Recruit, Inspire & Retain |
April 2005 |
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| SPECIAL APRIL FOOL’S DAY & FUN AT WORK DAY ISSUE! |
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Want Staff to Have Fun at Work Today? — You Have to Hire Well & Trust Them
If we have hired well and we trust our employees with the most valuable assets of the organization, then why not trust their judgement on how to use their full fun selves to achieve company objectives?
Some people fear that if they give permission for fun, employees will take advantage of the situation and shift the focus from work to fun. This is only a risk if we approach fun as a reward for working versus being part of the work. If our mental model is work hard and have fun later, we may create a dynamic that contributes to individuals feeling like they are on a low-fun diet. And diets, as we are all aware, often result in binging. When fun is in the work and results from the satisfaction of good work and good working relationships, then there is little risk of “when the cat’s away the mice will play”.
When the work is both worthwhile and fun, then valuable employees will want to stay; where there is a committed, energized, productive group of employees, others will want to join. The integration of fun with work creates a natural-attraction force that is irresistible to good people – it did for Prudential. “The secret to our success,” says Vice President Jody Doele, “is actually the secret to the success of any organization — hire the right people. I believe the right person has the right values, a sense of passion for their work, and a willingness to build a good work community. The goal, when you put together a group of people, is to create a team with a culture of trust, confidence, and vulnerability. You also have to create an environment in which they feel safe to make choices.”
“In our team, we have what we call a ‘safe to say’ environment,” adds Prudential OPX Team Leader Kimberley Christine (OPX was created to help create a new culture of process orientation, high trust in individuals, and the use of their talents). “That means that everyone feels confident they won’t be penalized for anything they say. In the old Prudential culture, saying the wrong thing could be detrimental to your career. In the new culture, we have the latitude to pursue our work with passion. We embrace mistakes as an opportunity to learn. But you have to be open and honest about mistakes or it doesn’t work.”
“I require 2 things from the people I hire,” Jody continues.
1. They must believe they can effect change and make a difference; and
2. They must want to grow personally.
“Our new culture is a huge undertaking,” says Susan Susrana, Associate Manager. “Our goal was to make a big undertaking bearable and not to become consumed by the process. We came together as a group doing things that fostered an environment of camaraderie, both in the workplace and after hours. We made it fun. Fun has to be like that, it just has to happen, it can’t be forced, it has to happen naturally. But it needs a positive, safe environment for it to blossom.”
“Fun is having passion for your work and linking up with your colleagues. It’s hard to have fun by yourself.” Susan continues, “The secret is to do something that you love and will enjoy doing. I really care who sits down the hall from me. Able people help to make a great environment and that’s when work is fun. Work is fun for me because I work with really talented people. I find a little piece of me in every person with whom I work; we are all idealists and realists at the same time. We have a lot of latitude.”
Rachael Elwork says, “Fun is energy; it’s the commitment to each other and the project; the belief in the work and the creation of work relationships that become friendships.”
“The secret to the success at OPX,” explains Sharon Wright, Diretor of Human
Resources in Scranton, Pennsylvania, “was the fairly rigorous selection process
of the team.” They looked for people who were:
* open
* willing to learn from others and their own mistakes
* shared a common attraction to this kind of work
“It was fun because it was safe, there wasn’t any competition amongst us to use the process to get ahead or take advantage of anyone, we were allowed to fail, and there was lots of humor and warmth.”
Excerpted from Fun Works: Creating Places Where People Love to Work
(Principle
Nine: Hire Good People and Get Out of Their Way).
