Humor Importance in the Workplace

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Table of Contents

What is the relationship between humor and motivation?
What is the essence of propagating humor in a team?
What is the effect of incorporating humor into the organizational culture?
What is the relationship between humor and satisfaction at work?
How does humor foster commitment in employees?
Conclusion
References

What is the relationship between humor and motivation?

Humor is one of the simplest ways to ensure that employees have fun at work. Since the HRM function is charged with the development of motivation in the workplace, humor can be instrumental in the development of a free social environment. The integration of humor at work is difficult because the employees feel like they are obliged to tone it down to attain the required professionalism. In essence, the development of an organizational culture that embraces humor is the key to influencing higher levels of cohesion among the employees.

Human resources should not feel pressured to assume a serious face to everyone at work. Have a good laugh in the course of handling a difficult task can relieve stress on the employees. The easiest way to foster humor in the workplace is by developing an organizational culture that allows the human assets to portray their real personalities. The values of the culture assumed by such an organization should limit the nature of the humor to a universally accepted level.

According to Michael Kerr, humor at work gives the employees an impression of freedom, and this enhances their willingness to implement innovative ideas in their work (Smith, 2013). Humor at work opens up free communication between the employees and the leaders, and it can easily accommodate multicultural task forces. Eliminating the dull atmosphere in an organization through humor influences motivation among the employees because the internal and external social atmospheres of the employees attain parallelism. This free environment raises their spirits at work.

What is the essence of propagating humor in a team?

A qualitative study aimed at developing the correlation between humor and level of productivity must look into the effects of humor on a team of employees (Padgett, 2004). The performance of a team in a business depends on the ability of the employees to integrate their personal skills to handle the workflow within the required deadlines. This requirement compels the team members to develop close interpersonal relationships to build cohesion in the group. Humor is one of the feasible channels of developing a good rapport.

When a team establishes the personal values of the respective members, it is easy for the members to develop rules on how to incorporate humor into the team. Humor in a team kills the monotony of discussing work-related ideas, and it gives the members a chance to unwind after a hectic day at work. A good laugh during a tea break is as good as a sleeping session because it relaxes the mind. Teams with relaxed members have higher productivity levels because the employees enjoy their work. A good sense-of-humor can be incorporated with team management strategies to enhance positive productivity among the members of the team.

Being able to make a joke while working with team members is a good character in team leaders because it loosens the dryness associated with team leadership. Humor has an equivalent level of success in motivating team members as reward systems. Humor fosters self-efficacy for the employees by allowing the rest of the team members to make jokes about the inefficiencies of their counterparts. This kind of humor is also instrumental in the development of appraisal programs by the team leaders because it highlights some of the weaknesses of the team members (Romero & Pescosolido, 2008).

What is the effect of incorporating humor into the organizational culture?

Humor is a common element of communication in society, and it forms an integral part of imparting values of the organizational culture. Humor helps in the reduction of stress in the workplace. The leadership function is charged with the development of the values that form the core of the internal organizational environment. Scholarly findings from studies have demonstrated that humor is a viable terminator of stress. Humor also fosters group cohesiveness in an organization because it influences the members of the organization to communicate on a regular basis.

Humor in the organizational culture does not necessarily mean the incorporation of jokes in the communication process; rather, it highlights the development of an environment where the members of the organization can share laughing moments at work. There are humor styles that can be tailored within the organizational culture to influence higher productivity in the employees. Managers can overcome issues concerning cultural diversity and gender issues in the organization by developing the most suitable humor style in an organization (Romero & Cruthirds, 2006).

What is the relationship between humor and satisfaction at work?

Employing humor in the workplace results in the satisfaction of the employees because humor fosters two main elements in job satisfaction. The first element is motivation. When employees engage in humorous activities with their leaders, they are likely to develop close relationships, which generate a feeling of belonging to the company.

This imparts commitment in the employees, and they are likely to be motivated to employ their highest performance levels while handling tasks in the workflow. Second, humor in the workplace influences the development of equality among the employees. In an organization with a multicultural task force, the management has to evaluate the cultural values of every member of the organization before assuming a specific humor style. This equal treatment of employees results in satisfaction (Clark, 2003). The cohesion fostered by humor in the workplace is instrumental in developing commitment among team members in the organization.

How does humor foster commitment in employees?

Humor develops a balance between the workplace environment and the outside environment. This balanced working environment compels the employees to portray their real personalities when interacting with their colleagues. Being able to portray their real personalities at work makes the workplace a fun place for the employees, and they are compelled to commit to handling their tasks because the working environment is conducive. For employees looking to achieve personal career growth, an organization that embraces humor becomes a viable environment for growth. When an employee is subjected to such an environment, he or she is likely to prefer pursuing his or her long-term career goals of the organization in question (Westwood & Rhodes, 2013).

Conclusion

The incorporation of humor in an organization influences the development of a free environment where the employees can express themselves freely. When the appropriate style of humor is implemented within the organizational culture, it fosters motivation and commitment to the employees. Humor also helps in the development of equality in the organization because the humor style assumed by the management must consider the values shared by the employees. Indeed, humor is an integral tool in the development of motivation and commitment to employees. These elements lead to an enhancement in their productivity.

References

Clark, R. E. (2003). Fostering the work motivation of individuals and teams. Performance Improvement, 42(3), 21-29.

Padgett, D. K. (2004). The qualitative research experience, Revised Printing (1^st ed.). Connecticut: Cengage Learning.

Romero, E. J., & Cruthirds, K. W. (2006). The use of humor in the workplace. Academy of Management Perspectives, 1(1), 58-69.

Romero, E., & Pescosolido, A. (2008). Humor and group effectiveness. Human Relations, 61(3), 395-418.

Smith, J. (2013).10 Reasons why humor is a key to success at work. Web.

Westwood, R., & Rhodes, C. (Eds.). (2013). Humor, work and organization. London: Routledge.

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