This article from The Wall Street Journal sheds light on a formerly favored practice of team building among companies in Japan that is starting to make a comeback: employee dorms.

Some companies in Japan tried to build a bond between their employees and make life simpler for them by offering unwed employees the opportunity to live in dorm housing for a very small rent fee. This practice enabled younger employees to have interaction with their fellow coworkers, live close to work, and be able to transition from living at home or university to entering the “grown up world.” The idea of dorm living for employees pretty much disappeared in the 1990s when the economy took at downward turn in Japan, but it is starting to make resurgence today.

Many company owners are starting to see better profits and are realizing the importance of putting that money into opportunities for their employees. This works in many instances because it can be such a shock to go from living with your parents or at university to suddenly starting a professional job and having to fend for yourself. These dorms allow workers to interact with people in the same situation as them, which provides support, empathy, and a feeling that everyone is in the same situation as you. This article says that many of the companies who are bringing this program back state that cutting the dorms hurt communication within the company and that they lost a sense of unity among their employees. When a large portion of your employees all live in the same place it is easy to spread important information amongst them.

Now this is a practice that would probably never work in the United States; one of the biggest milestones for most young people is moving out of their parents’ house or the college dorm and into their own place. But it is a great reminder of the importance of fostering a bond between your employees. It is important for your employees to realize they are all on the same team and are working toward the same goal. In restaurants it is very easy for front of house and back of house employees to see each other as enemies and not work together. The goal of teambuilding exercises is to help these employees realize the importance of all working together.

If you can get these employees to stop seeing each other as the enemy and instead see everyone as a person who can help them accomplish whatever tasks they are faced with then you will have a much more harmonious work environment. While dorms may be going too far, a company picnic, holiday party, or just a staff dinner is a great way to get all of your employees together. Once they are all together they will all be able to hear your message of how important they all are and how they can work the best when they all work together.