Effects of fun at workplace on employee morale
The purpose of the present study was to determine the effects of workplace fun on employee’s morale and job satisfaction. This study divides the workplace fun in three dimensions (recreational activities, humor, and friendly environment) and the dimensions are also sub divided. The aim of the study was to find out that employee morale and productivity enhance if they were happy at their workplace and had become more loyal towards their organization. Categorical regression was applied on present study. Data was collected by self-administered method from banking industry. The study provides information about managers and employees of banks. To find out the relationship between variable the Annova & coefficient beta were considered significant at 0.005.The present study results shows that recreational activities & humor do not had a significant relation in job satisfaction & employee morale although only friendly environment had an effect on employee morale and job satisfaction
Key Words: Friendly Environment, Humor, Recreational Activities, Employee Morale, Job Satisfaction.
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Overview
The Objective of this study was to present the key findings from an analysis on an environment of fun work and its outcomes for workers and business according to a study. The Study analyzes three dimensions of fun activities: Recreational activities, friendly Environment, Humor for a fun work environment and also there effects on employee morale and job satisfaction. In organization fun at workplace plays a significant role by injecting fun in the workplace, employees in organization by having fun on the job employees turn into extra imaginative, more dynamic, enhanced assessment creator and get beside better with fellows.
1.2 Problem Statement
To study “The Effects of fun at workplace on employee morale & job satisfaction”.
1.3 Hypothesis
H1; Sports/Games have a positive impact on job satisfaction in recreational activities.
H2; Parties have a positive impact on job satisfaction in recreational activities
H3; Picnics have a positive impact on job satisfaction in recreational activities
H4; Sports/Games have a positive impact on employee morale in recreational activities.
H5; Parties have a positive impact on employee morale in recreational activities.
H6; Picnics have a positive impact on employee morale in recreational activities
H7; Celebrating Birthdays have a positive impact on job satisfaction in Friendly environment.
H8; Celebrating Achievements have a positive impact on job satisfaction in Friendly environment.
H9; Theme days have a positive impact on job satisfaction in Friendly environment.
H10; Casual days have a positive impact on job satisfaction in Friendly environment.
H11; Celebrating Birthdays have a positive impact on employee morale in Friendly environment.
H12; Celebrating Achievements have a positive impact on employee morale in Friendly environment.
H13; Theme days have a positive impact on employee morale in Friendly environment.
H14; Casual days have a positive impact on employee morale in Friendly environment.
H15; Jokes have a positive impact on job satisfaction.
H16; Funny sms have a positive impact on job satisfaction.
H17; Funny Emails have a positive impact on job satisfaction.
H18; Jokes have a positive impact on employee morale.
H19; Funny sms have a positive impact on employee morale.
H20; Funny Emails have a positive impact on employee morale.
LITERATURE REVIEW
The perception of Fun workplace, the protestant work ethic of the apparent reverse of, had surfaced as a rising topic of interest within the workplace. Although there had been modest intellectual research in this area, according to Collinson, (2002) in cooperation between humor and Fun were getting growing attention. The little studies that survive recommended that at workplace get better employee engagement and also improved the performance of the employees and job satisfaction may be associated with the fun and humor (Karl & Peluchette, 2006, Karl, 2005 & Newstorm, 2002).Some of the essential effects of fun require to be further study to identify with the implications of fun and humorous activities and its effects on employee morale both negative and positive.
