The notion of having fun in the workplace as a means of promoting creativity gets short shrift from UK companies, according to a report out today. But in Latin America fun is a hot favourite.
Commenting on the report, the Institute of Management (IM) says that wacky ideas such as having punchbags of the boss - a practice in some Japanese companies - allowing pranks as part of corporate culture, introducing brain teasers and games to warm people up before a meeting and having ìdress-down daysî are way down the scale in the UK.
So are home-made end-of-project rewards such as home videos and silly thank-you badges, or doubling the budget for trivial items such as staff-designed team T-shirts and bags.
Organisations in the UK put fun at eleventh out of twelve in their list of priorities for getting the workforce to be more creative. First comes working closely with suppliers and customers (65 percent), second is communicating success (55 percent) and third is giving a high profile to suggestions for new ideas (46 percent). Fun gets a mere 16 percent. The only ìpriorityî to fare worse than fun is ìbudgeting time for creative processes in every jobî (9 percent).
The findings are contained in the report, Harnessing Creativity to Improve the Bottom-Line, commissioned by CIMA (The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants). The report was published as part of Global Business Management Week 2001, being held by CIMA in partnership with the IM and four other professional bodies.
In contrast to the UK, the Latin American countries of Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Mexico place fun at fifth out of twelve (31 percent) in their list of creative values. Fun is beaten only by suggestions for new ideas (56 percent), working closely with suppliers and customers (47 percent), communicating success stories (46 percent) and making the corporate database more widely available (33 percent).
Professor Amin Rajan, author of the report, said: ìThe UKs attitude to fun does not look like changing much over the next two years. It will continue to place fun in the position of eleventh out of twelveî.
ìHowever, the Middle East and Africa, and a European grouping made up of Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland intend to take fun in the workplace even less seriously than the UK.î
The report suggests that the low priority for fun everywhere except Latin America reflects ever-rising work pressure. Recent research by the Institute of Management reinforces the survey findings. A Quick Reaction Survey by the IM last month showed that an increasing proportion (75 per ent) of UK managers remain contactable by their colleagues even when on holiday.
And last Christmas IM research showed that UK employers were cutting back on fun events like a festive party for their staff. Furthermore, in The Quality of Working Life 2000 survey of managersí changing experiences, fewer than four in ten said they had fun at work these days.
Mary Chapman, director general of the Institute of Management, commented: ìGiven that work takes up at least a third of most peopleís working lives, it is important that they enjoy it. Contrived ëfuní that is imposed is not the answer. But having a sense of fun, while getting on with the job in hand, could be a way of lightening the load and staving off the blues - as well as enhancing creativity.î
UK gives thumbs down to fun at work - 10/2001
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