Do you dread the thought of knowing your “Sunday Fun-day” is coming to an end and it’s back to work in the morning? You are not alone.
According to a new report from Gallup, 70% of Americans feel unhappy, uninspired, and less engaged at work. Could this be a question of culture? Nowadays, most people would prefer to work in a place that creates a fun culture to a higher salary.
Culture is the unique personality of an organization. This consists of shared assumptions, values, and beliefs that dictate how people behave within the organization. Investing in a fun culture may seem costly and less effective, but research shows it enhances employee productivity.
Here are some tips to building a productive and pleasant culture.
- High-Energy Environment
There are many different ways of creating a high-energy environment for your employees. For starters, consider having an open-office environment where everyone, including upper management, is in an open space. This layout improves communication, job satisfaction, enables interaction and collaboration, while reducing conflict.
Another option is to add non-traditional spaces in the workplace. Many globally known companies, such as Google, are extremely profitable and make this a priority for their employees. Their office spaces includes rock climbing walls, slides, game rooms, amongst other things.
- Employee Free Time
Give your employees some free time to relax or do something they’ve wanted to do for a while. This doesn’t have to be work related, but will help increase their productivity during the time they are working. Google allocates 20% of employee time to pursue side projects and as a result, Gmail and Google News were created. Letting your employees dream big can benefit the organization as a whole.
If you want to implement something like this, start small and create a “Dream” board where all employees can post their goals and encourage employees to use some free time to work on their dreams.
- Invest In Your Team
Nothing pays off more than actually investing in your team. Create a bonus plan that will reward your team for all their hard work and effort. Or possibly send your MVP employee on a trip to any place in the world. This will encourage all your employees to work hard and win that trip for themselves.
Rewards: Some ideas that might increase productivity is to reward top performing employees with an extra long paid lunch or give them the opportunity to leave work early with pay.
Lunch: Feeding your employees is always popular. Try instituting a monthly pizza party for your team or a catered lunch.
Health: Another great way to invest in your employees is to get them a gym pass and encourage them to go to the gym on their lunch. This promotes a healthy lifestyle and gives employees a healthy break from their day-to-day tasks.
Events: Planning team outings are always fun for the team to bond and build morale. Select a team of individuals, a “party planning committee,” to coordinate and plan events. You can do a night of Paint & Sip, bowling, or attend a sporting event.
Conclusion
Having a fun culture in the workplace is beneficial for everyone in your organization. If your employees are satisfied, their work will reflect it. Try implementing some of these things little by little and see what works for your culture.
