Work and play together - the secret of great work culture
/We are turning 18 this month! Around every birthday we have we keep getting asked about our “secrets”. The secrets of how we run things, how we managed stay professional yet a fun place to work, how stayed profitable yet spend so much on “extras”, etc. And every birthday time we usually end up writing about our little “secrets” - although they are not really secrets, more like common sense. Today’s post is about one such common sense “secret” - how working in an environment where fun is built makes for a great workplace.
Work and play together
Happiness is a core value at Kaz. It stands next to our other core value of the highest standard of work quality. We have always believed that workplace should be fun and relaxing which in turn will make the workers relaxed and more engaged. With this simple principle in mind we have integrated play in our work by introducing areas at work for relaxing, playing games like table tennis or cricket, for drawing what ever is on your mind on board, etc.
This concept of “work should be fun” creates work ethics that is spontaneous and ownership driven. This is the big reason why teams and individuals at Kaz take responsibility in getting their work done without any micromanagement and structure of command and control. And we think this is the only way to work in the creative field such as ours.
Play areas built into workplaces
A picture says a thousand words. Here’s one that tells the story of a typical day at Kaz. We have no qualms of putting a meeting room right next to a place where others might be playing. And time and time we have found that the play doesn’t affect the work nor vice versa. Yes, sometimes things might be too in depth in the meeting that the noise of play might be distracting - and that’s super easy to fix anytime by asking the players to play later. But the essence of the idea that work and play can and should happen together stays in the mindset of everyone. This mindset helps everyone to relax and creates a work environment that is stress free and happy.
Research supports our approach
Don’t take our word for it. There is a growing body of research from diverse fields like Psychology, Business management, Economics, etc. that support the thesis that play at work increases efficiency and performance.
Studies have shown evidence that play at work is linked with less stress and burnout. Play directly corelates with better job satisfaction, competence, and creativity. Research data indicates that when an employee is assigned tasks that are presented playfully, she is more involved and spend more time on the finishing the task better quality. The benefits of play goes beyond the individual employee. Teams and groups show increased trust, bonding and social interaction, sense of connection, and a decreased sense of hierarchy when play is introduced within the work culture. Studies show that play at work can benefit the entire organization by creating higher employee commitment to work, better decision making, and increased creativity. In a study done over 2000 employees in UK it showed there is a clear correlation between the uses of fun in the workplace. Amongst other data found was this interesting statistics:
79% of employees think fun at work relieves stress
62% of employees who have fun at work take less sick days
45% of employees in a traditional business don’t feel engaged
87% of employees are less likely to leave if they are engaged at work
Although if no studies were ever done we would have confirmed from our own experience over the past 18 years that work and play works together! And that’s just one of our big not so secret secret :)
Happy birthday Kaz!