While there was rare concept about the meaning of “fun” from the Blythe and Hassenzahl, (2003) defined Fun that include combinations of activity, amusing, entertaining and may also be associated with the idea of play (Costea et al, 2005). According to that definition, fun workplace was enjoyable but it doesn’t mean that it’s also funny. This paper takes abroad prespective that fun workplace create entertaining, amusing activities Fords et al, (2003) and may include humorous events that promote smiles and/or happy environment .This types of activities may formed by employees themselves who usually took part on this types of fun activities and its also evolve by managerial
According to Strand and Steinauer, (2000) the research articles from press had explained the fun at workplace as getting work seriously but it doesn’t mean that you were also getting yourself seriously during workplace .From researcher point of view then, work and fun were combined together its seem that fun were happen at workplace successfully Owler,(2008) when fun was present at workplace its make the environment tension free, calm and people were also doing their work seriously (Urquhart, 2005). The pre-research study on organizational humor was taken heavily by emerging workplace fun literature, and it was also beyond the pre-research study, positive effects of humor on the workplace may also found on the generational differences. A fun at workplace was made .According to research study conducted by Ford et al,( 2003) that 572 human resource managers recommended that an environment was deliberate fun when it “purposefully motivates, enlightened, and support combination of amusing and entertaining activities that positively influence the behavior and growth of individuals and groups”. Further they clarify that Fun was far behind by job satisfaction to involve activities that communicate a sense of “pleasantness, happiness, and positive well-being that makes working not only satisfying but also fun” (Ford et al, 2003). According to McDowell fun at work as “involving in activities it’s not necessary linked to the job which was pleasurable, entertaining and humorous.” (McDowell, 2004).According to Fluegge recent doctoral dissertation, construct a framework of workplace fun that include the combination of dimensions, process mechanisms, and performance outcomes, and forming upon McDowell’s, (2004) work, defined fun at work as “interacted with each other, interpersonal, or task activities at work of a playful or humorous nature which provide an individual with amusement, enjoyment, or pleasure (Fluegge, 2008).
A group has a culture when it had enough shared formed history to had formed a set of basic assumption which guides behavior, perceptions, thoughts and feelings (Schein, 2004). Humor was a part every culture Berger,(1997) and reflects the values and assumptions of that culture through actions, discourse, rules, rituals, ceremonies, norms, ,and stories (Morgan et al, 1983). The basic components of organizational culture was way of working, types of fun and humor and they exist in different amount in every organization Homes & Marra ,(2002), Homes, (2007), and Plester & Sayers, (2007),yet both humor and fun had recently attention on most of the organizational studies (Linstead, 1985). As a culture phenomenon, its essential part to enlightened both Fun and humor that carries underlying values and assumptions, thus to truly understand the culture in an organization, (Barsoux,1996, Duncan et al,1990 & Fine & DeSoucey, 2005).According to Linstead,(1985), and Davies ,(1982) both were seem that workplace behavior is only acceptable when humor can found moral and social boundaries, even though boundaries between ”Funny” and ” Serious” can be ambiguous in organization (Westwood, 2004). Therefore it was seem that investigations into fun and humor should adopt cultural focus was to further explore the interrelationship between these complex phenomena. According to Collinson, (1998), “Gender construction, group membership and strengthen sense of identity were defined by Humor” .By using and tolerating certain types of humor and accepting masculinity ideas can create pressure.
Organization culture was also a component of formality and influences the managerial behavior in the order of restrictions, the performance of fun and humor were not be in smallest amount (Beetham, 1999, Handy, 1993, & Morand, 1995). .Organizational structural mechanism and organizational community action could describe the terms “formality” and “informality”. According to Beetham (1996) that organizations were formed on the basis of relationship between formal and informal. The four key criteria of formality were taken from Weber’s (1947) features of bureaucracy:
(1) Hierarchy
(2) Continuity
(3) Impersonality
(4) Expertise
The societal functions of organization were understandable with the help of boundary concept. Some researcher has defined the fun at workplace boundaries. According to Ketsde Vries, (1990); Plester and Orams, (2008) workplace culture and social behavior are sustain by particular individuals (jokers) who “drive” boundaries to hilarity. Fleming (2005) defined the work and non work association between them, explores aspects of self-esteem and value, and explained that fun at workplaces can occur suddenly it’s not designed by organization. Further its also necessary to explore the linked between fun, culture and boundaries to highly knowing mixing of cultural influences, the effect of humor and fun, and also seem that how people formed and managed during workplace at fun. Fun boundaries evidence suggests that having a positive mental attitude increases oxygen flow, endorphins and blood flow to the brain, enabling clearer and creative thinking (Urquhart, 2005). Workplace fun is day by day increasing and its understanding and fame among the employees, its totally different from the “fad” life cycle Fleming, (2005) fad describes “the improvement of organization and element having symbolic usage but it has very rare improvement”.(Abrahamson, 1991).
