3 Examples, Laughter is the best medicine

Life can be too serious sometimes, with a workplace or industry that can be too stern, can laughter be the best medicine? This article will briefly go through three examples across a wide industry spectrum, to showcase three positive companies that incorporate laughter in to their business ethics, and what impact it has on social engagement.

Why is light hearted laughter important in a work place? because, one of the major contributors to workplace stress, is fear of not being taken seriously, or thought of as "the joker". Stress is a common work place problem, and cause of long-term sickness absence in the UK to date, (Reference CIPD), resulting around £8 billion every year on the UK economy.

We have a fear of being seen as “the joker” which will threaten our professional position and career progression?
In history, the workplace has been seen as a place ‘to get the job done’; with employers and employees taking the view that if work isn’t a toil we simply aren’t working hard enough. What do you think?

The Productivity of laughter

"Surveys in the past have shown 98% of CEO's would much rather hire a candidate with a good sense of humour than a person without one. (Goodman, n.d).

That said, laughter is much more than a tonic to reduce stress. In fact, having humour in the workplace creates a positive environment that builds bonds between colleagues. encourages innovative and positive thinking, resulting in better communication between staff.

"Companies and agencies like Deloitte & Touche, IBM, Kodak, Monsanto, Honda and the internal revenue service have periodically hired humour consultants and organisations to infuse humour into their business (Nilsen & Nilsen 2000).

Here are three examples of how the world's largest organisations have embraced laughter & humour into their workplace:

1) Ben & Jerry's

We have all heard of Ben & Jerry's ice-cream, and they too have set up monthly incentives to reinforce the value of humour at work. "The company feels that employees are more motivated and productivity is higher when they are satisfied with their work". (As cited in Partel, 2001, p.14).

An example of they implement it, is in their production area, employees can listen to music, which rotates the radio stations, broadcasted in that area, "Actually, the joy gang bought our stereo. We listen to music and enjoy our work," says one of the plant employees (as cited in Labbs, 1996, P55).

2) South West Airlines

Have reported a profit every quarter since 1973, the US airline strongly endorses the importance of fun at work.

"The most important attribute for a southwest employee is a sense of humour"(as cited in Adair, 1995, p 47).

How they implement humour in the work place, is by finding it in prospective employees, and presenting organisational results via a rap and music videos. Here are Rapport, we also did something similar to this with Capital One, and 1000+ of their employees, to see the case study click here.Another way Southwest airlines introduce humour, is by having their flight attendants reinvent their safety announcements. "There may be 50 ways to leave your lover, but there are only six ways to leave this airplane". Pilots get in on the fun too. "We've reached our cruising altitude now, and I'm not turning the 'off seat belt' sign. I'm switching to autopilot, too, so I can come back there and visit with you all for the rest of the flight"(Freiberg, 1996, P. 211).

3) Deloitte & Touche

Believe too many hours are spent at work for it not to be fun. This company encourages laughter initiatives, as they understand the importance to collaborate, and see the results which include a more inclusive, supportive working environments to work in for their staff.

Creating a culture that is about enjoying each other, being passionate about what you do, and have fun doing it.

For humour to blossom, so does the environment in which it grows in. It is important for your staff to feel relaxed, welcomed and comfortable, this will then naturally inspire people to express themselves.

We don't always have to act serious in order to be taken seriously, or do we?

Perhaps you work in a fun environment just like the previous companies, if so, what do they implement?

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