Description of the Topic Area
Employers have been keen on managing stress at work as a way of maintaining the employees’ level of motivation. A number of theories and concepts have been developed to help reduce stress in the workplace. ‘Fun at work’ is one of the new concepts that researchers have developed to help reduce workplace stress among employees.
According to Tews, Michel, and Bartlett (2012), this concept is very beneficial in developing a positive staff culture. It also helps in boosting the employees’ morale, enhances the employer-employee relationship, encourages teamwork, improves employee satisfaction, and reduces employee turnover rates. As Russo (2010) notes, fun at the workplace eliminates the bureaucracy that always exists in the management system. Employees are encouraged to have fun while working. This would mean abolishing rigid systems in the workplace that emphasizes the role of the manager and employee and creating a system where employees see themselves as peers irrespective of their managerial positions.
The aim of this concept is to eliminate tension that exists between the employees and employers or among the employees. According to Bolton and Houlihan (2009), the business environment has become so competitive that only innovative firms can sustain the market challenges. This means that organizations must find ways of inculcating the spirit of creativity in everything they do. As Bruce (2006) notes, creativity thrives in an environment where employees can share their ideas among themselves and with their managers without any restrictions. Fun in the workplace also helps create such a good environment for communication.
When using this concept, employees will feel at ease sharing their ideas with their peers or managers in order to come up with innovative ways of addressing various tasks in the workplace. Above all, this concept seeks to eliminate all forms of stress at work by approaching various tasks from a fun perspective. This means that when employees are faced with a given challenge in the workplace, they are encouraged to consider embracing fun to look for a possible solution. Through teamwork, such stressful jobs can be solved very easily, reducing any form of stress among the employees. This concept also helps in fighting personal stress among the employees. When they come to work stressed up, the jovial mood in the workplace and the support from their peers help such employees to forget about their personal problems and focus on their work within the organization. This does not only improve the quality of output and customer satisfaction but also ensures that the best talents are kept within the firm for a long.
Possible Problems in the Area
The benefits of the ‘fun at work’ concept are clear as discussed in the section above. However, a number of problems exist that may hinder developing the concept into a theory. According to Bolton and Houlihan (2009), one of the biggest challenges of this concept is the lack of seriousness that some employees may take when addressing their tasks. Some employees may take the fun concept an extra mile, by making everything a joke. This makes it difficult to coordinate them even when addressing tasks that require maximum attention. Another challenge is that it takes away the authority of people trusted with the management positions. For instance, when a firm embraces this concept, the difference between the junior employee and a senior manager may not be seen.
As a result of this, it becomes easy for the junior employees to ignore the instructions of the senior managers in the name of making fun. According to Leedy and Ormrod (2013), what makes this worse is the fact that if the manager decides to take a punitive measure against the disobedient employee, the relevance of this concept will be lost. This makes it difficult to use this concept and still maintain discipline and hierarchy within a firm. A firm whose employees lack discipline cannot succeed in the current competitive business environment. It is, therefore, necessary to find ways of using this concept without allowing its negative effects to affect the organization.
Better Explanation from the Lecturer
It is clear that fun in the workplace may be the concept that may solve the problem of employees’ stress in the workplace. In my dissertation, the researcher would want to explain how these challenges can be managed in order to develop a theory out of this concept. In developing this dissertation, the researcher would want some clarifications about the oral phase from the lecturer. The researcher would want to know how this dissertation can be presented orally before a panel in order to convince them about the content of the research. It is true that having great facts on paper may be a good step towards having a successful oral presentation. However, Russo (2010) says that it goes beyond having great content. The researcher would want to know what it takes to make the oral phase work. This will involve defining what to wear, how to address the audience, what to say and what to avoid, the choice of words, and how to interact with the audience during the presentation.
References
Bolton, S. C., &Houlihan, M. (2009). Are we having fun yet? A consideration of workplace fun and engagement. Employee Relations, 31(6), 556-568.
Bruce, A. (2006). How to motivate every employee: 24 proven tactics to spark productivity in the workplace. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Leedy, P. D., &Ormrod, J. E. (2013). Practical research: Planning and design. Saddle River: Merrill.
Russo, D. (2010). Making room for fun in the workplace. Upper Saddle River: FTPress Delivers.
Tews, M. J., Michel, J. W., & Bartlett, A. (2012). The fundamental role of workplace fun in applicant attraction. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 19(1), 103-111.