Creating fun and rewards

What can easily be lost is that work can and should be fun. Enjoyable places of work can be entertaining and can give great comical relief as well as achieving visible results and outcomes . Work can supply a real sense of friendship, family and community, if we get the dynamics right. From experience, the teams that show greater creativity in how they say thank you generate higher levels of commitment. So say yes to fun and rewards and help foster motivation, desire and contribution.

Fedex for example, name their aeroplanes after the names of employee s children. Each time they buy a new plane, employees are invited to submit their children s names and one is randomly picked. Not a terribly expensive exercise but it means so much to its workers. Such novelty is essential as it helps to create a new and curious environment for learning.

Most important of all, business needs to loosen up, be less serious and grab every opportunity to build a positive attitude while doing a professional job. In saying this, you do not have to be a comedian and tell jokes every day, but it does help if you can find something to smile at on a regular basis. So whether it is having birthday cakes, bringing in baby photos or having a game of football, look for some fun for yourself and your business.

These ideas have a non- monetary reward attached to them. They make people feel included, valued and important. Even a creative idea can become boring if it is overused. For example, some people are hooked on after work drinks. These social functions can be a lot of fun but they can also be boring if they are poorly organized or overused . So spark your imagination and come up with some new ideas.

Here are some ideas I have observed in recent times to help spark incentive:

• Give people a choice of changing their working hours or duties .

• Purchase a theatre ticket or send a personal thank you card.

• Acquire an award trophy or mention people s work in a report or newsletter.

• Invite someone to an important meeting.

• Pay for them to attend a special conference or training course.

• Let them have a car parking place for a month.

• Give a small on the spot cash reward.