Admittedly, this probably isn’t the first question you’re going to ask when evaluating your business. Compared to profitable, efficient, or innovative, ‘fun’ can seem like a trivial measurement. Your employees are there to work, after all, not to be entertained.
But it turns out looking at how much fun your employees have at work is crucial to measuring long-term success and definitely plays a huge role in employee retention.
Building a healthy company culture is an important piece of building a business and you ignore it at your own peril. After all, most people will only work at a company that is over-serious and overstressed for so long. Not exactly a great plan for attracting and retaining top talent.
But having a bit of fun can actually increase productivity. Laughter produces strong endorphins that cause the same exhilarating feeling you get when you exercise. It also increases your oxygen intake, which not only boosts your immune system, but decreases stress levels. Having a laugh at work can combat boredom (which never leads to productivity) and increase creativity and communications within your staff.
So how can you increase your office merriment? These 13 steps from motivational speaker Jody Urquhart are a great place to start. The highlights: accept that professionalism doesn’t always mean being serious, plan social events for your team, and recognize fun as a positive w hen it happens. Tell jokes, bring nerf balls to meetings, post fun pictures on social media, and let your staffs’ own fun personality shine.
How would you measure your workplace’s level of fun? And what can you do to bring a little more laughter into your office?
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