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Light Humor in the Workplace is Good Thing, Says MU business Professor

It is commonly believed that kidding around at work isn’t a good thing. Well, it is, says a University of Missouri-Columbia researcher, who has examined how workplace humor affects the working environment.

Chris Robert, assistant professor of management in MU’s Robert J. Trulaske, Sr. College of Business, says that humor – particularly joking around about things associated with the job – actually has a positive impact in the workplace. Occasional humor among colleagues, he says, enhances creativity, department cohesiveness and overall performance. The conclusion was made by examining theories on humor and integrating literature from a wide variety of disciplines that touch on the subject. Several hundred sources were analyzed by Robert and collaborator Wan Yan, a business doctoral student, who have attempted to bring together literature from numerous disciplines to make the case that humor is serious business.

“Humor has a significant impact in organizations,” says Robert, who also teaches psychology in MU’s College of Arts and Science. “Humor isn’t incompatible with goals of the workplace. It’s not incompatible with the organization’s desire to be competitive. In fact, we argue that humor is pretty important. It’s not just clowning around and having fun; it has meaningful impact on cohesiveness in the workplace and communication quality among workers. The ability to appreciate humor, the ability to laugh and make other people laugh actually has physiological effects on the body that cause people to become more bonded.”

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Migraines Cost Business Big Bucks, Too

Migraines take a toll on employers as well — up to $28.7 billion in annual direct and indirect healthcare costs can be attributed to migraine-related losses in productivity. Data presented at the 59th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) in Boston, Mass., reinforced the benefit for employers to acknowledge and assess the impact of migraine to potentially improve workplace productivity. The data also suggested workers consider potential treatment options that may help them prevent or reduce the frequency of migraine attacks.

The first of three analyses sponsored by Ortho-McNeil Neurologics, Inc. found that employers who actively screen for migraine may help identify those undiagnosed with the condition. The researchers also evaluated the total burden of migraine in the workplace and found that more than 50 percent of the migraine sufferers surveyed experienced moderate to severe disability due to the condition, often affecting job performance and leading to missed workdays. The third analysis examined the impact of preventive treatment on workers who suffer from frequent migraines and suggested that use of TOPAMAX (topiramate) may lead to fewer missed workdays and improve workplace productivity.

"Migraine can have a significant impact in the workplace," says study investigator Jennifer Lofland, project director, Department of Health Policy, Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University.

"If migraine can be effectively managed during the workday, it may lead to cost savings for employers over the long run. One approach patients may want to consider is taking a preventive medication to help reduce the frequency of migraine attacks and potentially lead to more migraine-free days."

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Survey Finds Strong Relationship Between Work-Life Balance and Ethical Behavior

Does work-life balance influence positive ethical behaviors at work? According to the findings of the "2007 Deloitte & Touche USA LLP Ethics & Workplace" survey, there is a strong relationship between the two factors.

The survey, conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of Deloitte & Touche USA also showed that the behaviors of management and direct supervisors, coupled with positive inforcement for ethical behavior, are the top factors for promoting ethical behavior in the workforce.

"In the competitive environment to attract and retain talent, it is imperative that employers provide employees with the means to attain a healthy work-life balance," says Sharon Allen, chairman atDeloitte & Touche USA. "This is not only key to job satisfaction, and retaining your most valued employees, but it is also critical in fostering an ethical workplace culture."

"When you think about it," Allen adds, "if someone invests all oftheir time and energy into their jobs, it may have the unintended consequence of making them dependent on their jobs for everything--including their sense of personal worth. This makes it even harder to make a good choice when faced with an ethical dilemma if they believe it will impact their professional success."

According to the survey, 91 percent of all employed adults agreed thatworkers are more likely to behave ethically at work when they have a goodwork-life balance. A combined 44 percent of workers cite high levels ofstress (28 percent), long hours (25 percent) and inflexible schedule (13 percent) as the causes of conflict between their work responsibilities and personal priorities, hence contributors to work-life imbalance.

Sixty percent of employed adults surveyed think that job dissatisfaction is a leading reason why people make unethical decisions atwork, and more than half of workers (55 percent) ranked a flexible workschedule among the top three factors leading to job satisfaction, second only to compensation (63 percent).

The survey also reveals the important impact management and supervisors have in promoting ethical workplace behaviors. Employed adults ranked the behavior of management (42 percent) and direct supervisors (36 percent) as the top two factors contributing to the promotion of an ethical workplace.

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Think That Conversation From Your Office Phone Is Private? Think Again

News reports thata Wal-Mart employee taped telephone conversations between a New York Times reporter and other Wal-Mart employees brings to light the practice of corporations who require employees to consent to company surveillance of calls made through company systems and equipment.

Wal-Mart officials have said the employee in the recently reported case was not authorized to make the recordings and adds that company policy restricts monitoring of employee communications to instances in which fraud or criminal activity is suspected, according to a Vanderbilt University statement.

However, that policy is not a requirement. "We know from recent surveys by groups such as the American Management Association and others that many firms do routinely monitor employee communications that employees might think are private, without cause of suspicion," says Bruce Barry, professor of management and sociology. "This means workers, especially in the private sector, work under the threat that their expressive activity is being watched, which has the effect of chilling free expression that might have nothing to do with the corporation, or that might involve whistleblowing regarding corporate misbehavior."

Barry has focused recent research on free expression in and around the workplace from legal, managerial, and ethical perspectives. He is the author of a soon-to-be-published book on the subject, Speechless: The Erosion of Free Expression in the American Workplace.

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