UK
executives place less importance on fun improving staff’s creativity than their
international counterparts.
A
survey of nearly 850 company executives showed that having fun was the 11th out
of a list of 12 priorities for getting staff to be more creative.
Managers
in Latin America give a much higher priority to making work fun, research for
the Institute of Managers found.
In
Japan pranks are part of the corporate culture, including having punch bags of
the boss on the shop floor.
However,
UK bosses believe that the best way to improve creativity is to work closely
with suppliers and customers and by communicating success.
The
report’s author Professor Amin Rajan believes that the UK’s attitude to fun at
work is due to increasing pressures, according to website Ananova.
"Given
that work takes up at least a third of most peoples lives, it is important that
they enjoy it," said Mary Chapman, director general of the IoM.
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"Contrived
fun that is imposed is not the answer, but having a sense of fun, while getting
on with the job in hand, could be a way of lightening the load and staving off
the blues, as well as enhancing creativity."