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History of April Fool’s DayApril Fool’s Day is celebrated in the United States, England, France, Scotland, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Germany and Norway. The custom of shouting “April Fool!” was brought to the United States by
English settlers in the early 1600’s. Another theory states that the Roman festival of “Cerealia” held around the beginning of April, started it. The story is that the goddess Ceres hears the echo of Prosperpina (her daughter) screaming as she’s carried off to the lower worlds by Pluto. Ceres then goes in search of her daughter’s voice. But Cere’s search is a fool’s errand for it is impossible to find an echo. Yet another theory relates it to the Hindu festival of HoIi (or Hull)a spring fertility festival done with fire. This festival lasts for 5 days, including a continual outdoor bonfire and dancing. This brings people into an ecstatic mood. So how does April Fool’s fit in? On the LAST day of this festival (which happens to be March 31) people are sent on worthless errands to everyone’s amusement. There are a lot of folk stories in which people are sent on witless missions (or impossible ones). The common thread is that most of this is done in the Spring and is related to love. And, as some scholars say, when it comes to love even the most reasonable people go crazy and conduct themselves in a silly manner when they fall in love. So, April’s Fool’s Day is often associated with romantic craziness and fooling around. April Fools’ day is also called Huntingowk day or Gowkie day in Scotland, because an April Fool is called a gowk. In England it’s often referred to as “All Fools Day” or “April Noddy Day” because in England a fool is referred to as a ‘noddy.’ But, all of these names originate from the “Feast of Fools” which was a popular medieval festival during which social roles were reversed and rules were deliberately broken. The men would dress up as women, eat and gamble at the altar, burn old leather sandals in the censors and engage in other normally unthinkable activities. And, no one knows why in France the hoax is an “April Fish” a Poisson d’avril. Today, in France, chocolate fish are sold in candy stores for April Fool’s Day. And, friends send one another anonymous postcards (with some silly dialogue) with fish pictures. Other people try to pin a paper fish on someone’s back without being caught. This is similiar to the US prank of pinning a paper sign on someone’s back saying “Kick me.” In Mexico, April Fool’s Day is on December 28. According to their custom, it is very foolish to lend someone anything (especially money) on that day because it doesn’t have to be returned. Instead, the borrower sends the lender a box of candies with a note that he’s been fooled. In Germany and Norway, April Fool’s Day is celebrated twice: On April 1 and on April 31.
No April Fools – You Can Make Work Fun Like These Organizations DidIt’s International Fun At Work Day, and when was the last time you danced in your hallways or wore a really ugly hat to the office? It's time to cut loose and celebrate at work — celebrate your employees, celebrate your customers, celebrate failures, celebrate nothing. In case your overworked eyes didn't catch that, we said put down the mouse, get up and do something silly. "At companies that intentionally start bringing play in, the stress levels go way down. People get a much stronger sense of corporate loyalty," says Matt Weinstein, emperor of Playfair. "A company where employees are excited about coming to work and have a sense of passion about what they're doing--that company's going to have a huge competitive advantage. If I walk into a business, I'm interested in value and price. As well as what it feels like, doing business with your company." Here are Matt's useful tips on making every day a great fun-at-work day:
When people say `It's just business,' what does that mean? People are living lives. It's not just business. It's being alive with each other. Adapted from Entrepreneur magazine, 3/00.
How to Have Fun In Training — Preventing Death By LectureWe know from research that lecture is death to learning. But it is STILL the
most frequently used method of delivering information. Why?: And here’s one more reason contributed by corporate trainer and president of Workshops by Thiagi. Sivasailam “Thiagi” Thiagarajan: “On Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs, right there above the needs for food, shelter, and sex, is the need to lecture!” Author Sharon Bowman says, “I’m not suggesting that you throw out all your lecture material. Sometimes lecture is truly the best learning strategy to use. BUT, most people only remember about 20% of what they hear. So if you want them to remember more than that, you will involve them in the lecture.”
PASS THAT QUESTION Did you know that, when questioning techniques are included in a lecture, the retention of information skyrockets? This doesn’t mean that you ask: “Are there any questions?” and then, when no one says anything, you continue your presentation. It means that you use a number of different ways to get ALL your learners
One method is to stop talking and say: Bonus Tip: Pass That Answer Bonus Tip: Pass It Again Allow about 5 minutes for verbal processing if you do this. You can take as many or as few questions as time allows. Bonus Tips: Collect That Question Excerpted from Preventing Death by Lecture
Recognizing Employees — Say It With FunRecognition is one of the most powerful and underutilized management tools. Everyone wants recognition. Everyone needs it. And recognition increases the likelihood that the action recognized will be repeated. It helps to remember that adults are just grown-up kids. We don’t grow out of our need for acknowledgment, acceptance, fun, and play. We fool ourselves into thinking that to be an adult means to be serious when all it really means is to have aged. When we allow ourselves to have fun we unleash a source of power, energy, and enthusiasm that turns challenges into achievements. Reinforce these achievements with zany, memorable acts of recognition and you have a winning combination — a workplace that motivates, empowers, and is downright fun.
Excerpted from 301 Ways to Have Fun at Work.
Buy The Leadership Genius of George W. Bush: 10 Common Sense Lessons from the Commander-in-Chief from our online TRAINING SYSTEMS, INC. catalog or by E-mailing or calling 800-469-3560. WWW.TRAININGSYS.COM Get FREE access to great recruiting, inspiring, training & retaining tips, ideas & resources where you can:
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The Master-Card call center in St. Louis had a dress-up-your-supervisor day.
"Everybody who had direct reports allowed themselves to be told whom to dress
like by the people who reported to them. People were dressed like Elvis, biker
chicks, nuns. Talk about stress release. And message from the top says it's OK
to lighten up around here."
It’s easier and more efficient for the trainer.