Our Funny Client

Our clients at The Ohio Masonic Home created quite a chuckle when they dressed two of their senior leaders as a pig and a turkey to help their team celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday a few years ago. I was there to witness it and it was funny! That is what they are like at OMH all the time. They are a fun and funny group of people, who also have high standards for care and outcomes.  

Perhaps you are thinking that it’s a bit silly and over the top to dress leaders like farm animals. It certainly is, you are correct. But that is what makes it memorable.

Which is precisely why you should be doing the same in your organization!

Have More Fun 

While, of course, work is meant for getting things done and achieving goals, a culture of lightheartedness and fun helps you get that accomplished quicker and with a smile on your face. And don’t we need more of that lately?  Laughter and, even though we can’t see the smiles with the masks, smiling eyes (or “smize,” which I just learned is a smile with your eyes!) are in huge demand right now!

Now, having fun isn’t just a frivolous thing! In 2010, a 700-person experiment in Britain found that providing “happiness shocks” actually made participants happier and those same employees were, in turn, an average of 12% more productive as a result.

Shocking with happiness . . .

For the record, the happiness shocks did not involve the use of a stun gun, but are rather a break in the day to enjoy some sort of fun activity. (My apologies to those of you who were thrilled at the opportunity to zap certain team members.)

Happiness shocks sound like moments of joy to me. And it may sound a little crazy to think that something as silly as having fun at work could impact productivity and, ultimately, an organization’s success, I know.

Yet each year, when Fortune lists the “100 Best Companies to Work For”, 81% of the best companies responded that they are working in a “fun environment.” The statement used to measure this number is simply, “This is a fun place to work.” After a decade of research, they’ve found a very compelling statistic: in the companies that apply for the list but don’t make it, only 62% of people say they are having fun at work.

This gap is one of the largest they have found in the survey.

Have Fun? But what about COVID?

It is worth the extra time to brainstorm, as a leadership team, on how to have more fun at your organization even now, especially now. Rest assured, you can have fun within the confines of COVID safety measures, I promise. It may require a little more creativity, but it is doable! Makes me think, "I wonder if this year the pig and turkey costumes come with pig and turkey masks?"

Check out how our client, Christian Horizons took all sorts of fun on the road for the entire month of September in their Gratitude Tour! 

Here are a couple of tips to ensure fun is a part of your organizational culture!

1. Create a Tradition –Another organization we work with, The Venetian in NJ, hosted a leadership academy I had the privilege to facilitate. At 10 AM we were told we had to stop for a few minutes to observe their daily ritual: a music blaring, hands flying, dance routine in the rehab gym that involves residents and staff from all different departments. It’s hard not to have a smile on your face when Justin Timberlake is booming and everyone around you is giggling and groovin’.
2. Make it a Surprise –While having fun at work should be a conscientious effort that’s not left to chance, it should also be spontaneous. Instead of planning the next employee event, why not surprise them? Surprise adds a whole other level of fun to any event! One year when I was an administrator, our Fun Committee (Yes, we actually had one of those!) planned an event that involved me dressing like a gypsy and telling people’s fortunes. While people knew it was me with all the veils and coins on, they didn’t realize the secret contained within my crystal ball that was covered with a sheet. I’d ask my customer—a resident or staff member—to ask me a question and they would summon my crystal ball to answer it. After rubbing the ball under the sheet a few times, I would dramatically whip off the sheet to reveal my crystal ball was actually an overturned bowl with the head of my buddy, Ron Bucci, who at the time was the administrator of our Independent Living community, peering out. The shock and laughter that followed was just incredible! Poor Ron, though, with his head stuck in a glass bowl, was barely able to breathe for hours!

Creating a Desirable Culture

Most people value some sort of fun in their work life. But what else do they value? What else do they want from their employer? If you are not prioritizing what your team members want, like having fun, you risk having a workforce that looks and feels unfulfilled, disengaged, and has one foot out the door.

If you truly want to build a place where people love coming to work and love doing their best work for you, you need to find out what exactly they want from you! Our Culture Assessment is the easiest way to do just that! Click here to learn more about it.