Dear Manisha Kothari,
It is believed that fun activities improve team spirit or improve the motivation of the employees. However, your challenge is how to motivate employees even to attend the activities that motivate them!
Earlier, on this forum, I raised questions on the efficacy of the fun activities in the office. There is no evidence available to show that fun activities improve the motivation of employees and if motivation is improved then it improves the productivity of the employees or the productivity of the organisation. Neither I have not seen any HR or training professional measuring ROI on the fun activities.
Your post brings out the perception gap between the employees and the person who conducts fun activities. The perception gap is there between parents and children, service providers and customers, politicians and citizens, and so on.
Many employees have a tight schedule. They are loaded with so many activities that they do not have time to take lunch also. Many times they are required to work well beyond office hours. Will such employees not consider fun activities a waste of time?
How many HR/Training professionals have conducted work study and then decided the number of persons required to perform the job? While deciding the manhours, did they consider the requirement of fun activities?
If the employees are reluctant to attend the fun activities, then so be it. If the patient does not believe in the drug or the medicine prescribed by the doctor, then even doctors also say that it makes no impact on the body. The mindset with which the drug is taken is as important as the drug itself.
The fun activities are not new to the employees. They see them since their college or school days. After entering the professional world, again they are required to attend these activities. Possibly, due to overexposure, they could be seeing fun activities as a cliche.
Let me provide you with two alternatives. If possible, then conduct an organisational survey on Maslow's hierarchy of needs and find out which needs are required to be fulfilled. Many professionals do not find the practical utility in Maslow's theory. However, it still holds water. A collective score at each level gives insight into the corrective measures required to be taken by top leadership.
The second alternative is costly. It is to conduct psychometric tests and find out what exactly motivates an employee. Conduct games only for those employees who have a psychological bearing towards the game.
Thanks,
Dinesh Divekar