WHEN SOMEONE says that his or her workplace is stuffy or is stifled, that doesn’t necessarily mean that there is no air conditioning. It probably means that things are tense and unnecessarily stressful due to the lack of fun and positivity around the office. These are the workplaces where the employees tend to look very gloomy as if a plague befell the place. The employer probably also gets frustrated all the time. If only the aspect of fun in the workplace could be incorporated. This doesn’t mean that the employees should cease taking work seriously. It is just a way of loosening them up and at the same time, lightening their mood.
Reasons why fun in the workplace is essential:
- Allowing fun in the work place makes (and keeps) employees happy. For example, encourage birthday celebrations and minor pranks. This will provide temporary relief to work related stress for a while and thus allow employees to enjoy themselves. By the time they are going back to work, their moods have brightened in such a way that their productivity level increases.
- Employees get disgruntled with each other from time to time. That should be expected because they spend a lot of time together and they have different personalities. If these issues are not handled, the work place is going to be a nightmare with all the tension flying around. Fun in the workplace will cause these employees to work out their issues in a good manner. If they were to handle the problems in a tense environment, the results could be disastrous.
- Fun in the workplace can be in the form of teamwork exercises or rewards for top performance. One way of looking at it is introducing aspects of competition, causing the employees to work together to win. These teamwork exercises will be extended to the workplace and the company will start doing better because the employees will start working as a team.
- At times, problems in the workplace arise because the employees don’t know each other. They don’t know what makes them tick and what makes them happy. They are also unaware of their strengths and weaknesses. Indulging in fun activities will give them an opportunity of getting to know each other and thus work to accommodate each other’s strengths and weaknesses.
- Some employees tend to have a very low self-esteem. If they could only be exposed to activities that make them do well, they would not have the self-esteem issues. Another way of curbing this is by mixing them up with other employees in a social gathering. Encourage a staff happy hour at a local bar one or two days a week after work or start a company 5K race team. People tend to act differently at work and off work. Therefore, when the other employees see a different side of them, then they get impressed and thus enhance their self-esteem.
- Competitive companies have a habit of poaching employees from each other. If an employee is not satisfied at their current workplace, then they can easily work for someone else who offers a better deal and working environment. Getting the employees out of work to let them have fun is not a way of wasting time, but building the company. Many loyal employees are fostered from such activities.
