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| Humor at Work |
ISSUE 528 - Mar. 5, 2014 |
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The Importance of Trumpeting Success at Work
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According to the late Renn Zaphiropoulos, the former
CEO of the silicon valley high tech company Versatec, "Everybody should have an elephant."
By that he meant everyone should have an elephant-sized amount of enthusiasm for
their work and an elephant-sized amount of recognition for what they do at
work. True to his words, Zaphiropoulos once donned a satin costume and rode
around his company's parking lot atop an elephant while the Stanford University
marching band played alongside. He used this occasion to champion their
impressive financial results and to pass out bonus checks, backing up yet
another one of his beliefs: "If you're going to give someone a check,
don't just mail it. Have a celebration!"
Bringing a live elephant into work might not work for, well, anyone. While you don't need an elephant, you do need to trumpet people's success on your team, lest they pack their trunk and leave for another waterhole.
A Human Resource Management and Watson Worldwide survey found that 88% of employees cited a lack of acknowledgement as their top workplace issue, while 70% of employees said it was the reason they left their job! Conversely, a study reported in Workforce Magazine found that regular recognition is linked to higher productivity, reduced employee turnover and increased job satisfaction. And a 10-year study by Gostick and Elton of more than 200,000 managers and employees found that simply saying, "thank-you" on a regular basis translated into higher profits.
Short of passing this message onto your boss as a gentle reminder, what can a thankless employee do? Perhaps more than you think. Several studies suggest that thanks are highly contagious: When you genuinely thank someone they are more likely to pass thanks onto another person. . . and so on...and so on..until before long the entire herd is trumpeting to the same thankful key.
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Mike's Fun at Work Tip |
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An Australian marketing company has a designated sleeping room and a designated screaming room (I'm guessing they're not right next door to each other.) If sleeping or screaming at work isn't your thing, perhaps you could consider some other offbeat room/closet/stairwell designations such as: a laugh-in closet, inspiration point, zen zone, creativity corner, munch n' mingle room, cone of silence, reading room, confessions corridor, stress-free stairwell. . .  |
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Quote of the Week |
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"I used to work at an unemployment
office. I hated it because when they fired me I had to show up at work
anyway." Wally Wang |
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It's a Wacky World |
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The US-based consultancy firm OfficeTeam surveyed HR professionals in search of the wackiest reasons employees gave for quitting their jobs. Here are just a few:
"I was making too much money and didn't feel I was worth it."
"I didn't like the sound of the filing cabinets being slammed."
"I wanted to watch a soccer tournament.'"
"I wanted to watch a movie with my girlfriend."
"I thought the lobby area was too small."
"I have to feed my dog!" | |
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Cost Savings to Book Mike
Kelowna/Penticton: Special "need to see Mom" discounted rates all year
New York: April 28 - May 3
San Francisco: May 12 - 15
Europe: July 10 - July 27
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Copyright © 2014 Humor at Work. All Rights Reserved.
mike@mikekerr.com
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