Work Hard, Play Harder
The rise of the playful workspace - distracting or downright genius?
Hello MTV and welcome to my crib, wait, no, office. For both Silicon Valley start-ups and innovative organisations like Google, gone are the days when a room of cluttered cubicles, snacks and coffee machine made the cut. To keep atop of the emerging ‘playful workplace’ trend, organisations are tailoring their offices to foster productivity, modernisation, and creativity.
Over recent years, major organisations advertising ‘hard to resist’ perks have gained momentum, as a company’s Employee Value Proposition (EVP) plays a pivotal role in attracting quality talent and retaining employees. Working for both industry giants and ultra-modern start-ups means individuals can receive meals made by a chef, have naps in pods, receive complimentary haircuts and, most importantly, can bring your dog to work.
Although it seems like a ‘not so subtle’ flex, what do all these office perks do? Well, apart from making us scream with jealousy.
What they don’t advertise is the long hours, isolation and burnout associated with the roles. The notion of ‘soft capitalism’ emerges, which is centred on the ethic of ‘self-work.’ Where separate spheres like private and public, work and play, production and consumption, are connected unlike ever before.
The evolving nature of the workplace
While Millennials who are breaking into the workforce tend to conceptualise work as fun and engaging, this was not the case for past generations. Work was for work and leisure was for weekends. Financial stability and company prestige were key factors in attracting and retaining talent. Now, candidates search for a working climate that affords social connectedness and engaging experiences.
The trend of ‘Participatory Culture’ has been essential in the blurring of lines between work and play. Communication platforms like Slack, Email and Wunderlist allow constant dialogue between employees and employers. This results in individuals constantly ‘at work’ even though they are not physically in the office.
The daily grind never looked so good
According to the 2018 Best Places to work benchmarking study, the Australian market for jobs has grown by 21.4 per cent, equating to an additional 45,000 vacancies. With increased roles and less competition, employees have higher flexibility when choosing their future job pathways.
With this in mind, organisations are advertising job roles with ‘Family Culture’ as adopting a family-like approach has been effective. When employees see the organization and its members as a family, they remain committed to helping their family (organisation) succeed. Similarly, embracing a fun workplace culture aligns with external, publicized values, creating an even stronger value proposition.
‘The Google Effect’
Broadcasting business culture as a clever marketing strategy has proven to be popular especially for organisations like Google, however, these ‘over the top’ offices do not necessarily result in a productive working environment.
Office design expert Jeremy Meyerson explains the negative impacts of the ‘Google Effect.’
“work is somehow a playground and you can infantilize your staff, is actually a very bad idea.”
Myerson describes that this notion might be appropriate for Google, nevertheless, other companies should be cautious of copying. It would be highly beneficial if instead, organisations first acknowledged their own office culture and accordingly produced a workspace to support this.
As humans, we are born playful, we crave social interaction. A workspace which reflects this does not necessarily mean it’s inclusive of a slide. Further explained within ‘Questions and Answers about Fun at Work,’ organisations must instead:
“Intentionally encourage, initiate, and support a variety of enjoyable and pleasurable activities that positively impact the attitude and productivity of individuals and groups”
I know for me personally, I would hold the job description with higher importance and if they had a napping pod, well I guess that would just be another reason to click the ‘apply’ button.
