Are you having a laugh? No, seriously, are you? Because humour is a vital ingredient to a successful work environment.
How serious is your workplace? Do you ever enjoy going to work for the atmosphere rather than the work you do? Can you have a laugh with your colleagues?
Do you have any idea how important humour is to a functional business?
Employees might see this as an obvious component to enjoying their job, maintaining a good work-life balance and avoiding the dreaded burnout.
But, sometimes, what is so obvious to one group of people might be impossible to see for another group – for example, the employers or the bosses.
At a management level, you might only be thinking about bottom lines, maximum output and getting the most and best work out of your employees. In your head, that might equate to ‘no room for chit-chat’ or no time for distractions. However, a workplace that’s devoid of humour and fun is more likely to suffer when it comes to the serious side of business.
Of course, we all know that it’s good to have a bit of a laugh but, from a completely business perspective, humour is an essential part of success. We’ve gathered up seven reasons why it’s important to ensure the workplace is a fun-filled environment for your employees.
Fun builds staff morale
Any good business leader or manager will know that high staff morale is an essential part of having a positive work environment for your employees.
If there is good morale in work, your employees will feel valued and, naturally, they work better when they’re happy.
Humour and fun in the workplace will naturally bring up the mood in your office and help your staff work better as a whole.
Humour improves health
There’s a reason ‘laugher is the best medicine’ exists as a phrase. Laughing stimulates the heart and lungs, increases blood flow around the body, and increases feel-good endorphins released from the brain.
Humour also relaxes muscles and reduces stress, which can help employees who are feeling under pressure. Burned-out employees are more likely to take sick leave, so a less stressful workplace is a good way to combat that.
Retain your best employees
A healthy company culture is synonymous with employee retention. A good company culture should always include a certain level of humour and fun.
If your employees enjoy their work culture, they are definitely more likely to stay in the company. And good business managers know the true cost of losing employees.
In addition, if your employer brand includes a genuinely fun workplace, you’re more likely to attract even more top talent, while holding on to the staff you already have.
Humour boosts creativity
No matter what your business is, creativity will always be an important component, and innovation rarely thrives in serious, restricted environments.
For employees to express creativity, they need to have the freedom to brainstorm and bounce ideas off one another.
A relaxed, fun environment with employees (and employers) who have a sense of humour will go a long way towards encouraging a creative mindset.
Building trust
This one is particularly important for managers to take note of. Bosses who have a sense of humour and know how to have a laugh with their employees tend to get the most out of them. Why?
Because a relaxed, fun environment in which managers have a laugh with their employees builds trust between the two sides.
This doesn’t mean there isn’t seniority, but it gives the appearance of a flatter organisation. This means employees feel they can approach their bosses. This in turn leads to more communication and collaboration across the board.
Encourage good teamwork
Speaking of collaboration, banter among employees leads to stronger teams and better teamwork.
This might seem like an obvious result, but it’s often something managers can forget about. The next time you feel like your employees are skiving off and chatting too much, stop and think about the bonding and team-building that’s happening.
Fun at work increases productivity
All of these positives should help managers realise that a sense of humour at work will lead to a more productive workforce.
This is often a point that really needs to hammered home – while employees are having a laugh, it isn’t always easy to see how that leads to better productivity.
However, humour brings energy, which brings productivity. Do you know what else brings productivity? Happiness, good staff morale, creativity and good teamwork – all of which, like we said, are boosted by a sense of humour and fun.
