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Healthcare Training Institute - Quality Education since 1979

Section 25
Creating a Fun Work Environment

Table of Contents | NCCAP/NCTRC CE Booklet

Promote a Philosophy That the Workplace Should Be Fun

Wouldn’t it be great if employees came to work and felt their job was fun?  What better way to build a teamwork spirit in your facility than to create a fun atmosphere at work. 

Here are some ways facilities have created a fun atmosphere to facilitate a teamwork environment. 

St. Patrick’s Day Party—The employees dressed in green, and we provided green punch and shamrock cookies. We had contests centered around Irish trivia, “Mr. Potatohead” dec­orating with a real potato, Irish food judging by any staff who wanted to enter, and an area decorating contest for each nurse’s station. We always have all of the activities for the day, evening, and weekend shifts.  Oftentimes, it’s easy to exclude second and third shift.

Spring Break—We had a Spring Break party where each employee who wanted to participate had a box lid full of sand, and they created a sand scene. The scenes went from sand volleyball to “Baywatch.” We gave away beach balls and served non-alcoholic drinks with umbrellas in them. Beach attire was the dress for the party (within reason, of course!).

Babies - We had a baby picture contest for all the employees with the slogan “We all started somewhere.” There were quizzes they could do in the employee’s lounge on actors and actresses and their real name matchup and other activi­ties related to babies. We gave away prizes like big choco­late pacifiers from one of our gift catalogs.  Employees brought in pictures of themselves when they were younger.  The Activity Director posted numbered baby pictures on a bulletin board with the employees’ names at the bottom preceded by a letter.  Entry forms with the contestants name and numbers listed down the side to correspond with the photos followed by a blank to fill in the letter of the employee’s name.  After a week, the winning answers were announced at shift change, and boxes of Whitman’s sampler candy awarded to those with the highest number of correct answers.  Of course, residents had a separate contest, with their photos.

Halloween - On Halloween we have a costume judging contest, and this year we are having a haunted house for all to experience. There is a pumpkin carving contest for employees, along with plenty of pumpkin pie. The resident council acts as judge for the various contests.

Christmas - Around the Christmas holidays we have the “Tree of Lights” raf­fle for the Salvation Army. We solicit prizes from the local businesses and sell raffle tickets to the employees. We also have an ornament exchange to help decorate the residents’ Christmas tree. At the end of the season, those that brought an ornament can pick another ornament to take home.  To determine the order of selection, staff pull numbers out of a box.

Culture Change Darts - A magnetic dart board contest is another of my favorites. For CNAs who have transported residents and given residents activities, on Friday they get three darts to throw at a magnetic board. Prizes are awarded based on the highest number of points.  Prizes include extended breaks, soda, candy, etc.

Crazy Days - We also have crazy fun days which include crazy hat day, bad hair day, Easter bonnet day, theme days, and more.  One Activity Director stated, “We have each department from time to time cre­ate their own contests which have proven to be successful since it was their idea. It is a fun environment, and you never know what will be next!”  Some ideas are, dietary, nurse’s stations, housekeeping carts, maintenance room door, office reception area, etc, decorated for Halloween, Christmas, Valentine’s, Fourth of July, etc.  The key is that every department that participated got cupcakes.  True, initially the feeling was, “Isn’t this Activities’ job?”  But after one nurses’ station was decorated, the others followed suit.  A second key to success is approach each department head individually to explain creation of a team building environment to facilitate Culture Change implementation.  Often times, if the staff at the top of the organizational chain for each department are supportive, others will follow.

January—Super Bowl Party the Friday before the Super Bowl. Employees dress casually in the colors of their favorite team. At lunch breaks show NFL Blooper videos and snack on popcorn, peanuts, and pretzels.

April—Baseball is back! On opening day, employees dress in the colors of their favorite (or local) team. At lunch serve hot-dogs and chips.

September—Back to school! Encourage employees to dress as they did in high school. Bring in their high school pictures and vote on the most and least changed.

Tips For Implementation:
Use all the creativity of your staff to come up with creative, fun ideas. Several of the reasons for the successes of these activities, I think, are:
1) They provide the same activities for all the shifts. Sometimes facilities forget about the evening shifts and just do activities in the daytime, so part of the staff is left out of the spirit.
2) Ample prizes and treats are a must.  It always amazes me how happy a staff member is to receive a coupon worth an extra 5 minutes added to his or her break time.  Miniature candy bars make awesome treats for staff to bring home to their kids.  By far it’s much better to have a lot of winners receiving inexpensive items, than one employee receiving a $20 gift certificate. 
3) Don’t create a prize inflation trap for yourself.  In other words, if one month you award a $20 prize, and the next month they get a five cent miniature candy bar, you have unintentionally demotivated rather than motivated team building.  Avoid big prizes, stay with small ones, and be aware that staff will remember from activity to activity what precedent was previously established for recognition of a “win”.
4) If you have enough alert residents in your facility, consider using them to judge the contests, so they spread the spirit throughout the facility. Items to be judged should not have staff names on them, to avoid resident judging becoming a popularity contest.  However, for crazy hat day, when the concealing of identity is not possible, give everyone a treat.
5)As previously mentioned, this may encourage staff to come up with their own ideas, getting their creative juices going and involving them beyond “just doing their jobs.” Don’t forget to celebrate diverse holidays and occasions as well. 

Hold an Employee Appreciation Day

The Idea:
Having a special day twice a year to honor the entire staff is a great morale booster and helps to create team spirit.

On Appreciation Day each year employees, chosen by their colleagues, are honored with a Star Performer Award. To find out how these employees stand out from the crowd, the Activities department asked them:
• What did you accomplish this year that you are most proud of?

Their answers reveal the spirit of the award which was created to recognize outstanding performance. Many confided that passing their knowledge along to others was important to them as well as being patient, flexible, and organized. It is a wonderful tes­timonial to others in the organization striving for this award.

Tips For Implementation:
It is important to plan events for appreciation days that fit into your facility’s atmosphere but also stretch now and then to surprise and delight your employ­ees. IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO… Make sure that they are represented in the planning so there is buy-in, and it is truly received as “appreciation” and not “another boring facility thing I have to go to!”
- Kernberg Glanz, Barbara A.  “Care Packages for the Workplace:  Dozens of Little Things You Can Do to Regenerate Spirit at Work.”  McGraw-Hill