Sports contribution to open communication in a workplace: a qualitative study

Abstract

This study explored employees’ perceptions of the contribution that conversations about sport have on workplace social bonding. Participants were 63 sport participants from nine different financial organisations in the Gauteng region of South Africa (33% were female and 67% were male). The ages of participants ranged from 21 years to 43 years. Data regarding the contribution that sport has on open communication in the workplace were collected from the participants using focus group discussions and individual interviews. The results indicate that conversations about sport facilitated organisation social bonding and quality of service.