HR Management & Compliance

Laugh Your Way to Wellness, Part 2: What You Can Joke About


Humorist David Granirer says that humor helps us stay well but that several topics are verboten in the workplace. Today we look at topics you can joke about.


As noted in yesterday’s Advisor, humor at work can lead to both healthier employees and a healthier bottom line. But there are some forms of humor that won’t be very funny if they lead to discrimination or harassment lawsuits.


So what’s left to joke about after yesterday’s list of forbidden topics? Here are corporate humorist David Granirer’s suggestions of topics you can joke about:


#1. Yourself, your flaws, neuroses, and inadequacies. When you make these jokes, people are brought closer to you because they can relate. And so far, no one’s ever been sued for joking about himself or herself.



Study after study shows excellent ROI for wellness programs, and BLR’s new Workplace Wellness shows you how to achieve it, step-by-step. Check it out at no cost or risk.Read more



#2: Situations you all face; for example, the upcoming merger, the new reorganization, or the difficult customers you deal with.


#3: Personal characteristics in areas of low ego-involvement. Though most people are extremely sensitive about appearance, they’re less invested in other aspects of their personalities, says Granirer. For example, many don’t mind if someone jokes about their bad handwriting or that they look tired after getting up at 4 a.m. to change a diaper.


Likewise, poking fun at Peter because he’d rather ski than work, or Mary because she has a distinctive laugh is relatively safe, and communicates affection rather than disdain.


No More Put-Downs


No question, reiterates Granirer, that the reality has changed. What used to be OK as humor isn’t any more. No more getting a laugh by putting someone down. The new reality forces us to be more clever, creative, and especially considerate in the way we use humor, says Granirer.


And here’s one of his wellness jokes.


Setup: It’s tough eating healthy. I’ve been doing the vegetarian thing, and I do like a good vegetarian meal.
Punchline: But I like it with pork.


A Tool to Build the Rest of Your Wellness Program


No doubt about it. Humor is a key part of wellness. But you can’t build your wellness program on a few jokes, no matter how funny. You also need careful planning, clear objectives, and strong commitment.


Many of our readers have found that BLR’s comprehensive guidebook, Workplace Wellness, has helped them get programs up and running that achieve wellness objectives with a great ROI and without getting into the legal hassles that, these days, seem to attend any worthwhile venture in HR.



Corporate wellness programs show great ROIs. And as one expert noted, there’s little downside – even small improvements make a difference. Check out Workplace Wellness. Click for info.



It is a comprehensive guide that takes you step by step through setting up a program, from convincing management to creating and implementing a workable plan for your workplace. The guide also includes a vast collection of ready-to-use forms, handouts, and checklists that will both structure your program, and provide the metrics to measure and prove its effectiveness to management’s satisfaction. You might even get them to smile about the results!


If you’d like to examine Workplace Wellness: Healthy Employees, Healthy Families, Healthy ROI on a no-cost, no-obligation basis for 30 days, we can arrange for you to do so. Click here and we’ll be happy to set it up.

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