Top Story by Human Resource Executive® Magazine

By Kristen B. Frasch

As corporate softball teams take to the fields, it's a good time to consider the ways in which company sports activities work well and the ways they don't.

First and foremost, says Gary Hirsch of On Your Feet, a Portland, Oregon, consulting firm, "is the power of play."

"As children, we realize that's the epicenter of all social interactions," says Hirsch, whose firm uses improvisational theater to build business skills. "As we grow up, that gets pushed to the side."

When done well, he says, organized sports can give newcomers a sense of belonging and old-timers a better way to understand and work with each other. In addition, he says, they can be popular gathering points simply because they're fun and can tap into the "power of co-creation, when a group of people create something that no individual person could."

On the other hand, group sports can detract from a sense of corporate cohesion if certain workers' talents are either targeted or "pigeonholed," Hirsch says.

If you decide your financial expert can only do numbers during the game, "you end up seeing [him or her] through blinders," he says. "From an HR perspective, that's not very efficient."

In addition, some bosses can't shed their demanding behavior, making some teams more competitive, just as some companies are more cutthroat. Managers and company leaders should always stay focused on their intent to keep things inclusive and constructive when putting together sporting events, says Bill Proudman, co-owner of Inclusivity Consulting in Portland. There should be no switching in better players or cutting members from the team. "If [their goal] is to bring people together and have every person feel uniquely valued, they're great uses of resources, time and efforts. But, he cautions they can also be real barriers for people who don't or can't participate.