FUN: The Secret Sauce for Productivity, Loyalty, & Wellbeing

In the wake of The Great Resignation, companies are scrambling to attract and retain top-tier talent. You’ve probably tried it all — upping the flare at the annual picnic, adding more swag to welcome bags, putting beer on tap in the office, increasing holiday bonuses… but have you tried having more fun? That’s right — fun. While it seems basic, having fun could be the most powerful tool companies have to increase productivity, improve learning, foster stronger interpersonal communication, and retain talent. It’s not just idealistic; it’s science. Here’s how.

The Rising Expectations of Happiness at Work

On the heels of the pandemic, The Great Resignation shook the workplace, with 47.4 million people quitting their jobs and 92% of those citing that “life is too short to stay in a job they weren’t passionate about.” The lines between home and work lives bled together during the pandemic and have stayed that way. Over 86% of employees believe work should provide more than just a paycheck, and the same percentage report that work impacts their happiness at home. In the past year alone, “46% of people say their expectation around happiness at work has increased.”

Yes, there are generational differences in employees’ expectations and experiences of workplace happiness. Baby Boomers report satisfaction in having their voices heard and “organizational loyalty,” while Gen Zs want a workplace that “brings out the best me.” While each generation seeks different benefits from their workplace environment, Millennials and Gen Z have consistently higher expectations of intrinsic motivators and the role of their careers in their overall quality of life. They want to feel connected, appreciated, and passionate about their work. In short, they want to enjoy it.

Investing in Workplace Happiness

So, how are companies being proactive? Big players like Amazon, Google, and AirBnB have created Chief Happiness Officer roles, while others look to professional consultants, like Robyn Schopp of Gordeaux Consulting, to strategically elevate workplace enjoyment.

Schopp became interested in the role of fun in the workplace while in a position that was, to be frank, not fun. As a technical writer, she stepped into projects when they were near completion and teams were burnt out, frustrated, and ready to move on. In turn, this created a less-than-ideal climate for her own productivity and work experience. “I took my first ‘big-kid’ job really, really seriously,” Schopp admits. Despite her own commitment, she never quite got the response she was hoping for with her approach, leading to dissatisfaction and frustration. “After a few months, I was ready to leave, so I stopped taking everything so seriously,” says Schopp.

“When I relaxed and started enjoying myself, I saw a shift in the people around me. I got better responses from my teammates, and we produced better work together. This new kind of interaction got me interested in creating a better environment for people to work in.” This “better environment” she experimented with was one of levity, vulnerability, laughter, and joy. She piloted “fun” at work and was astounded by the results.

Three Types of Fun

Fast forward ten years, Schopp has dedicated her career to educating and implementing strategic fun in organizations across West Michigan, recently sharing her thought leadership at a local Tedx Talk. “Employers can misunderstand what people mean by ‘culture,’” says Schopp. “Employers sometimes think that great culture means beanbag chairs or a pizza party or a shirt with a logo on it. But those are the edge pieces to a much larger puzzle. There are many more effective tools to connect people to the company.”

She breaks fun into three categories: Organic Fun, Organized Fun, and Functional Fun. Organic Fun is relational interactions that employees choose throughout the day to feel more human, like sharing stories at the water cooler, GIFs sent in Slack, or being able to laugh about mistakes. Organized Fun is made of intentionally planned events and activities that are executed by the company with the goal of increased connectivity, such as volunteering events, fundraisers, competitions, parties, or that beloved annual company picnic. Functional Fun, however, is when a person enjoys the actual tasks associated with their jobs, which can be created when employees work within their strengths or help define their role based on their personal motivators.

Research supports that there are different kinds of fun in the workplace, and each elicits a unique positive outcome. “Not all three are possible all the time, but if people can find one, two, or all three of those types of fun, it helps them appreciate their job more than just for the paycheck,” says Schopp.

Benefits of Fun at Work

For Employee Health & Well-being

“When people don’t enjoy their job on any level or start to dread their time at work, it creates sustained stressors which weaken your body,” explains Schopp. Research abounds about the impact of workplace stress on emotional and physical well-being, including increased absenteeism, decreased productivity, and increased anxiety and depression. Fun works as a potent antidote, creating an inverse effect on all of these categories. Even employees agree, with 68% reporting that investing in organizational culture would improve their well-being above all other tactics, including therapy and self-care.

For Productivity & Your Bottom Line

Disengaged employees cost workplaces between $450–550 billion annually. Not only are employees disengaging with their tasks, but they are also withdrawing from the purpose and vision of the company. You’ve likely heard of “quiet quitting,” the latest HR conundrum where employees don’t up and leave but rather “do the minimum required and are psychologically detached from their job.” This subtle shift in satisfaction breeds disconnection, miscommunication, a lack of creativity, and decreased motivation to invest in the momentum at a company.

Conversely, “fun” fosters and encourages connection, vulnerability, belonging, and inclusion. When you enjoy and care about your team, you want to see the company succeed. “Fun creates better experiences and more capacity for productivity, creativity, and communication,” says Schopp.

For Talent Attraction & Retention

Companies that spent decades neglecting culture were the first to be rocked by the Great Resignation. Replacing an employee can cost 1.5–2 times their annual salary, not to mention accounting for the loss of institutional knowledge and leadership, and the ripple effect of decreased morale. Often, the reason companies lose employees is the same reason they can’t attract them. It’s critical to understand that today’s rising workforce is looking for something different in the workplace. They want growth opportunities, diversity, transparency, sustainability, and culture (i.e., fun).

In this way, “fun” democratizes talent retention because it’s available to everyone. Maybe you can’t afford to give everyone staggering bonuses to get them to stay, but — lucky for you — that’s probably not what they wanted anyway (but they do want to be paid a living wage — let’s be clear).

Challenges to Changing Workplace Culture

While the science stacks up for infusing offices with fun, only some C-Suite teams are ready to don a clown nose and gamify their employee onboarding. “It’s not always an easy sell because it’s a real paradigm shift,” admits Robyn. Gone are the days when careers are akin to martyrdom, yet some still hold on to the “suck it up and show up” mentality. While we know work can’t be all play, Gen Z watched their parents slave away for forty years for “a handshake and a golden watch,” and they do not intend to do the same. The next wave of workers is demanding autonomy, belonging, and strong corporate values, all of which are influenced by top-level leadership.

That’s not to say individuals are without influence, however. Just like Schopp in the early days of her career, you can impact your workplace’s productivity, enjoyment, and results by finding ways to create one, two, or all three kinds of fun. Gamify a process with your team (anyone remember McDonald’s Monopoly in the 90s?), create an engaging challenge on social media, bring treats into your next meeting, or commit to a silly icebreaker at the start of every conference call. While you may not have influence over corporate culture throughout your entire organization, fun is contagious; it starts with each individual, and the benefits impact everyone.