If you’re looking for a levity-filled, laugh-a-minute place to work, chances are excellent that one of the Big Four accounting firms would not be high on your list of prospects. Historically, accounting firms have pretty much defined the antithesis of fun.
But what if, suddenly, an accounting giant chose to apply what we call the "Levity Effect” and inject regular fun initiatives into its work routine?
That’s exactly what happened at KPMG, the Big Four accounting firm that has made a concerted effort over the last several years to turn itself into an Employer of Choice by increasing its focus on people-centric programs and initiatives. The effort has made the firm’s aspirations a reality, evidenced by the fact that employee survey ratings on the statement, “This is a great place to work,” increased 23 points since the introduction of their EOC program.
To back up, while reviewing employee survey results, leaders at KPMG were surprised to discover that two of the top five predictors of positive employee responses to the critical “great place to work” question were, “We are a close-knit team or family,” and “I have fun at work.”
As number crunchers, KPMG’s leaders decided they couldn’t argue with the data. So the firm introduced a new “Esprit de Corps” initiative as part of its ongoing Employer of Choice efforts. The program’s main objectives are to thank employees for their hard work and commitment, celebrate successes, and bring some fun and camaraderie into the workplace. The first initiative was a Movie Madness Challenge, which encouraged employees to go to the company’s intranet to pick Oscar winners. Those who tallied the most correct choices were entered into a drawing for prizes that included plasma TVs, portable DVD players, iPods and free movie tickets. The results were convincing, even for the critics.
“When we introduced the movie challenge, some leaders asked, ‘Who is going to do this? Our people are too busy.’” admitted Bruce Pfau, KPMG’s Vice Chair of Human Resources. “More than 10,000 of our 22,000 employees logged in to participate during a very busy season when it’s difficult just to get the attention of our people. It said to me, ‘Our accountants and auditors are hungry for some fun.’ ”
Encouraged by the results, leadership has continued to sponsor fun initiatives (outlined in detail in our book The Levity Effect).
Scores on the most recent employee survey have continued to climb, and the positive momentum has helped earn KPMG a spot on FORTUNE’s 100 Best Places to Work, as well as in the Top Ten of Working Mother’s Best Companies list and on BusinessWeek’s 50 Best Places to Launch a Career. Like KPMG, companies that create the Levity Effect at work experience higher productivity, engagement and retention.
Most companies profess to be trustworthy, but many are off track. Ask yourself these questions about your organization:
- Is there an unreasonably high focus on the company stock price, as opposed to creating long-term value for shareholders?
- Is company communication frequent, open and honest? Or are things communicated strictly on a “need-to-know” basis?
- Is it OK to admit you’ve made a mistake? Can you recall a company leader publicly admitting an error?
- Have you ever been asked to violate your personal ethical standards in the name of the company (i.e., erasing emails, misrepresenting company services or profits, lying to an outside party, etc.)?
- Does your company wink at rule-breakers who are successful?
- Does your organization pay its bills on time and in full?
- Do you trust management?
Hopefully, your evaluation will reveal an organization that is trustworthy. But you might find yourself in an organization with a “do whatever it takes, push the envelope, look the other way, we’ve got to make our numbers” philosophy. If that’s the case, you can either get along, try to change the way things are done, or part company.
I was on Ron Tunick’s radio program when he asked his audience: would you rather work for a great boss and get paid minimum wage, or for a miserable, controlling boss who paid you $100 an hour? To my shock, about half the callers wanted the great boss and much less money. Several mentioned, “It’s not worth my health to work for a terrible manager.”
This result is obviously unscientific, but there have been recent studies about workers and bad bosses that make the case more convincingly. British scientist George Fieldman conducted research on the role played by employee’s perceptions of their bosses and whether interaction styles caused physical health problems.
Depending on whether they liked or disliked their bosses, the participants’ diastolic and systolic blood pressure varied in significant degrees. Fieldman concluded that working for a boss they thought unfair could increase the risk of coronary heart disease by one-sixth and the risk of stroke by one-third.
Disrespect damages a team, and also your health.
Take just a minute to rate your boss. Out of a possible four, how many stars would you award him or her? Are there any suggestions you can give your boss (in private) that might help?
I’ve been reading the book Mojo, by our friend and executive coach Marshall Goldsmith. Marshall says the average American spends a whopping 15 hours a month complaining about their boss. I know it seems extreme, but he cites research he’s done to support this claim, as well as a national study by DDI.
So why do you need to quit this behavior?
- You run the very real risk that your boss will hear about it.
- It’s time that could be better spent building your career or personal life. Just imagine what you could accomplish if you spent those hours productively at night school, with your family, getting some exercise, working, etc.
- You are really only hurting your own reputation. Think about it, have you ever admired a whiner? The best advice: Go to the boss and talk over any issues. If you can’t change them, you can’t leave them, then it’s time to take a deep breath and accept whatever it is that bugs you.
A consultant recently met with a group of university leaders. He asked them a few simple questions to get them started:
- What percent of Americans say that a UFO crashed in Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947?
- What percent of Americans believe in the theory of evolution?
The university leaders believed the first number—UFO believers—would be quite low, somewhere less than 20 percent. And they imagined the second number would be high—they guessed more than 60 percent of people would discount the Bible and believe in Evolution.
The truth was revealing.
According to a recent CNN study, more than 80 percent of Americans believe the government is hiding information about extraterrestrials that landed in Roswell. And a 2009 Gallup Poll shows only 39 percent of Americans believe in the theory of evolution.
The academics were shocked. Said one of the academics on the two data points, “It shows people are dumb, but God-fearing.”
The reason the wise consultant brought up this research was to show that long-held perceptions can be wrong, especially when they come to our own businesses. These university men and women believed, for instance, that their distinguished institutions of higher learning had bright futures without the need for radical change. But the research he was then about to show them argued the point. A growing number of qualified, bright young people are gravitating toward online schools and their low prices, creative curriculum and flexible ways to learn. While these academics didn’t want to believe the data, the consultant’s creative way of opening their minds made them at least open the floor up to debate.
The moral: perhaps it’s time for all of us to listen to seek out new research in our industries. What is the data telling us that may seem counterintuitive?
Page 3 of 19 pages < 1 2 3 4 5 > Last ›