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Fun on the job

Recess at Work Day costs little and may pay off in profits

By Becky Pallack

ARIZONA DAILY STAR

"Workers have been beat up. ... All I'm suggesting is to take a little break."

Rich DiGirolamo

fun at work

Rich DiGirolamo, founder of Recess at Work Day, is a professional speaker and author of "50 Ways to Have Fun at Work and Improve Employee Morale (And Hopefully Not Get Fired)."

Here are five of those ways:

• Have a race with your office chairs

• Take notes with crayons or colorful pens

• Mix up your meeting: Bring milk and cookies or go for a walk

• Host a picnic or a barbecue

• Let workers who never call in sick play hooky for a day

Source: http://www.nevergrowup.com

Wish your boss would focus less on net profits and more on, say, a volleyball net?

Thursday could be your day — if you can get your boss to recognize Recess at Work Day.

Now in its fourth year, Recess At Work Day is the brainchild of Rich DiGirolamo, of Wolcott, Conn. In a phone interview, DiGirolamo said workers deserve to have some fun.

"Workers have been beat up," he said. "They're asked to do more with less, and they're watching their jobs go away. All I'm suggesting is to take a little break."

DiGirolamo, who speaks professionally on workplace topics, said recognizing employees on Recess At Work Day improves morale and productivity.

Plus, it's cheap. Bringing in ice cream and hula hoops or a volleyball net won't hurt the bottom line.

However, fun isn't why people go to work, and the money could be better used to benefit workers, said Kathy Campbell, a Teamsters organizer in Tucson.

"If you give me a choice between a pizza party and a 25-cents-an-hour wage increase, I'll take the money because I'd rather have pizza with my kids," she said.

"If employers wants to improve the morale of their workers, they should treat them with dignity and respect." DiGirolamo warns that "this can't be a one-time thing."

"Employee morale is something employers need to address on a regular basis, showing people that their efforts and their hard work really do matter," DiGirolamo said.

Organizations that are on board with this idea do something once every month or two, he said.

Here is how two Tucson businesses have bought into the fun-at-work culture.

Citi,

9060 S. Rita Road, about 1,700 employees::

"Employee morale and employee engagement is the way we look at it," said Jason Ott, spokesman for Citi in Tucson.

The company has teams that focus on morale issues ranging from looking after the break room to community volunteerism.

"Giving back" is a big part of the fun at Citi. Basketball and soccer tournaments benefit nonprofits. Walking and biking groups meet for charity routes.

"We're not doing it in ones and twos," Ott said. "We do it in groups so people get to meet people from other buildings."

The company baseball game is held at Tucson Electric Park and there's a contest to pick who will sing the national anthem. At the July barbecue, "the company president will be out there on the asphalt flipping the burgers and serving the employees."

"The consequence of a highly engaged work force is not that we suffer — we excel. It's not distracting from production, it's making people love their jobs," Ott said. "The end result is better business results."

The Chamberlain Group,

6020 S. Country Club Road, about 200 employees:

Work life can get stressful at the company's tech-support call center and garage-door-opener distribution center, so workers can get a weekly massage from a vendor who brings in a portable massage chair.

"Relaxed employees are more productive," said Anita Orozco, human resources manager.

The group also has an employee "spirit team" that plans fun diversions for the whole staff. Next week is beach party week, with food, a water balloon toss and a dress code that allows shorts.

"There's any number of goofy things," Orozco said. "We try not to make it too serious."

The company also has a fierce competition running among several softball teams that "fight for the coveted trophy" at the annual company picnic, she said.

"I've never done any formal research on it, but there's definitely a connection between higher morale and more productive, more engaged employees," Orozco said. "I think the best thing it does for the company is, it allows the employees to loosen up a little bit."

Benjie Sanders / Arizona Daily Star photo illustration