What makes a workplace fun? What are your personal on-the-job experiences with productivity-enhancing fun? Describe them.

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CASE ANALYSIS – THE EMPLOYEE WHISPERER

What makes a workplace “fun?”  What are your personal on-the-job experiences with productivity-enhancing fun?  Describe them.

Employees who have fun on the job are more creative, more productive, better decision-makers, and get along better with co-workers.  They also have fewer absentee, late and sick days than people who aren’t having fun (Rau-Foster, 2000, p. 1).

The benefits to a pleasant and happy workplace are that happy employees are more loyal and productive employees.  The absenteeism and tardiness rate may decrease as people look forward to going to work.  The turnover rate may decrease as employees feel content and loyal to an organization.  In addition, the cost associated with illness may decrease as people experience the positive physiological and psychological effects of laughter (Rau-Foster, 2001, p. 1).

According to Rau-Foster, fun breaks up boredom and fatigue, fulfills human social needs, increases creativity and willingness to help, fulfills the needs for mastery and control, improves communication and breaks up conflict and tension (p.2).  

Having fun at work makes the work itself more enjoyable while boosting one’s ability to perform at peak levels and provide quality service or performance even under increasingly demanding work conditions.  There are many ways to make a workplace fun.  I have included of few of them below:

  • Hire competent employees who already value fun and have a sense of humor.  A core of people with strong humor skills is one of the most important keys to helping other employees build up these skills (McGhee, 2009, p. 1).

  • Humor and fun should be modeled by top management.  Most employees assume that humor and fun on the job will be viewed negatively; so they need clear evidence that this is not the case (McGhee, 2009, p. 1).

  • Provide challenging work.  Fun on the job does not have to take the form of humor or silliness.  Simply challenging work is an important source of fun for many employees (McGhee, 2009, p.2).

  • Encourage spontaneity on the job as it is central to play and fun.  While a judgment must always be made about when any form of fun or humor is or is not appropriate, this restraint should not kill one’s capacity for spontaneity (McGhee, 2009, p.2).

  • Establish a fun committee as it helps to assure that fun activities and events will actually be created and will be appropriate for the company.  The members of this committee should be rotated to keep ideas fresh and sustain ongoing commitment to fun on the job (McGhee, 2009, p.2).

  • Have fun dress-up or dress-down days ((McGhee, 2009, p.3).

  • Have office parties or gatherings.  This encourages employee interaction and decreases office tension (McGhee, 2009, p. 3).

  • Put a motto over one’s desk that helps keep daily hassles in perspective (McGhee, 2009, p. 3).

Listed below are my own experiences with productivity enhancing fun:

  • We have a moral fund in which employees may join which requires them to donate $5.00 every two weeks to the fund.   The money is used to give away gifts to moral fund members every two weeks by a chance drawing.  The giveaways are things such as tickets to sporting events, gift certificates to restaurants or stores, cash gifts, trips, etc.   In addition, annually there is a big party with food, drinks and large prize giveaways.
Join now!

  • We have an employee benefit fund which sponsors an Easter Egg Hunt for employees children, a summer picnic for staff, an annual retiree’s picnic, and an awards dinner to recognize employee’s years of service at specific intervals (25, 30 ad 35 years of state services).  The employee benefit fund receives a percentage of revenue from the vending machines in the employee lunch rooms and also from various fund raisers that the committee runs.

  • We have various organized committees that meet to discuss specific issues pertinent to its membership on company time.  Examples of committees at my employment are ...

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