In this Special Issue, in management-led forms it was clearly differences between the official or “packaged” fun, organizational life is a components of fundamental and inborn that describe “natural” fun. The relation between engage in recreation, entertaining and hilarity and enhanced corporate performance, in the kind of incentive, inspiration, job satisfaction and even staff maintenance was inspiration by fun packaged draws on an oblique (but disjointedly not mentioned). Free faith was developed due to recreation of productivity that productive workers were happy employees which raise an equal postulate that happy workers was make due to fun at workplace and the cycles went on. As a outcome workplace involvement had formed from the common dominion of sports and socials onto new environment, and raced forward with actions ranging from casual dress to “Saturdays”, celebrating birthdays & achievements, picnics, exotic training events, and encouragements to grip our inside jester. At times when fun was a part of artificial culture, self directed and shared, naturalistic and visibly shaped and levels it becomes an important part of organization life.
Today, nevertheless, workplace and corporate world was the varying swiftly. Encouraging and pleasant work environment demands employees. In workplace injecting fun create employees satisfied and become more productive. Accordingly, managers had to form entertaining environment and through this they were be able to create professional atmosphere without any tension. Employees feel good at their jobs and creating the workplace Friendly environments means that having fun was existing in the workplace. Now a days most the organization were analyzing the worth of making fun at workplace in conditions of how its work for the organization’s life of work, standing and assessments’ of financially (Karl and Peluchette & Hall and Harland, 2005).
3. RESEARCH METHODS
The research methods basically reveal what procedures were undergone in order to accumulate relevant information required for the study.
3.1 Method of Data Collection
The instruments used for collection of data was self administered questionnaire and it was complete by the employees of Banking Industry ,or delivered by hand to each bank Manager and then they gave all employees of bank and after that they delivered the questionnaire to me. Responses to the interview questionnaire were then on the basis of respondent’s answers.
3.2 Sampling Technique
A self-administered Questionnaire was filled out by respondents. Not every respondents had equal chance to become the part of this research and the research was conduct on the basis of convenience i.e. Convenience sampling techniques was that where respondent were selected because of their suitable availability and nearness to the researcher and this technique is fast, economical, simple and the respondent were eagerly available.
3.3 Sample Size
As assessing the whole target population was next to impossible for certain limitations, a sample size for research was 100 respondents of banking industry.
3.4 Instrument of Data Collection
This research was examine the effects of dependent variable on independent variable and its based on four session, in first session the personal details of the employees was recorded, in second session fun at workplace was measured that how much fun was important at work and also measured the three dimensions of fun which was recreational activity, Humor and Friendly Environment. In 3rd session job satisfaction was measured and it’s further divided into three parts and their effects on job satisfaction .In last session, Morale was measured and their effects on fun at workplace.
3.5 Research Model Developed
Figure 3.1 Theoretical Framework
Morale
Fun at workplace:
Recreational activities
Sports / Games
Picnics
Parties/ Get- together
Humor
Celebrating Birthday / Special Occasions
Celebrating Achievements
Theme Days
Casual days
Friendly Environment
Jokes
Funny SMS
Funny Emails
FF
ccc
Job Satisfaction
3.6 Statistical Technique
In this research more than two variables can also be involved that is dependent variables, independent and inter-dependent variables are used for comparative study, so the categorical regression test is appropriate test for this research.
4. RESULTS
Table 4.1 Interpretations
IDV
DV
Anova Value (sig.)
Coff.
Value (sig.)
Interpretation
H1
Sports
Job satisfaction
0.015
0.160
Although the Anova table showed a sig. value of less than 0.05, the coefficient value was more than 0.05, hence H1 was rejected.
H2
Picnic
Job satisfaction
0.071
0.335
As the Anova table showed a sig. value of more than 0.05, the model was unfit to proceed further. Hence H2 was rejected.
H3
Parties
Job satisfaction
0.028
.704
Although the Anova table showed a sig. value of less than 0.05, the coefficient value was more than 0.05, hence H3 was rejected.
