There are a variety of key elements involved in making sure that, for your workforce, being in your workplace is an enjoyable experience. Simply working to earn a wage is not enough. Job satisfaction is also an important element, but clearly, the way to get the best out of yourself and the colleagues around you is to try and have a fun, positive experiences together. The benefits of having fun in your job role and working together are universal. It doesn’t matter if you’re a rural farm worker, in a finance recruitment agency, a professional sports psychologist or you work in a bar or a barista, having fun in the workplace is crucial. There are a variety of studies that show that fun can make a brilliant working environment for everyone from the top to the bottom of the organisation. This can develop great relationships between people and help to get the best out of them.
Firstly, having fun together means that communication, in general, increases. If people are happy in each other’s company they will begin to develop strong relationships. These relationships not only lead to more open communication but also promote a degree of honesty between all parties. If there is an issue then there is more likely to be a sense of collaboration and desire to solve any problems that arise.
A fun, open, friendly environment also creates trust between people. A strong relationship is based on trust, and when team members are willing to share their thoughts and feelings about a subject with each other, this can only mean a much better and understanding workplace. Trust is essential, especially, for example, if you work in a high-performance industry where the teams rely on each other heavily (finance recruitment for example) there must be a focus on trust.
Although trust and problem-solving are important there is also another reason when fun and enjoyment at work should be prioritirised. When an organisation is engaged in creating a fun and open environment within its workplace, it has been shown that productivity increases dramatically. It may seem somewhat clichéd to suggest, but a happy workplace is a productive workplace, as people will not see work as a chore but as a social activity that also pays them. The key element here is that effort from the workforce is greatly enhanced when a fun and happy environment is in place.
Another positive benefit of this environment is that people feel free to come up with new ideas and innovative solutions for how the business can improve or move forward. If management can create a situation where workers feel that they are engaged and involved in where the company is going, then it shows through their ideas and creates the feeling that they can express them openly to colleagues and their team managers. When people enter into training sessions or brainstorming group meetings, if there are combined feelings of trust, friendship and openness to express ideas, innovations flow from these focus groups. This is impactful as people feel that they are not prejudiced and that they can trust their ideas will not be ridiculed, but will instead be taken on board and moved forward, if appropriate.
Workplaces will never be perfect environments for everyone as human beings will always find something to disagree about. Conflicts will arise regardless of the situation and it then falls to management and HR systems to find a solution. This is the same for any kind of workplace, be it office-based, finance recruitment, or on a construction site. However, if an open and fun environment has been created within the business, it makes these conflict resolutions a lot easier to solve as it can be discussed openly and it will not escalate into further issues.
We have already mentioned productivity, but fun also leads to greater job satisfaction within the workplace. The knowledge of having completed a good job can be a suitable reward in itself (quite apart from the fact that one’s role is paid)! The job satisfaction element is further bolstered by the knowledge that there is a good support system in place for colleagues. Trust and an element of friendship where peers are able to lean on each other make difficult times seem a lot easier and allow people to be able to work through problems.
One final factor that should be looked at and considered is that when your organisation is a fun and open place to be it will reach out to others. There are plenty of stakeholders involved in a business and they’re also people who work with it. If they can see that you have a positive and open organisation it may well be that this will rub off on them and also help influence how they work with or alongside you. Not only that, you may find that more work comes to your business when it has such a good and positive reputation for how it treats its workers and wider employees.
It is not easy to develop such a positive work culture. Not only does this have to come from the top down but also your employees and staff have to buy into the process. If this can be achieved, however, it indicates that there is a great future for your business and anyone coming into contact with it will soon see that.
At Core3 we put people, planet, and progress first, which means the best remuneration, benefits, tools, and work environment we can afford, alongside the healthiest culture we can foster where the glass is half full, possibilities are endless and our people know that their voice is being heard. We want everyone to feel comfortable to bring their whole self to work, celebrate wins together, have amazing experiences and enjoy themselves in the process!
If you are looking to recruit finance professionals, we’d love to have a conversation with you about what we are doing in and through the world of finance recruitment and how we could help you.
