop their skills (Hartenian,
2003).Teamwork has the potential of improving the performance of individual employees and the
organization, though it needs to be nurtured over time (Ingram, 2000).
1.2 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Team building has emerged as the most important group phenomenon in organizations that enables
managers to harness the energies of all employees to determine their strength and maximize both group and
individual productivity. Team building seeks to maximize both individual and group productivity through the
attainment of organizational goals and also it is meant to integrate the lower level staff and the top
management in organizations so that they can work more effectively and produce more profit. It is an
inspiration to boost productivity of employees and it involves a series of activities designed to create
cohesion and a feeling of social support (Adiar 1986).
Team building has been used in some organizations where managers ultimately depend on the ability
of their members to work in concert to accomplish competitive supremacy. The managers use the team
approach to link and align the resources available towards the attainment of the organizational goals and
also they facilitate group harmony (Dwivedi, 2006). This shows that in team building, employees and the top
management must be in speaking terms in order to work successfully. If communication is not present
people tend to have confusion, disunity and conflict in their organizations. Team building aims at employees
coming together voluntarily to find solutions to problems encountered in their day to day working lives. A
team can have eight to fifteen compatible members of a department who meet regularly to take the initiative
to identify problems and find alternative solutions. These members think of how to implement these
solutions in suitable areas and thus cooperation instead of confrontation. Team building has not only helped
to improve productivity and performance but also has brought about harmonious relations among
employees together with bringing out the creative talents of its members.
Nigerian Breweries Plc employees are confined to work in a busy and isolated environment. Team
building helps them to socialize with one another and to be psychologically prepared to work together to
achieve the set goals of the organization. Team building in banks came as a remedy to achieve high
performance in employees in the late 1980s and early 1990s when there was a reduction in profitability in an
organization.
1.3 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
As much as team building plays an instrumental role in organizations, its actual effect in manufacturing
companies has not been fully articulated or felt. Information on the relationship between team building and
employee performance in the manufacturing company remains scanty and for this reason, the researcher
sought to find out the actual effects of team building on performance of employees.
The major challenge of teamwork in the Nigerian Breweries Plc is the differences in the level of competence of team members while highly competent team members tries to increase the work place, the lowly competent ones tries to slow down the work place. This leads to the over working/stressing of highly competent team members while the less competent ones are relaxing. Also, individual social/cultural
differences among team members constitute a challenge to effective teamwork.
THE EFFECT OF TEAM BUILDING ON EMPLOYEES PRODUCTIVITY IN NIGERIA