A group goes whitewater rafting. Companies are increasingly sending their employees on group expeditions. A Telegraph picture

Imagine a corporate hotshot walking down a rope bridge 50 ft above a fierce mountain stream. Or a junior executive helping his managing director through a forest trek. Not movie sequences these, but scenes from management training for city professionals.

More and more firms in Calcutta are making group trips mandatory for employees to hone their management skills.

“The trend of sending groups of employees into the wild has gained momentum in eastern India. Our volume of clients has jumped 40-50 per cent in the first half of this year with many companies organising their first such trip,” says Mrinmoy Saha of Himalayan Footprints, which organises corporate outbound programmes.

But are the professionals voting for adventure over a relaxing vacation? “Overcoming nature’s fury makes one more confident and spirited. A difficult board meeting or an impossible sales target is no match for such a challenge. Outbound trips are great stress-busters and team-builders,” says Susanta Kumar Bandyopadhyay, the executive director of human resources, Vesuvius India. The company recently took its employees for white-water rafting in its first such expedition.

The list of the other first-timers includes public sector giants like SAIL, banks like HDFC and telecom companies like Tata Indicom, along with IT majors like Sun Microsystems.

Gone are the days when the companies were keen to send executives to Southeast Asia or the Far East on family vacations as incentives. “Though the airfares to these destinations have fallen drastically, companies prefer group trips closer home,” adds Saha. The favourite activities include rappelling, rafting, trekking, rock climbing and kayaking.

“What would one get out of relaxing on a beach? It’s much better to learn through experience and experimentation in the wild. It scores over theoretical lessons,” says Shakti Guha, who was part of the white-water rafting trip.

Sharmishtha Roychoudhury of ITC believes “regular trips with tailor-made activities and games help to identify a born leader. It boosts energy levels as each individual tries to be the winner”. Guha adds: “Colleagues lending each other a helping hand forges team spirit.”

Tapasi Sarkar, the manager (finance) of SHV Energy, says trips with co-workers add spark to a monotonous schedule. “It’s more fun if members are chosen from a mixed group.”

Cross-functional groups also help in sharing views. “In companies with a huge work force, like ITC, such mixed groups help people to know each other,” says Roychoudhury.

“We mix staff across different age groups and designations. Our recent trip included executive directors, middle management and factory workmen. Everyone shared tents and food,” says Bandyopadhyay.

Not everyone, though, is convinced about the benefits of group expeditions.

“Team-building and cross-functional relationships should be built within office. An outbound trip once a year hardly serves the purpose,” says Rajat Subhra Biswas, joint commissioner of income-tax.