Resources for Humans managing editor Celeste Blackburn reviews the book The Levity Effect: Why It Pays to Lighten Up. Review summarizes book’s theory on how levity improves the workplace and ways to achieve levity.
These are serious times. As the stock market plunges and the government is bailing out banks, many employers are struggling to make payroll. Their employees are watching their retirements savings diminish all while feeling the toll of higher food, fuel, and energy prices. So now, more than ever, is the time for a little levity.
In their book The Levity Effect: Why it Pays to Lighten Up
Why Levity Matters
In the first six chapters of the book, Gostick and Christopher use extensive studies and corporate examples to make the case that companies that foster levity reap the benefits in the areas of:
- Communication — One of the many examples the authors use to back up their theory, “If they are laughing, they are listening,” is a study by Sam Houston State University psychologist Randy Gardner that shows when humor was injected into a lecture, students scored 15 percent higher on exams;
- Innovation — Nike, Cabela, Zappos, and several more well-known companies are given as real-life examples of the authors’ premise that “with comedy, there’s creativity”;
- Respect — This chapter begins with the story of Michael Jewellson, who took the food and nutrition department at one of the nation’s top heart hospitals from its 1 percent approval rating on customer-courtesy surveys to being in the 99 percentile by cutting out the negativity and replacing it with respect;
- Health — Building on studies that show that “happy workers are more productive,” this chapter ends by reminding readers of “8 Ways Laughter Strengthens Your Sanity”; and
- Wealth — Research shows that the best leaders, the ones who inspire the “highest levels of individual and organizational performance” use humor more than those who aren’t as productive.
Getting Lighter
The second half of the book is dedicated to methods that can be used to create levity in the workplace, which the authors declare is the “link between trust, respect, and engagement.” The chapter “142 Ways to Have Fun at Work” offers practical ideas for companies of any size. For example:
6. Paint a break room wall with chalkboard paint and allow employees to write thanks, messages, doodles, or other positive things on it (this idea comes from Whole Foods, which is #5 on the “100 Best Companies to Work For” list.)
9. On Halloween, invite employees’ kids to come to your workplace dressed up so that they can go trick or treating throughout the office. Have special prizes if they dress up like the boss.
23. Have a trivia night, including questions about the company’s products and history.
53. Have a “best cookie” contest.
119. Bring in a masseuse monthly to offer neck and shoulder massages.
132. Have a take-your-dog-to-work day, a take-your-fish-to-work day, or other pet-related frivolity.
There are suggestions for every budget and every engagement level. Perhaps the most valuable chapter for the HR professions (who most likely already understands the importance of levity) is the next one: “Overcoming Objections to Levity.” Here, the authors walk you through convincing managers, C-Suite bosses, and employees of the importance of levity and getting them to join in your levity-building “games.”
Overall, this book is an excellent tool for any HR person wanting to inject some levity into their workplace.
Celeste Blackburn is managing editor of HR Insight (www.HRHero.com/insight) and Diversity Insight (www.HRHeroblogs.com/diversity). She has taught composition at the collegiate level and worked as a journalist.