HR World: Fun fairies
Why 'organised fun' is a turn-off for Kiwis, and other global HR stories
NZ study confirms perils of organised fun
Organising ‘fun’ social activities is one of the responsibilities that often falls into HR’s lap. But if you think most employees will thank you for forcing them to wear their pyjamas into the office, or commit unmentionable crimes against music at mandatory karaoke nights, then think again.
Researchers at Auckland University, New Zealand, have revealed that only one in five people actually enjoy organised fun at work, reports the Sunday Star Times.
According to Dr Barbara Plester, a senior lecturer at the university, an increasing number of New Zealand employers want to create fun work environments in order to improve productivity and reduce staff turnover, with the task typically being farmed out to HR. “They’re put in charge of fun and expected to be fun fairies,” said Plester.
But HR-led initiatives such as paintballing, karaoke nights or fancy dress days often backfire, the study found, with many workers finding them unenjoyable. An engineer who took part in the survey said he would call in sick rather than dress up as a cartoon character, while an IT worker actually quit because of the endless stream of ‘fun’ activities.
The best way to create a genuinely fun workplace, said Plester, was to aim for a balance of spontaneous, managed and task (or on-the-job) fun.
While task fun was considered to be most important by employees, spontaneous fun – such as banter and jokes between co-workers – was also more popular than the managed variety.
But employers should avoid trying too hard to influence spontaneous fun, warned Plester, and nor should they do away with organised fun altogether. Instead, they should offer a variety of activities and allow people to opt out.
Brazilian overtime policy is a shot in the dark
A Brazilian telecoms company has come up with a novel way of getting its workers to go home on time – it simply turns off the lights.
According to a report by Reuters, debt-burdened company Oi (formerly Brasil Telecom) has implemented a strict 7pm policy at its Rio de Janeiro offices, turning off both the lights and the air-conditioning to force its 17,000 workers to leave the office at the end of the working day.
The policy will save money both by cutting energy costs and cracking down on the amount of overtime worked: the Brazilian constitution requires workers to be paid a premium of at least 50 per cent for any work above eight hours a day.
“The first time we turned off the lights, people wanted to stay. They were trying to work with lighters,” said chief executive Bayard Gontijo. “Now they realise that the lights are turned off because you guys have to do your work in the regular shift and then you have to leave.”
He added that if the lack of light didn’t work as an incentive for workers to call it a day, the sweltering heat should.
US fast-food chain rewards hourly workers
The US restaurant chain Chipotle – purveyors of ethically sourced Mexican fast-food – is to offer its hourly workers paid sick leave, paid holiday and tuition reimbursement.
The benefits, which are already offered to Chipotle’s salaried workers, are intended to make the company more competitive on hiring and retention, according to the Huffington Post.
“If you can’t compete at the bottom in the terms of entry-level wage, what incentive can you build into that process — what path can you create — that’s going to hold your people?” the company’s brand voice lead, William Espey, said at a conference.
“You’ve got to promise them you’re going to develop them. You’ve got to promise them a future that if they are dedicated and good and strong for the company, you are going to reward them.”
While paid sick leave in the US is usual for high-paid salaried workers, with 82 per cent of management and professional workers in the private sector benefitting, it’s far less common among low-paid workers. Only 40 per cent of service workers in the private sector receive paid sick leave, and that’s not including part-time hourly workers.
Similarly, while 92 per cent of the top 25 per cent of private-sector workers (in terms of salary) benefit from paid holidays, this figure is just 48 per cent for the bottom 25 per cent.
Swedes get the daddy of all paternity packages
Swedish fathers are to benefit from a third month of paid paternity leave with a view to further improving gender equality in the country, according to the Guardian.
Sweden already has one of the most extensive parental leave policies in the world, offering a total of 16 months to be divided between mothers and fathers. While on leave, parents receive 80 per cent of their salary up to a total of €4,000 a month.
In order to incentivise fathers to share the leave, the country introduced a “daddy quota” in 1995, stipulating that at least one month of the total had to be taken by the father.
The quota was increased to two months in 2002, and the government has just announced that it will be increased to three months from next year. Three months of the total will also be reserved for mothers, with parents free to split the remaining 10 months as they wish.
Fathers currently take around 25 per cent of all parental leave, compared to 0.5 per cent when the policy was introduced in 1974.
About the author
