By Brandon Whallon | April 14, 2017

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Increase workplace performance by including “fun” into the daily routine!

In today’s competitive workplace environment, productivity is the key to staying ahead of the pack. How can “fun” be a fundamental component of a company’s core values, and not lose productivity in the process? Recent studies have shown that workplace environments that provide opportunities to laugh along the way not only provide physiological benefits to the individual employee, but they also make positive impacts on the bottom line.

“Laughter is the best medicine.”

Similar to a “runner’s high” after exercise, laughter triggers an endorphin release that is 10 times more powerful than the pain-relieving drug morphine. This endorphin release simply makes people feel good. Laughter induction initiates the fight-or-flight stress response. However, approximately 20 minutes after laughter, physiological measures such as heart rate, blood pressure, and muscular tension drop below baseline levels. A sense of physiological and psychological relaxation and calmness occurs that can last up to forty five minutes following the person’s last laugh.

Fun in the workplace actually makes good business sense!

Any business that is going to succeed in today’s competitive atmosphere is going to constantly be tracking the “bottom line”. How can having fun make a positive impact on that bottom line? Gains in productivity can draw a direct line to corporate culture. Not only will a workplace environment that prioritizes fun rise above the competition, but people that have fun at work will also be less likely to be absent, late, and they will also have fewer sick days. Fun in the work environment will also increase retention, which will reduce the amount of time searching for replacements, and also reduce the costs associated with training these new employees.

A smile will always increase your “face value”!

The modern work environment is changing, and enlightened leaders recognize that the old hierarchal way of doing business and treating employees like numbers, not “people”, are no longer effective. Among companies that were denoted as “great” in Fortune Magazines “100 Best Companies to Work For”, a whopping 81% of those employees said that their place of employment was “great” because of the fun work environment they experienced in those companies. Further, today’s employment trends are showing that a majority of prospective employees will choose a company’s culture over compensation.

So, BOTTOM LINE, fun in the work place will not only have employees feeling good, they will be more productive, and at work more often. Their retention will be higher, which saves costs in searching for and training new employees. Fun in the work place will also build solidarity and connections between co-workers. Keeping those employees smiling will not only increase their face value, but will also make positive impacts on the company’s bottom line, which is still what really matters.