Quality Service Marketing

National Fun at Work Day

January 28th is National Fun at Work Day, seriously!

How/if you celebrate this “holiday” depends on your organization and its culture. Not everyone is fortunate to work in a company like Zappos, whose core values include “Create Fun and a Little Weirdness.”  Zappos knows a fun workplace can be an engaging one.

“Humor is a delightful and powerful way to open doors, minds, and hearts. Isn’t that what we and our organizations should be doing?” according to Joel Goodman. Founder of The Humor Project. Humor in the workplace is a great de-stressor and can help open communication within an organization. (For more benefits of workplace humor, check out Joel’s article “Taking Humor Seriously”.)

Have your heard this one?

In his recent post about using humor to enhance group effectiveness, Steve Davis wrote:

“When all else fails, lighten up. Injecting a little humor may be all that’s needed to lift a group out of a rut when they get stuck, help put them at ease in times of stress, make bad news easier to accept, or introduce a sensitive subject.”

Steve also shared this story about how a telecom company introduced a price increase to its employees:

“A frequent hostile question from the audience was, ‘Why are long-distance rates going up?’ One speaker gave this reply: ‘It’s sort of a good news-bad news situation. It’s true that long-distance rates are going up—that’s the bad news. The good news is the continents are drifting closer together.’”

How to have fun at work 

For ideas, here are a few resources to get you started that I found online:

“25 Ideas for Building Fun into Your Work Setting” by Dr. Paul McGhee

Employee Morale News

301 Ways to Have Fun at Work by Dave Hemsath & Leslie Yerkes 

Is your workplace fun?

What makes it fun? I welcome your examples …

P.S. If for some reason you miss “National Fun Day at Work” this month, there’s always “International Fun Day at Work” that’s celebrated April 1st. And don’t forget “Recess at Work Day” on June 21, 2012!

Employee Engagement Limbo: How Low Will They Go?

Why do so many organizations claim to embrace employee engagement, yet stop short of actually doing anything about it?

Employee engagement author and consultant Leigh Branham explains:

“The main reason most CEOs don’t aggressively tackle the employee disengagement issue … is that it appears ‘soft’ and overwhelmingly difficult (soft = hard) to do so. After all, in many cases it would mean a complete overhauling of the culture. Most CEOs, especially in public companies, would much rather, in their board room discussions, deal with the nearer-term topic of how to increase quarterly profits. The irony is, of course, that the surest way to increase profits is to build a culture where engaged employees consistently exceed customer expectations.”

In organizations where employee engagement garners more lip service than action, employees find themselves doing a workplace limbo dance. They get under management’s limbo stick by doing the minimum to appear engaged without breaking their backs. At the same time, they may be craning their necks to see what other jobs are available in the market. It’s a difficult balancing act.

As the limbo song asks, “How low can you go?” For employees, the answer depends on their tolerance levels. Employees can bend backwards for only so long before decide to withdraw and quit the game … and the organization.

 

 

Employee Engagement Resources and More

As a frequent speaker on engaging employees and customers through internal marketing, I’m often asked for my recommendations on engagement resources. I’m happy to share several of my favorites here - including books, e-books, networks, and newsletters.    

Employee Engagement                                   

One of the best sources of information and ideas comes from the members of the Employee Engagement Network (EEN), founded and hosted by David Zinger. Under "Free EE Resources" on EEN's website you'll find a number of helpful e-books on “Engaging Questions“ … “Primers for Engaging Conversations” … “Employee Engagement Advice for Managers” … and the first in a series of 50-word case studies on engagement. 

In addition, I highly recommend the following three books:

Re-Engage: How America’s Best Places to Work Inspire Extra Effort in Extraordinary Times by Leigh Branham and Mark Hirschfeld. This book draws on extensive data from the “Best Places to Work” research to identify and apply the drivers of employee engagement in today’s challenging times. You can sign up for Leigh Branham’s free quarterly newsletter, Keeping the People for more information and articles on employee engagement and retention.

The Art of Engagement: Briding the Gap Between People and Possibilities by Jim Haudan. This book provides a framework for connecting organizational strategy and execution based on the root causes of engagement and disengagement.

The annual Zappos Culture Book describes what employee engagement at Zappos is all about as written by its employees.  

Enterprise Engagement

Enterprise engagement encompasses the need to engage everyone involved in a business: employees, customers, and channel partners. The Enterprise Engagement Alliance website features articles on this topic and a schedule of educational programs, including webinars and on-site programs.

I need to mention the Zappos Culture Book again here as it includes content reflective of Zappos’ engagement with its partners, vendors and customers.

Volunteer Engagement

While researching my new book on internal marketing for nonprofits, I found Energize, Inc., Susan Ellis’s website for leaders of volunteers, to be a tremendous resource. I also recommend her book, From the Top Down: The Executive Role in Successful Volunteer Involvement.

In  addition, you can download a free copy of my e-book on volunteer engagement.

Your Turn

What engagement resources have you found helpful? I’d love your input on expanding this list.

What Do You Plan to Draw in 2012?

To start off the new year, here's a gem I found in David Zinger’s book of poems on workplace engagement, Assorted Zingers. (Note: David's book - with great cartoons by John Junson - is now available in both print and e-book editions.)

Napkin futures
by David Zinger 

Tabling strategy.
Gel pens drawn
during fast food lunch
sparking napkin artistry.
Ink bleeds
arrows, word, and stick figures
into thin paper.
Absorbing both
strategic thinking
and mustard drips
oozing from the overflowing cheeseburger.
It is going to be a good year. 

 

"I'm Just Happy to Be Here ..."

This was the gist of a conversation I had with Julietta, who works in food service at Mohonk Mountain House. Her “attitude of gratitude” went beyond feeling fortunate to be employed – Julietta truly loves her work. 

I met Julietta during a recent visit to Mohonk. She was smiling all the while she cleaned up the area where the continental breakfast had been set up. We engaged in conversation, and it was obvious that she enjoyed working at Mohonk. “It’s like being part of a wonderful family,” she told me – a family that includes both co-workers and guests. Here’s an excerpt of our conversation.

Julietta: I love my customers, and sometimes, I listen more to my customers than my boss. I want to make my customers happy.”

Me: “If you’re customers are happy, then your boss will be happy.”

Julietta smiled: “Yes!”

And she’s not the only one who enjoys her work at Mohonk. I also met Emily, a young woman who was one of our hiking guides. She’s worked there for less than a year, but it’s a job she literally grew into. Emily explained that her family had been going to Mohonk for years, and she’d been an active participant in its kid’s club and teen program. From an early age she knew she wanted to work there and was thrilled to get hired in the recreation group. “I feel so fortunate,” she told me. “How many people get to live their dream job?” She spoke enthusiastically about her love for the place and the people. 

Since my husband and I began visiting Mohonk several years ago, we met many such members of the Mohonk family, including Rudy (dining staff), Michael, Annie, and Matt (recreation), and others too numerous to mention. This was the first time I met Julieta and Emily, and they reinforced the engagement that’s part of Mohonk’s culture.

How many employees have you encountered lately who truly love their work?

[Note: For more on Mohonk’s guest service culture, see my interview with Jackie Appeldorn, Mohonk’s general manager.]