Research has proved that fun and humour at the workplace is essential to balance the mind, body, and spirit. From a company’s perspective, an employee’s wellbeing plays an important role in his performance, quality, and productivity, which in turn affects business success and profits. Factors such as a good working environment and employee engagement are crucial to improve employees’ wellbeing. When an employee’s wellbeing reduces, so does his or her performance.
By adding humour in your workplace, you are making people happier and happier people produce more work and are loyal to their companies.
They are motivated to work and grow to be innovative in their thinking. Importantly, it releases tension and manages disturbing negative emotions.
Laughter creates a positive energy that is contagious and everyone bounces back with enthusiasm. While doing mundane, repetitive jobs, having some boredom-breaking activities leads to greater tolerance levels. Even the most challenging work can be fun and less stressful. Besides, humour reduces job stress and burnout, lowers blood pressure levels, and releases the feel-good hormones known as endorphins that work as natural pain killers.
The communication channels open up between co-workers and soon they find themselves solving problems together, celebrating together, and assuming combined responsibility for the organisation’s success. There is a strong culture of trust and collaboration with enhanced task performance and decrease in turnover. All these are significant features required in the operation of a strong and successful company.
The following are some ideas that you as a human resources representative or a manager can use or customise your own:
1. Ask employees to volunteer and form a social committee group to organise fun activities appropriate for your company. It could be as simple as sending Su-do-ku puzzles, joke of the day, or an engaging event like bringing in board games and having a competition.
2. Organise a bake sale (treats made by employees) and the proceeds could go to a charity institute.
3. Add up the fun factor by having a ‘lunch and learn’ programme with a personal focus every month where employees have an opportunity to learn something new. For example, ergonomics, nutrition, healthy cooking, time management, and so on. If your budget allows, provide food. Otherwise, employees can organise a potluck or carry their own lunch.
4. In meetings, set aside some time for fun.
5. Encourage employees to create a bulletin board where fun quotes, fun facts, and so on are posted.
However, here is a word of warning. Defining what is acceptable as fun and humour and what is not acceptable is essential. For instance, indulging in crude or violent jokes or pranks is a strict no-no at any workplace.
Humour does not mean that all employees should have the ability to tell jokes or fire off clever remarks. It simply means that employees should not take themselves too seriously while keeping a positive attitude.
The workplace need not be a carnival. It should be courteous, happy and a positive place to work. It is important that we honour work ethics and not be distracted from work. We need to continue being professional and competent while embracing humour and laughter with gusto. This is not difficult to achieve. It requires trust and commitment from management along with the right attitude among employees.
It’s all about de-stressing and having fun while being productive. When the atmosphere is relaxing, fun and humour happens naturally.
To sum it up in the words of John Ruskin, art critic of the Victorian era, “In order that people may be happy in their work, these three things are needed: They must be fit for it.
They must not do too much of it. And they must have a sense of success in it.”
