The kind of joyous, playful, break-the-tension fun they engaged in is taking place all around the world in organizations that care about performance, retention and profitability. It’s also proven to improve teamwork, build trusting relationships and increase employee retention. Sweeten the pot with an award for the winner(s), and people will really enjoy coming to work. This can … And happy employees are all around better at their jobs. Why It's Important to Have Fun at Work. As we met with Amy Lyman, chair of the board and cofounder of the Institute, she explained that fun and success go hand in hand. However, this idea can also be applied to your small business employees. It’s a good thing that researchers don’t automatically prescribe to this notion. Is the stress already starting to build? One corollary to developing strong bonds of trust is that people are able to also have a great deal of fun at work," Lyman says. It would be rare to be one of Fortune’s "100 Best Companies to Work For" and not score well on the fun question. Aside from being, well, fun, it turns out that having more fun at work creates very positive bottom-line business results. Having open discussions about whether or not we are having fun at work is a path towards wholeness at work. Sign up for our ONE Thing Community and enter into a support network of people just like you, and transform the areas of your life that matter most! What’s the first thought that crosses your mind as you shut the car door behind you and make your way to the office? The standard “we work hard and play hard” motto isn’t enough. There are a lot of equipment and machines in an office but employees are not among them. 2. Managers and team leaders win because they have a more engaged and productive workforce. Correlations to fun on the 57-question survey are all “very high, very positive,” Lyman added. At the “good” companies -- those that apply for inclusion but do not make the top 100 -- only 62 employees out of 100 say they are having fun. 15 January, 2017 by Georgia Bobley. No matter how cool your co-workers are, or how nice your cubicle is, if you don’t have the right job, you’re not going to have fun. Having fun at work is proven to have substantial effects on workplace productivity. Some of the benefits of playing on the job include: – Higher recruitment and retention rates. Having fun at work might be just as important as having fun in your personal life. Some managers may look at this as wasting a day of work, but in the end the boost in productivity levels will more than make up for it. - V: 2020.26.0.27-818 -. “In fact, it would be very unusual for a company to be among the ‘100 Best’ and not score well on the fun question.” In fact, you’ll probably end up pretty miserable. Austin Web Design. Paint over … I have to work at it. You would see a correlation between fun and reduced turnover, better recruiting, greater camaraderie…all those positive things you see happen in great workplaces. At a recent all-team meeting, each of us went around the room and rated the organization on a scale of 1-10 on how we’re doing at incorporating fun as a core value. If the management team has been a stick in the mud about having fun at work it’s time to turn things around. Take the first job that’s right for you. By continuing, you agree to Monster's privacy policy, terms of use and use of cookies. That last scenario is unfortunately not the norm at most companies, and it’s probably hurting employee performance. Discover how to form your first power habit with the 66-Day Challenge Calendar, The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results By Gary Keller and Jay Papasan (Hard Cover), Copyright © 2002-2021 Rellek Publishing Partners, Ltd. Workplace fun has been linked to: Enhanced motivation Increased productivity Reduced stress Higher job satisfaction Improved task performance And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. Instead of working on Fun at Work Day make it a time for everyone to come in and have fun. In case you didn’t catch that, let us repeat it. Now, for those of you like me who believe that fun at work is important here’s something else that’s really important. It is a low cost, easy way to build morale. Workplace stress... Increase in … Coming up with weekly or monthly challenges that employees can participate in is a fun motivator. Go a step further toward improving motivation by letting them choose the events. Lyman explained to us that as a company moves on its journey from being lousy to good to great, they must first address basic issues such as physical safety and even friendliness. “In fact, it’s a triple whammy," Kerr explains. " That, in a waffle cone, is the power of the Levity Effect at work. Employees will work harder knowing that they’ll be rewarded for their efforts and acknowledged for their contributions. Fostering a fun work environment can make your employees less stressed, more productive, more creative, and more engaged. Why You Need to Have Fun to Be Successful. Having engaging workspaces for … Motivated purely by the opportunity to have a little fun at work, the aviation workers increased their performance dramatically. This tale is no big deal, right? What’s better than attracting new talent? The five ideas below are a good jumping off point for creating a culture that incorporates fun. Having Fun at Work is Important and Here is How to Start I am sure we have all heard the expression “happy wife, happy life.” We all know that your spouse’s overall happiness is essential for a healthy emotional bond. Stressed-out employees are distracted employees. I firmly believe that positive and fun team cultures create success! Not only is this creating a more relaxing environment, but it also encourages interaction between colleagues, which is proven to boost happiness. They’ve come up with all sorts of crazy ideas to make their offices better; slides, pool tables, sports facilities, even nap stations. That, in a waffle cone, is the power of the Levity Effect at work. Everett (2011) concludes that since we will spend more than 90,000 hours of our lives at work, we might as well have fun there. An increasing body of research demonstrates that when leaders lighten up and create a fun workplace, there is a significant increase in the level of employee trust, creativity and communication -- leading to lower turnover, higher morale and a stronger bottom line. But it should be. It also energizes people — and these two factors combined can result in an increase in productivity. Three reasons having fun at work could be good for your business. The standard … HR/Benefits Why Workspace is So Critical to Employee's Success An average person spends one-third of their life at work. Each year, the Great Place to Work Institute asks tens of thousands of employees to rate their experience of workplace factors, including, “This is a fun place to work.” On Fortune’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” list, produced by the Great Place to Work Institute, employees in companies that are denoted as “great” responded overwhelmingly -- an average of 81 percent -- that they are working in a “fun” environment. And it is also true that if you are in business for yourself or work in a small business, fun may not be a priority either. This is especially tough for people coming right out of school – you’ve got a mountain of debt, bills to pay, and dreams to chase, so you jump at the first offer that comes your way. If your employees are having the fun sucked out of them at work, then you shouldn’t be surprised if they don’t give you their best. Why Fun At Work is Important Fun At Work Sells. Why it is important to have fun at work . Stress can contribute to lower productivity—but it doesn’t just affect your performance at work. And, all companies should be wondering how to have more fun. The airplanes were launched, laughter rang out and people frolicked (funny word, frolicked). Studies over the last two decades have revealed when workplaces make fun a factor it creates happier employees that feel more satisfied. In the dark and grey days of the past, people who dared to have fun at work were thought of as time-wasters or nogoodniks sitting around on their keisters and goofing off (people talked funny back in the day). Reconciling Humor with Respect. Now, a skeptic will ask, “Are successful companies just more fun to be in, since they are winning and profitable, or does fun create success?” It’s the old, “which came first, the chicken or the egg” question. Fun and work sometimes are at opposite poles in some people’s minds, but they don’t have to be. You should know what the supervisor’s initial reaction was to his workers’ hitting the 150 percent production goal by 3 p.m. Rather than connecting the dots and seeing the link between the promise of fun and working harder, he instead commented, “Imagine what you guys could have accomplished if you hadn’t taken two hours off to screw around!” Why Fun is Important Simply put, fun sells. Nearly every... Fun At Work breeds loyalty. Fun in the workplace is good for the bottom line. Tech companies have become pioneers in the “fun at work” field, as they’ve found there are plenty of benefits in having a strong company culture. Just make sure to set parameters and stress that any offensive material is unacceptable. A ProduKtive™ Product. By the third week, when they had earned a trip offsite for ice cream cones, the manager finally got it. 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