DO EMPLOYEES REALLY NEED TO HAVE FUN?
Dr. John W. Newstrom,Dr. Robert C. Ford, and Dr. Frank S. McLaughlin
Doyou remember Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs motivational model, consistingof five levels: 1) physiological, 2) safety/security, 3) belongingness/social,4) esteem/status, and 5) self-actualization/fulfillment? Maslow’s most substantial contributionswere his suggestions that employees have multiple needs, most employees followa systematic progression of activated needs across time, and the fact that anyneed level, if satisfied by various rewards, no longer serves as a primarymotivator.
Anotherpsychologist, William Glasser, suggested that today’s workers have a new anddifferent hierarchy of five need levels. This model also consists of five categories, which include 1)survival/job security/psychological well-being, 2) social relationships, 3)power and recognition, 4) freedom of expression and autonomy, and (mostsignificantly) 5) the drive to “Have fun, play, and engage in laughter.” Since the first four levels are oftensubstantially satisfied in today’s work environment, the need for having fun atwork has become a dominant and driving force in the lives of many members ofthe workforce—and especially its younger members. This fact was substantiated by the responses to a surveysent to 4,000 Human Resource professionals. The respondents overwhelmingly indicated the beliefs that 1)employees should have fun at work, 2)there is not enough fun at workpresently, and 3) and that the importance of having fun at the workplace has increased substantially across aten-year period. Further analysisof the data suggested that employees are seeking three main factors at worktoday: freedom to engage in laughter, personal feelings that they are listenedto at work, and the receipt of personal recognition on a timely basis.
Inrecognition of the above challenges, what should managers do to create fun atwork? We suggest that managers should consider addressing other employee needsfirst, build on a clear fun philosophy, view it as a continuous process, designit for compatibility with the organization’s culture, use a wide variety ofconstantly-changing actions, involve employees in the planning/conduct of funevents, and assess (monitor) the success of a workplace fun program on both aqualitative and quantitative basis. In summation, we believe that our research data show that fun is ahighly potent employee need—but one thatcan be easily addressed with a modest amount of managerial effort.
