A. W. "Bill" Dahlberg,

the former CEO of Southern Company believes in having fun. At company

gatherings, he has impersonated soul singer JamesBrown, dressed as General

George Patton and arrived decked out as a fortune teller complete with

crystal ball.

Employees at PeopleSoft, Inc.

remember the day that CEO David Duffield danced the Macarena in front

of 500 happy co-workers.

Over at Odetics, Inc., they're

still talking about the time the chief technology officer took over duty

on the cafeteria cash register on St. Patrick's Day, dressed as a

leprechaun!

And then there's John

Briggs, director of production at Yahoo! In early 1997, Briggs promised

salespeople that he would have the Web directory's logo tattooed

on his posterior when the stock passed $50 a share.

To show he had kept his promise,

he modeled the new tattoo in front of everyone in the company.

Finally, there's something

called " Bowling with Turkeys."

Hotel tradition calls for employees

at the Hyatt Regency in Lexington, Kentucky to wrap a 12-pound frozen

turkey with electrical tape, then roll it 50 feet down the loading dock

and try to turn over as many wine bottle "bowling pins" as possible.

Winners get a pumpkin pie.

After a professional lifetime

identifying what it takes to transform ordinary organizations into extraordinary

organizations, I know work can be awfully boring-unless someone at

the top shakes everything up!

The leaders and organizations

I just mentioned know it is important to engage, energize and involve

people about their work. You need to lighten up and have some fun every

now and then.

It isn't hard to dress

up as a leprechaun, sponsor a company contest, ask people for their ideas

and maybe even throw a party. And the payoff for an energized work environment

is enormous: improved retention and productivity and reduced turnover.

We can't merely employ

someone's hands and tell them to leave their hearts, minds and spirits

at home. Today's workers are looking for many things in an employment

relationship. They want a meaningful partnership with their workplaces.

Workplaces that provide meaning and purpose and are fun, engaging, and

energizing will enjoy greater retention, higher productivity and lower

turnover.

Remember Abraham Maslow? His

well-known hierarchy of needs theory said all people strive for self-actualization,

which is the need for innovation and creativity. When people can reach

this higher level on the job they gain greater personal fulfillment, which

improves job satisfaction. Yes, you still have to pay well, but an organization

can create an energized, "higher calling" environment will have

higher retention and greater productivity.

Jobs and work environments

using high-involvement activities provide people with autonomy, learning

opportunities, meaning, purpose, and a way to grow and get ahead-not

to mention a host of benefits to the company as well. High-involvement

activities include, but are not limited to, the use of self-managing teams,

information sharing, shared goal setting, suggestion programs, brainstorming

sessions, Kaizen, idea campaigns and motivational meetings.

As Abraham Maslow indicated

in his theory of motivation, the more ability and freedom people have

to use their thinking ability the more satisfaction they receive on the

job, and the higher they move up the pyramid of needs. People do not respond

favorably to overly restrictive work environments. High-involvement activities

help people reach higher levels. These places engage and energize their

workforce.

Gregory P. Smith shows businesses

how to build productive and profitable work environments that attract,

keep and motivate their workforce. He is the author of the book, "Here

Today Here Tomorrow: Transforming Your Workforce from High-Turnover to

High-Retention ." He speaks at conferences, conducts management training

and is the president of a management consulting firm called Chart Your

Course International located in Conyers. Phone him at 770-860-9464. More

articles are available: https://www.chartcourse.com

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