Companies looking to make up for the prolonged disruption to work interactions are intensifying their teambuilding and performance recognition events, say event planners at IT&CM Asia 2022.
Manish Raj, vice president – global sales & new initiatives with India-based Moveinsync Technology Solutions, said the remote work culture that has taken root in the country has made teambuilding opportunities even more precious.
“Many companies in India have yet to reopen their offices (post-lockdown) for staff to return, and the work-from-home movement is set to stay since organisations are realising the economic and personal benefits of such arrangements.
This means that many new employees are joining companies without opportunities to meet their colleagues,” Raj told TTGmice.
“The need to rebuild social capital is intense, not just to welcome new hires but also to ensure existing staff continue to feel connected with each other after two years and more of interaction on online platforms like Zoom and MS Teams,” he added.
According to Raj, many business events are now focused on social goals – like getting staff aligned with the corporate direction, getting them to interact and bond, and making them feel visible and recognised. Teambuilding and incentive events are therefore leading the business events recovery for India.
Sandeep Khosla, managing director and CEO of 247 Facility Services in India, said his firm has a number of teambuilding events in the pipeline for the coming months, with most coming from IT companies.
“Some companies have only brought 40 to 45 per cent of their staff back to the office, so the need to connect teams is critical,” he said.
Khosla added that his upcoming overseas teambuilding events will involve 80 to 150 participants – the typical staff strength for each project led by his clients.
Most clients are looking at South-east Asian destinations such as Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand, he shared, as the region enjoys good air access from India, and most destinations here have done away with Covid tests and quarantine requirements.
Driven by a similar desire to motivate and bond teams, World Master International Travels Philippines’ president, Leilani C Agana said incentive travel demand has rebounded strongly.
“Companies are determined to show their staff and business partners that everything is back to normal now, so incentive travel programmes that were disrupted in the past two years are being brought back bigger and better,” said Agana, pointing to plusher budgets and elevated accommodation and activity options.
More teambuilding and networking elements are included in these incentive travel programmes too, she shared.
Her company has so far confirmed a 15-pax incentive travel group to Singapore in October, and a 40-pax group to South Korea in March 2023.
