A631.1.5RB_SeabournBeau

Do you see value in the EcoSeagate team development process?

I see a ton of value in that program/process. What I find the most interesting is the willingness of the employees to actually apply and attend the event. When people are signing up to encounter that process, you can assume they are doing it to have a hands on learning opportunity that will give value to them and the company. I personally feel that if even one person is more motivated about their job when you finish, you've done something worth while. The downside to EcoSeagate is, they are so large that the actually have people apply from all over the world. I feel as though the program is effective accept for the fact that people that are participating may never actually work together again in a real time setting. After you have a development opportunity like that, you want to know that team members are going to have some sort of bond created, a bond that actually will be used in a daily setting. I feel like if they brought team members from the same areas, that work together often, they may see more results in the long run. People will learn about their coworkers and learn what their needs and motivations are.

Why would something like this be necessary in a high-preforming organization?

When you have a high-performance team, you want to keep them motivated with the opportunity to participate in something like this. Brown states "team development is an educational process of continually reviewing and evaluating team functioning in order to identify and establish new and more effective ways of operating" (Brown, 2011). High preforming teams need the motivation and incentives to want to preform at peak form constantly. This activity is actually something that can inspire people to reach outside their comfort zone and try things they've never tried before. If managers want to be successful, they have to offer new and innovating ways for employees to bond.

Could your organization benefit from a similar activity?

I personally feel like our organization could benefit from something like this. I recently found out that the corporate level employees actually have a retreat but the lower level, every day air traffic controllers do not. From my knowledge, there is not any type of program in place to engage everyone. Each year there is a managers conference and the opportunity to get managers together and share successes and new ideas. There is no acknowledgement of the controllers themselves. I think that my company could try and invite people to participate in something like this and make controllers feel like they're important to the success of the company. I feel like there is a slight break down in that perspective. If employees knew that they were just as important as managers, they might feel more inclined to stay with the company. As it is right now, we have a very high turn over rate. Either people are waiting to get a government job or they are retired from the government and just working for what ever motivations they have. There are a very limited amount of people who are actually choosing to make this company a career path like I am. I would like to see more care for the actual controllers.



Reference

Brown, D. R. (2011). An Experiential Approach to Organization Development (Eighth ed.). Prentice Hall.