H4
Sports
Employee Morale
0.004
.370
Although the Anova table showed a sig. value of less than 0.05, the coefficient value was more than 0.05, hence H4 was rejected.
H5
Picnics
Employee Morale
0.241
0.571
Although the Anova table showed a sig. value of less than 0.05, the coefficient value was more than 0.05, hence H5 was rejected.
H6
Parties
Employee Morale
0.101
0.609
Although the Anova table showed a sig. value of less than 0.05, the coefficient value was more than 0.05, hence H6 was rejected.
H7
Celebrating Birthdays
Job satisfaction
.000
.206
Although the Anova table showed a sig. value of less than 0.05, the coefficient value was more than 0.05, hence H7 was rejected.
H8
CelebratingAcheivements
Job satisfaction
.000
.000
Although the Anova table showed a sig. value of less than 0.05, the coefficient value was less than 0.05, hence H8 was accepted.
H9
Theme days
Job satisfaction
.000
.033
Although the Anova table showed a sig. value of less than 0.05, the coefficient value was less than 0.05, hence H9 was accepted.
H10
Casual Days
Job satisfaction
0.000
0.015
Although the Anova table showed a sig. value of less than 0.05, the coefficient value was less than 0.05, hence H10 was accepted.
H11
Celebrating Birthdays
Employee Morale
0.000
0.000
Although the Anova table showed a sig. value of less than 0.05, the coefficient value was less than 0.05, hence H11 was accepted.
H12
CelebratingAcheivements
Employee Morale
0.000
0.000
Although the Anova table showed a sig. value of less than 0.05, the coefficient value was less than 0.05, hence H12 was accepted.
H13
Theme days
Employee Morale
.030
.832
Although the Anova table showed a sig. value of less than 0.05, the coefficient value was less than 0.05, hence H13 was accepted
H14
Casual Days
Employee Morale
0.000
0.061
Although the Anova table showed a sig. value of less than 0.05, the coefficient value was more than 0.05, hence H14 was rejected.
H15
Jokes
Job satisfaction
0.000
0.001
Although the Anova table showed a sig. value of less than 0.05, the coefficient value was less than 0.05, hence H15 was accepted.
H16
Funny Sms
Job satisfaction
0.000
.323
Although the Anova table showed a sig. value of less than 0.05, the coefficient value was more than 0.05, hence H16 was rejected.
H17
Funny emails
Job satisfaction
0.084
.795
As the Anova table showed a sig. value of more than 0.05, the model was unfit to proceed further. Hence H17 was rejected.
H18
Jokes
Employee morale
0.000
.000
Although the Anova table showed a sig. value of less than 0.05, the coefficient value was less than 0.05, hence H15 was accepted
H19
Funny Sms
Employee morale
0.001
.103
Although the Anova table showed a sig. value of less than 0.05, the coefficient value was more than 0.05, hence H19 was rejected.
H20
Funny emails
Employee morale
0.000
.112
Although the Anova table showed a sig. value of less than 0.05, the coefficient value was more than 0.05, hence H20 was rejected.
CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS
In the research study we had draw the attention on fun at workplace on employee morale and job satisfaction and further categorize fun at workplace into recreational activities, friendly environment and humor .For our research we did not finding significant relation between recreational activities and humor job satisfaction and employee morale in Humor although we found that only jokes had a strong relation between job satisfaction and employee moral and its also seem that friendly environment had a strong relations between job satisfaction and employee morale. Our thesis was limited to specific industry; data was gathered by the banking industry.
The fun at workplace was applied on employees and Hr manager because understanding of fun in organization is necessary nowadays .Hr manager make the policies and procedures regarding fun which is follow by the employees. If Hr manager were be trying to injecting fun in company employees becomes more productive and their morale were also enhanced. In banking industry fun was not applied properly its follow only in mnc’s bank so I recommended that fun had to be applied in all sorts of organization because it create friendly environment between employees and Managers which makes employees comfortable level high at their work and they were be able to share their ideas in organization and that’s was be benefit for the company
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