[Young Spark]

Earlier when me and my fiance were heading back to her house I was thinking (as my mind is always known for doing) on random business issues... one that grasped my attention quite well is the simple concept of employees: Working for a Living or for Enjoyment?

Quite a hard concept you may think, but its not. The concept surround the issue around this one question: Are people working to make a living or are they working for enjoyment.

I see many people every day who seem like work is a stress burden (in which many cases it is) to them. They don't want to be there but they have to make a living, so they fake a smile and some happy attitude for a couple hours just to see their reward in the form of a small paycheck.

While thinking about this when I just got home, I questioned what ways many employers persue to generate a less stressful and more productive workplace. Here is an article I found quite the read in my opinion and gives some good ideas.

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http://www.allbusiness.com/human-res...g/11357-1.html
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So what is your take on this issue: Its a well known fact that employees are our key to success along with proper planning, but having a stressful and confusing workplace will only lead to decreased productivity. At the same time, in a sense of the saying... a cluttered space leads to a cluttered mind.

How do you (as an employer) generate a less stressful zone and generate more productivity for your business? How do you give your employees the satisfaction of actually wanting to come to work, not to look forward to the weekly or bi-weekly paycheck, but to actually ENJOY what they are doing. I am strong on this issue because what employee wants to live day by day not enjoying coming to work, it should be important to help create a more open environment.

[Young Spark]

Still awaiting, does anybody believe in constructing an "enjoyable workplace?" I mean, keeping employee's should be a major priority to keep your productivity high.

[Viraj]

Originally Posted by Young Spark

Still awaiting, does anybody believe in constructing an "enjoyable workplace?" I mean, keeping employee's should be a major priority to keep your productivity high.

Yes, I feel businesses set themselves apart from their competitors by having a more relaxed workplace; this has pros and cons in itself - you need to find the balance between a relaxed and productive workplace. Google and Yahoo are probably prime examples of companies who have found this balance.

I stumbled across this article months ago but still had it in my favourites, I think you'll enjoy it: http://positivesharing.com/2006/10/1...ool-workplaces

[syia]

I do believe Dustin but how do you define enjoyable maybe be different from other people..so how do you propose to do this?

[Young Spark]

The link I provided give some ideas... I just suggest like making their day easier, giving them 1 or 2 more "minor breaks" where they can go and spend maybe 10 minutes outside or let them browse online and everything if you run an office, things of that nature.

It doesn't necessarily have to be break but you should get my drift though... its all about keep a positive flow/energy in the surrounding environment.

[Diamondman]

Maybe the employer could bring in a cash flow consultant to help the employees manage their money better.

[Young Spark]

^^ If your being sarcastic, do you at all have a life but to start with me all the time or is somebody lonely? IDK how many times I have to say you are annoying me before you get it through your head... really.

If you not being sarcastic, maybe you should read again on what a cash flow consultant is... I DO NOT manage money... that is a financial advisor's job.

[Diamondman]

There you go again taking things so sensitively, I was meaning that would allow them to manage their money better creating a more happy work place.

[Diamondman]

And I was'nt meaning you either.

[Young Spark]

Diamondman... there is a certain thing called "Sarcasm" --- definition, to take something that one finds serious and make it into a semi-serious funny statement.

The fact that you said "Maybe the employer could bring in a cash flow consultant to help the employees manage their money better" sounded sarcastic, especially if you knew what a cash flow consultant is, you'd know we have no affiliation with assisting in money management.

My apologies...

[Diamondman]

Thats ok apology accepted

[akula]

Originally Posted by Young Spark

Still awaiting, does anybody believe in constructing an "enjoyable workplace?" I mean, keeping employee's should be a major priority to keep your productivity high.

Sure...there's a proven link between workplace environment and employee productivity, usually termed the hawthorne effect

This area attracts much research and there's a lot of literature on how to practice employer branding for the purpose of attracting, motivating and retaining the best employees

Now...in terms of adjectives..."enjoyable" is probably not the right word to aim for when trying to create the ideal workplace. Other words like "challenging", "inspiring", "prestigious" are more important, depending on the kinds of talent you wanna attract.

For example, with tech startups, the people you are attracting are highly qualified professionals who are quitting jobs with much better pay, and much more "enjoyable" work environments to join yours (and mine) miserable little garage, chop shops. If you wanna recruit an engineer from Google, she already has "enjoyable" and there's very little you can offer her - however, very smart founders like Joe Kraus are able to do it because they can understand the strength and weaknesses in their employer branding profile. Subsequently, they offer benefits which large employers can't offer (like equity, options and