Unproductive Employees? Maybe Your Office Is Too Boring

Q: Might you have any ways that I can get my staff to be more productive? Especially when I am not around, little seems to get done, and my turnover rate is too high, too. What do I do? Thank you in advance.

-- Amy

A: People work for all sorts of reasons -- to make money, learn, expand their skills, network, and yes, socialize. It is the savvy business owner who understands that last point. Socializing and having a good time is not only normal, it is good for business.

I once worked in the opposite of that sort of place. Situated not far from Disneyland, we dubbed it, "The Unhappiest Place on Earth." There are too many reasons than can be explained in a short post (or 10!), but one story is illustrative:

It was the holiday season and the company shockingly decided to throw a party. The appointed hour was 2 p.m. on a Thursday. We all went off-site to the "party" (no alcohol, no music, spouses not invited), had some chips and dip, and then were told that we were expected to go back to the office and work an extra two hours for the two hours we missed while attending the event.

Like I said, not a great place to work.

I understand that some businesspeople think that fun at work is an oxymoron. These sourpusses have all sorts of reasons for running a boring, stoic place of business:

• "We do important work here! There is no room for fun."
• "Our customers wouldn't take us seriously if we had a 'light' work environment."
• "Having fun just leads to goofing off and taking advantage of the situation."

When people are overworked and stressed, they rarely do their best work. Instead, by promoting an office where people are allowed to let off some steam -- maybe it's by having a foosball table or Xbox in the break room -- businesses allow their employees some much needed downtime, and that in turn makes them more productive.

Having some fun at the office makes employees happier and more loyal. At the Unhappiest Place on Earth, people were always looking for a new job and only did what they had to do in terms of work in order to get by. They never went above and beyond the call of duty. But in offices and workplaces where people can be, well, real people, and not automatons, they tend to work harder and better because they like both their employer and where they work.

Promoting fun at work also fosters creativity. When people are allowed to shoot some hoops in the parking lot or whatever, when work is not the only thing on their mind, it opens up the right side of the brain and that's where inspirational ideas come from.

Employees who have a good time at the office (while, yes, still getting their work done) treat customers better. I once saw a survey that indicated that the No. 1 trait that separated the best, most successful, most profitable small businesses from the pack was how the owner treated his or her employees. Nice, friendly, fun owners treated their employees well. This in turn made the employees happy, and that in turn meant the employees treated customers better, and that in turn meant customers liked the business better. Happier, more playful employees make you more money.

So the moral of the story is clear: Have some fun already. It's good for you, it's good for your employees, and it's good for business.

Already have a fun workplace? Hit the comments and tell me about why it's fun.

(photo credit couretsy of Flickr, Creative Commons, Evershed LLC.)