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Huge reward in fostering team spirit

Great companies to work for invest time and effort in teambuilding

There are many ways to develop teamwork. Crédit Agricole Credit Insurance (CACI) has 14 nationalities among its 106 employees and the company believes each person brings part of their national culture to their workplace role. CACI embraces that, according to deputy general manager Mary Ryan, by investing in teambuilding seminars and activities, notably through supporting and sponsoring team sports.

“We believe teambuilding in the workplace, or indeed outside, creates better team dynamics and enables our staff to build relationships that convert into higher levels of collaboration, greater productivity and ultimately greater results,” says Ryan.

In addition to departmental teambuilding days, CACI’s away day for all staff is its main annual teambuilding event, which last year was dedicated to the company’s Great Place To Work journey.

After a good breakfast and business and project updates at a secret location in the Wicklow Mountains, CACI’s Great Place To Work committee led a teambuilding session that literally gave staff members a blank canvas on which to work. Staff were divided into cross-departmental teams and were asked to produce a work of art depicting how CACI’s values – such as sharing, celebrating, thanking and inspiring – are incorporated into its work culture.

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“We were blown away by the wonderful, colourful outputs. And we heard each team describe the main messages they reflected in their paintings,” says Ryan.

“After lunch, we spent the afternoon outside on teambuilding sporting activities such as volley-ball-on-a-bouncy-castle and plank-walking.

“Teambuilding is part of what we call ‘co-creation’. We believe being transparent with people, and thinking together about ways to resolve problems, is very powerful. It makes sure everyone has contributed to finding a solution, everyone understands that solution and, ultimately, they will be more efficient in implementing it.”

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) can also help foster teamwork. For example, at AbbVie ( the global research-based pharmaceutical firm formed in 2013 after separation from Abbott Laboratories) an initiative called Week of Possibilities involves volunteering to help a local charity or good cause.

AbbVie employs more than 500 people in Ireland, with two manufacturing plants in Sligo, one plant in Cork and a commercial affairs and European manufacturing hub in Dublin.

Last year, the Sligo employees volunteered to help renovate St Joseph's Special School in Ballytivnan, near the AbbVie facilities, while staff in Cork and Dublin worked to upgrade Sophia House, a charity working with homeless families. While AbbVie staff give their time, the company allows employees to allocate 10 hours each year of work time to voluntary work.

“CSR activities are great for teambuilding,” says AbbVie’s Irish HR director Caroline McClafferty. “There is personal pride and accomplishment from being involved, and they also get people from across the company working together. That time getting to know each other, face to face outside the workplace, helps collaboration and communication within the workplace when they might have to work together later.”

Credit rating agency Dun & Bradstreet prides itself on putting people at the heart of everything and is committed to creating a great place to work. Within a year of establishing an Irish operation in 2010, the company set up an in-house culture enhancement team called Evolve. Each function within the business – technology, data operations, finance, etc – is represented on the team and members come from all levels.

"The Evolve team's task is to help create the best possible working environment," says Dun & Bradstreet communications and engagement coordinator Sarah Winton. "It also provides communication between senior leaders and the overall team, which is now about 180 employees. Evolve communicates on how new initiatives are working and how things can be improved.

“Last year the group marked the fifth anniversary of operations in Ireland, with the Power of Five, which had a strong CSR involvement in fundraising for Special Olympics Ireland.

“Fundraising is great for building a strong sense of community and bringing everyone into that community. We spend a high proportion of our time in work, so it is important you create a workplace culture where people feel they belong and that what they do has a purpose.”