Work place enjoyment
While waiting in the reception area of an accounting firm I consulted with, it sounded like a party was happening. “I wouldn’t want to work in an uninspiring and clinical practice, so our happiness culture has been created from the top down,” one of the firm’s owners said when I asked him about it. “There are times when we have solid, quiet concentration, but other times the staff are allowed to truly be themselves, as long as they get their work done. There are also quiet rooms for those who prefer that option.” He also noted that their lighthearted and energetic culture transferred positively to their clients, along with heightened job satisfaction, commitment, and team productivity.
Fun and happiness at work.
Some assume that having fun at work might encourage “irresponsible orientation, or a lack of caution or lack of self-control…” But rather, research conducted on the topic revealed “that feeling happy, even though it promotes enjoyment of enjoyable tasks, leads at the same time to forward-looking thinking, self-control, and the ability to stay on task, even on a task that may be uninteresting or unpleasant.”1
When we consider a significant amount of our lives is spent working, it makes sense to enjoy not only the type of work we do but also the place of work.
Ray
*Photo by Andrea Piacquadio
+61 403 341 105; ray@rayhodge.com.au; www.rayhodge.com.au
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Motivation and Emotion, Vol. 29, No. 4, December 2005 ( C _ 2005)
DOI: 10.1007/s11031-006-9019-8 The Influence of Positive Affect on Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation: Facilitating Enjoyment of Play, Responsible Work Behavior, and Self-Control
Alice M. Isen1,3 and Johnmarshall Reeve2