ouch!..aah!...noooo!

Mike Maslanka · October 2001

i saw a blurb on yahoo from the ap wire on a burger king corporate retreat where for bonding purposes the employees had to walk over burning coals of up to 1200 degrees...sadly,some did not do well and ended up with first and second degree burns...according to the consultant who put it together,"you're walking over hot coals and something can happen"(here's a guy who has a firm grip of the obvious)...the burger king vp who came up with the idea said that,"it made me feel a sense of empowerment"...she,too,was injured...frankly,i've had it with these types of consultants---what they sell is ,to borrow a phrase from former president bush,"vodoo bonding"...at best it is a quick fix ,and does not address underlying issues...a workshop of effective communication would be much more valuable...while it may seem a ggod idea,it's not...sort of like the question a client asked a few years ago...it was the company christmas party and the company hired a guy who would walk around the room and do a drawing of a person(i forget what they are called)which makes them look cartoonish and takes a physical feature and blows it out of proportion...we advised--and they agreed---that it might make some empoyees feel uncomfortable,and they ditched it...anyone have similar experiences or thoughts on this issue...regards from texas,mike maslanka

sonny · October 2001

Ubelievable! It may sound like a silly question, but did the company have to pay WC on the burned folks????

WOCO Frank · October 2001

If they only paid WC, they got lucky.

Gar · October 2001

I blame the employees who were dumb enough to walk on the coals.

Diane in FL · October 2001

LOL!

System · October 2001

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 10-10-01 AT 11:07AM (CST)[/font][p]Here in Tennessee, a political organization once held a fund-raiser at a roller skating rink. Most of the attendees hadn't been on skates for 30 years or more. My orthopedic surgeon was working in the ER that night and was very busy treating middle-age people with skating injuries. Must've seemed like a good idea at the time.

There are a bunch of legal and practical issues to consider before having any sort of employee event, especially if it includes alcohol or physical activity. They're covered in our HR Quick List book, in the section "You're having a Christmas party, picnic, or retreat."
[url]http://www.hrhero.com/hrquicklist.shtml[/url]

James Sokolowski
Senior Editor
M. Lee Smith Publishers

Mike Maslanka · October 2001

the employees all signed waivers,but i do not think that texas law allows waiver of a workers comp claim...regards from texas,mike maslanka

Mike Maslanka · October 2001

by the way,this excerise was done during a company retreat...there is a verey good article in this month's fast company magazine on setting up an effective company retreat,and this type of vodoo exercise is not a way to go...as someone in the article says."whether soemone can climb a tree(another goofy vodoo exercise)"has nothing to do with nothing to do with whether they can do a job and work in a team....good reading...regards,mike maslanka

Dianna · October 2001

I work at a corporate training facility, and all of the "exercises" I have seen have been on teambuilding, with outstanding results. Fortunately, we have never had a request for hot coals . . . .

Mike Maslanka · October 2001

>I work at a corporate training facility, and all of the "exercises" I
>have seen have been on teambuilding, with outstanding results.
>Fortunately, we have never had a request for hot coals . . . .

hi diana,can you share with us some of the teambuilding exercies?...any exercise that gets an employee to better understand the people she works with,and thus better able to communicate,are worthwhile...it's just that these coal type things seem so popular,but actually give training a bad name...regards from dallas,mike maslanka

Theresa Gegen TX · October 2001

Well, remember Burger King prides itself on flame broiling its stuff. So maybe they wanted to flame broil a few exec's too!!!

System · October 2001

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 10-10-01 AT 04:58PM (CST)[/font][p]x:7

LOL!

Margaret Morford · October 2001

I have worked with a consultant who uses laser tag to teach leadership, teambuilding, business strategies, communication, etc. It works well because people who have health problems can participate. It was one team building exercise that I've seen be very effective.

Margaret Morford
theHRedge
615-371-8200
[email]mmorford@mleesmith.com[/email]

Gar · October 2001

Ditto on the LOL!!!!!

Diane in FL · October 2001

As a consultant who teaches effective communication techniques, I am APPALLED at these types of retreats. As a former human resource executive in the corporate world, my board members were constantly suggesting such "bonding" retreats.

I don't believe in "bonding" - at least in the most popular sense of the word. I believe in respect, manners, consideration, follow-up and accountability. Effective communication is intimately tied to diversity initiatives - learning about and respecting others' gifts, which are rented by the company during the hours specified in the employment contract.

Co-workers need not be best friends. They need not socialize with each other after work. They do, however, need to recognize that people are hired into a company for a reason: their skills are needed to blend with everyone else's in order to produce whatever products or services at the level of quality the organization's mission states.

With this in mind, co-workers need to garner a healthy respect for each other's knowledge, skills and abilities on the job. When that happens, a natural propensity to "get to know" a person follows, and a "professional bond" will develop. In the meantime, if the HR department has done it's job in screening and soft-skills training, the on-the-job personalities should mesh.

Gar · October 2001

Diane, lighten up (smile). Some folks really go for that new age touchy-feely, hand-holding bonding stuff. I'm old school myself.

Diane in FL · October 2001

Thank heavens I'm not the only old schooler.

jgreen · October 2001

Old school, new age, no matter. I respect both, and I agree with you. I just have one word for those types of "retreats" -- GIMMICKY. I love to have fun in my classes and play games IF they are relevant and IF they are relatively non-threatening and appropriate for a diverse audience. If an instructor or facilitator plays a game or performs a magic "trick" just because he or she has a captive audience, and there is no purpose to the activity, then it is a GIMMICK, pure and simple, and that is what the coal-walking sounds like to me.

jgreen · October 2001

I think the word you want is "caricature." (Or it could be "lawsuit.")

WOCO Frank · October 2001

I judge all training sessions alike, whether they are "gimmicky" or "old-school"... My final - and most important - assessment has to wait until long after the training is over, because it hinges on the staying power of the training. I've seen many gimmicky sessions with Zero staying power... content is superficial, and sometimes the delivery gets in the way of the message. But I've seen a lot of traditional training sessions with the same outcome. At least the gimmicky ones were fun!

ouch!..aah!...noooo!

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