Having fun is serious business. While it may seem counterintuitive to actively promote employee 'recreation,' offering opportunities for laughter and play ultimately can benefit both the employer and the employee, through a healthier and more productive workforce.
According to VeryWell, "Having fun is an important part of stress management. Because studies show such wonderful health and stress relief benefits to laughter (and even the anticipation of laughter) we should all work on getting more giggles into each day."
Of course, one person's definition of "fun" may differ greatly from another person's. With that in mind, encouraging a variety of outlets for enjoyment is advisable.
For example:
1. Walking.
As simple as it may sound, a brisk walk down a walking path, at the park, via the local gym or some other indoor or outdoor facility can offer immediate benefits. Perhaps even, your organization has space to carve a walking path on the property – even office buildings with stairs can present opportunities for ambitious walkers who want to amp up their fitness game.
In addition to the endorphin release, the health benefits of walking, climbing hills and actively strolling through nature include boosting the heart rate, strengthening one's core and toning the leg muscles.
Some companies go as far as incentivizing employees to walk (or jog) as part of a holistic approach to healthcare (with the idea of reducing the number of claim costs). This includes tracking activities through fitness applications tied to the company's technology, enabling employee rewards for keeping fit. As a result, the company benefits via fewer insurance claims and employee absences.
2. Downtime.
Downtime is described by Oxford Dictionaries as "time during which a machine, especially a computer, is out of action or unavailable for use." It is "a time of reduced activity or inactivity."
Without downtime, employees' minds constantly whirr with no off button in sight. A machine – including the human brain – that never shuts off, eventually runs down and becomes lifeless. Fatigue ultimately wins. Hooking up for a recharge is the solution. In other words, employees need to shut off work and turn on the fun occasionally in order to reinvigorate.
Unfortunately, many companies, so focused on productivity and fearful of losing their edge and market position, resist allowing staff downtime. They may justify expectations for piling on unrelenting work without downtime by saying, "It's only temporary. It's only seasonal. There is no choice." But in fact, all of these reasons are flawed.
Even at the busiest, a business must make time for downtime. If they don't, the business itself may eventually be facing permanent downtime, as there will be no employees left to capably run it.
Employee burnout eventually will ensue, and the very thing the employer strove to achieve (constant productivity with zero downtime) will be curtailed by employee defection, employee illness (due to overwork) and overall, employee dissatisfaction, which decreases retention recruitment results.
By opening up the schedule to time off for your employees, whether it be an hour or two here and there or entire days (or weeks) off to reward and reinvigorate over-wrought team members, employers can reap the rewards. These include happier employees who have been encouraged to spend more time with their family or friends, enjoyed a day off to catch up on personal tasks and/or simply who took time to do nothing at all.
3. Long lunches, breaks and other mental nourishment.
Whether encouraging your teams to gather informally for long lunches, engage in individual enrichment breaks or indulge in regular yoga routines, the options for breaks are many.
Employees may also choose to step away to a quiet refuge on or off the worksite to simply read or meditate in a way that is suited to the individual's needs.
Celebrating birthdays and other special occasions also can inject fun into the seriousness of the workweek. Bringing in cake, singing Happy Birthday and/or simply acknowledging birthdays in a way that is sincere and joyful can break up the day and add to the fun of the workplace.
Moreover, some employees desire permission to enjoy their Smartphone and catch up with their friends, family and network through Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social networking venues. In other words, employers may want to lay off (just a bit, at least) the staff member who may seem to be dawdling or goofing off "on company time" having fun on Facebook. Realize that they may just be rejuvenating for the next arduous task at hand that will ultimately drive more money or clients to the company's bottom line.
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