Humor in the Workplace Blog
What Keeps Employees Motivated? Some Keys to Effective Motivation at Work
This infographic created by Salesforce does a fabulous job at summarizing some of the key factors that influence employee motivation. It’s a great reminder of everything we talk about here at Humor at Work: that money, for the most part, is only a great motivator when it comes to people searching for work or coming into work week after week. In other words, money puts warm bums in the seats. But to get employees truly involved, engaged and inspired, it takes much more than just a good pay check.
Why Humor in the Workplace is a Key to Success
As a business speaker and motivational speaker who speaks often on the topic of humor in the workplace, I sometimes have to sell the benefits of humor to some of my more skeptical clients.
Fortunately, this task has become much easier over the years.
The Leader as Guide: Lessons Learned While on an African Safari
I was recently on safari in South Africa and Botswana, and our aptly named guide Moses reminded me of a few key traits that truly inspiring leaders need to possess.
22 Fun Ways to Celebrate Those Fun, Wacky Holidays and Theme Days into Your Workplace: No Pants? No Problem!
I recently had someone ask me about the “appropriateness” of celebrating some of the offbeat theme days I refer to from time to time in an office setting.
Speaking of Funny Business: Would It Kill You to Smile?
As a business speaker who speaks on the role of humor in leadership and business and the importance of building a strong workplace culture, I am continually amazed at the number of senior business people who still take themselves so seriously.
Customer Service with a Smile, and Some Humor
Great customer service isn’t about blindly smiling at the customer and pulling the string to recite a scripted response that sounds forced and unnatural (as hilariously mocked in an old Saturday Night Live skit with Helen Hunt and David Spade playing cynical flight attendants saying, “And bye-bye” to all the departing passengers).
Does Your Job Measure Up?
A survey of senior leaders revealed a disconnect between what leaders think motivates employees vs. what actually motivates them. 95% of the leaders in the survey felt that “supporting progress” was the least most important factor in employee engagement, whereas all the research suggests the opposite is true: Supporting progress at work is one of the most important things a leader can do to motivate employees. (This is why many white collar workers who shift over to blue collar jobs report being much happier in their new jobs. As they often remark, “You can actually see what you’ve accomplished at the end of the work day – it’s tangible.”)
Offbeat Theme Days & Wacky, Fun Holidays for May, 2013 to Celebrate in Your Workplace
Here’s a list of some of the fun, wacky, offbeat and not-so-wacky holidays and theme days for the month of May, 2013. Celebrating these, recognizing these theme days is a very simple way to bring a little fun and humor into your workplace. For some ideas on how to make use of some of these fun holidays go to: Ways to Celebrate Fun Holidays in the Workplace
Seriously, What DOES She Do All Day? Guest blog post by Kelly Batke, Jostle Corporation
Admit it. At some point in your career you’ve worked alongside someone who appears to do absolutely nothing all day.
You are aware they were hired, and sometimes you even know their job title, but when it comes to their actual tasks or accomplishments you have no idea. And sometimes neither do they.
Role clarity is critical. Not just for employees, but for an entire company. Employees with clearly defined roles are much more likely to be engaged with their work and their organization—which ultimately leads to stronger business results. If role clarity isn’t properly defined or communicated it can quickly escalate into misalignment of corporate objectives.
Workplace Recognition: Giving Thanks for the Thanks!
A friend of mine, a small business owner who does a fabulous job at constantly recognizing his contractors and often surprising them with bonus gifts, complained to me recently that an employee never thanked him after receiving a surprise bonus from him. Not even a quick “Cool, thanks!” e-mail from him. Nothing. Zippo! Nada!