Do Your Employees Work Well in Teams?

Saying the word ‘team’ doesn’t always make a group a team. A service team, a sales team or a customer service team can all just be groups of people – not actual teams. Teams are created for situations where workers collaborate and work together to solve problems or deliver service to customers.

The nature of work is changing and developing a culture of teamwork is more important than ever. Years ago, college students participated in three or four team projects during their entire college experience. Now, students are assigned to three or four team projects each semester. Does this mean that the younger generation is better at teamwork than the older generations? Well, they’ve had more practice; but it doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re better. Some people are more naturally individualistic. Others naturally gravitate towards teams, which doesn’t necessarily have to do with age.

America has historically been a land of individualists, meaning most of us think we should be self-sufficient. We tend to put loyalty to ourselves before that of others, including our team and our company. However, even the most individualistic of us will commit to a team IF we perceive it to be in our best interest. Likewise, individuals who don’t see any benefit to contributing to the team will physically or emotionally disengage from the team.

Some of the greatest success stories in team sports are linked to coaches that convince superstar athletes to sacrifice individual goals for team goals. “Hey, star, would you rather score 36 points and lose or score 18 points and win?” We’ve also witnessed the team member who contributes very little but expects to benefit from team rewards. This is the perfect description of Wally from the Dilbert cartoon.

How can you know before you hire someone whether they’ll be a team player? One assessment instrument offered by The Davidson Group does measure the degree to which someone’s individualism is a motivator for their behavior. The more naturally team-oriented a candidate is, the less they’ll have to adapt or modify their behavior to support team goals. This assessment can be extremely helpful as a pre-employment tool.

Call us today at 336-294-5053 to hire and retain a team that doesn’t disappoint.