Workplace Fun
is FUN-damental
for Learning
mistakes, for example.
The study looked at fun activities supported by management
to enhance well-being—team-building activities or celebrations
to recognize achievements for example—and the manager’s
overall support for fun on the job. A manager’s support for fun
mattered more than his or her support for learning, according to
the researchers.
“There’s a lot of talk in the literature about a manager’s
support for learning, or creating a climate for learning, and how
that makes a culture for learning where workers learn from one
another,” says Tews. “What we’re showing is that fun on the job
actually matters as much as—or even more—than that support
for learning.”
ll work and no play make for some very
unhappy employees. Unhappy employees
have, in the past, shown a direct negative corre-
lation to retention and performance, but a new
study published in the Journal of Vocational
Behavior finds that a fun workplace leads to a better environment
for informal learning, which includes most
unstructured, non-classroom forms of
“...researchers suggest it may not
learning.
be the fun activities themselves that
“Most learning at the workplace occurs
independently at the desk, or with a few
instill the new lessons. But how fun
other people, not necessarily in a
creates a better learning environment.”
classroom,” says Michael Tews, associate
professor of hospitality management at Penn
State University. Tews worked with John W. Michel, associate
Fun can also bring coworkers together which, in turn, aids
professor of business and management at Loyola University and
learning between workers. “It creates this group cohesion,” says
Raymond A. Noe, professor of management and human
Tews. “So, when there’s fun, then the co-workers may be able to
resources at Ohio State University on the study.
get to know each other, have better connections, and be more apt
The researchers suggest it may not be the fun activities
to help each other.”
themselves that instill the new lessons, but how fun creates a
How are you creating a fun environment for your employees?
better learning environment. People in fun work environments
Do you encourage them to share light-hearted moments as well
are more inclined to try new things and not fear possible
as create activities that make learning less structured and fun? n
A
May 2017
■
PULSE
17