Job: Why having too much fun at work can be dangerous

At the company headquarters of the Foursquare recommendation service, employees can paddle around table tennis, while Google in Zurich has large slides for fun. Football tables are standard furniture in many offices. The idea is simple: employees should feel comfortable at work, they should have fun with colleagues in their professional environment. Because those who enjoy their work work better.

Studies also confirm this. In a 2014 study, the personnel service provider Manpower found that an attractive design of the workplace is important for every third employee, 77 percent made their work more fun when they get on well with colleagues and the boss, and 45 percent was also important after work to have a good rapport with teammates.

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Increase productivity: that’s why work should be fun

Colleagues as best friends, the workplace as a playground and work as constant fun – that’s all nonsense, of course. Of course, companies offer the chill-out zones and giant slides with one ulterior motive: Those who like their workplace work better – but maybe longer. Those who are friends with their colleagues take work topics with them to their after-work beer. “In the past, employees used to do sports after work or meet friends in the pub. Today this takes place in everyday work,” says business researcher André Spicer about “”. “This delimitation means that people spend more and more time in the office and with colleagues. That is at the expense of friends and family.”

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The expert warns: Colleagues are not friends – you would notice that especially when you leave the company. “So there is a risk that these people’s social lives will get poorer. Just imagine that someone then loses his or her Workplace. Then the social contacts are gone. In addition, it is also bad for your career to spend so many hours in the office, “said the expert. “We found out that it is often precisely the people who advance professionally who have the most contacts outside of work.”

Studies show the dilemma: Those who spend too much time on their work are less productive overall – and that in turn is reflected in falling motivation. “Studies that attempted to establish a relationship between fun and productivity came to similar conclusions that having fun at work has very little or nothing to do with high productivity,”. He warns against focusing too much on the job. Because the romantic image that employers build is not real. Those who honestly love their job should be aware that the job rarely gives that back.

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A fulfilling job

It is clear that people still need an emotional connection to their workplace. But it should be real: a sense of duty, the feeling of doing what you do best or the disgraceful high salary are actually motivation enough. Neither foosball tables nor giant slides would increase motivation or happiness over a longer period of time – that can only be a fulfilling activity, says Spicer.

Less skiing around the workplace and more concentration on the work itself – but this is where companies make a mistake. “Today, many workplaces are in open-plan offices, where you are constantly distracted from your work. Then there are the infinite number of e-mails that you should answer, and if you can work in peace, you have to go to Happiness training. A lot would be achieved if companies set up their day-to-day work in such a way that employees could simply concentrate on their work, “says Spicer”. “A good working day looks like this: You come to the office in the morning, find the peace and quiet to concentrate on your tasks, go home in the evening and feel free.”