PDL set an overall training budget of £30 000 and allocated £9 000 for this year’s team building day. Recommend whether they should spend £9 000 on the team building day again next year. Give reasons for your answer.

(PART OF THE QUESTION):Park Designs Ltd (PDL) is a family business that makes high quality wooden furniture to order. The Park family owns all the shares. As part of its commitment to training, PDL run an annual team building day for all 72 employees which is good for staff motivation. The factory is closed for the day and the staff go off-site for the day. Group challenges are run which help develop team skills and improve communication. “I loved the team building day, we had great fun and it was better than being at work for the day. However I am not sure how useful it was to my job in the admin department?” Sue, Admin department. The production manager will retire soon. Like him, many of the production staff have worked at PDL for many years. They enjoy their work and most stay until they retire. Consequently, there are several possible candidates to take over as production manager, but none have management experience. Customer reviews say that the furniture is made to a very high standard, however, they also suggest that the administration staff do not always deliver a good service. Complaints show that order processing is not always accurate. Recently, some customers have asked about the negative reviews when enquiring about possible purchases. ANSWER: As stated, PDL employees find that the team building day is good for motivation, developing team skills and improving communication. It is a non-financial motivator and can ultimately increase job satisfaction and morale throughout the team. This can also improve relationships amongst colleagues, ultimately aiding their communication and teamwork within the office as well as outside of the office. Improved motivation and morale could lead to increased productivity and as a result, sales. Therefore, it is still advisable for PDL to still hold a team building day, however, it could be suggested that they alternatively hold this on-site to reduce costs, on a non-working day to avoid the need to close down the factory, which would ultimately reduce productivity and sales. However, it is also mentioned that Sue, who works within the Admin department, despite enjoying the day, feels it is not useful for her role. In the light of admin staff failing to deliver a consistently good service, it could be suggested that some of the training budget, could alternatively be spent on ‘on the job training’ for this team, to avoid the need to close down the factory, which could ultimately improve customer service and satisfaction. This in turn could lead to improved profit margins through honouring a better reputation. Furthermore, some customers have mentioned negative reviews when enquiring about a purchase, which could suggest other potential customers have been deterred from purchasing from PDL at all, therefore improving the overall service of the Admin team, would also avoid this.