Team-building or Harassment?

Employers love to motivate their employees by using team-building activities and trust exercises so that everyone feels comfortable with one another and is motivated to work together. But what happens when team-building goes too far? Last week CNN featured an article about a lawsuit due to an extreme team-building exercise gone wrong.

Chad Hudgens sued his former employer when a fun and lighthearted team-building activity turned into a motivational tool previously used as an army technique. The trip became quite the “bonding” experience when Chad’s arms and legs were held down by co-workers while a gallon of water was poured into his mouth and nose so he couldn’t breathe. The president of the company said the exercise was meant to channel Socrates, who had been known to dunk a student’s head underwater to make a point about wanting to learn as bad as you wanted to breathe. Waterboarding is considered torture by most people, but to the president it was supposed to make Chad want to fight for sales as hard as he fought for air.

Team-building is about building trust, communication and tolerance with your co-workers. Are you building these values when you are being waterboarded? Or are you just the victim of a bullying technique? Unfortunately, employers can want the best for their company so bad that the results are negative. The team-building activity probably wasn’t planned as a malicious one, but the bottom line is that it hurt people in the end. Employers need to be very careful when it comes to these activities. They need to be safe and respect the participant’s dignity.

As an employer you need to always think about consequences and your employees’ wellbeing. Not only do you have to consider legal penalties but you also need to think about your company’s image and how employees will view you as a boss after such an incident. Try and think of fun and harmless team-building activities that won’t be detrimental to anyone in the company. Problem solving, role playing, and non-invasive trust exercises are great ways to build trust and friendship within a company. Think about your employees’ feelings and the results of your actions. Remember that you are trying to have people bond, not form lawsuits!