TY - JOUR
T1 - Does Fun Pay? The Impact of Workplace Fun on Employee Turnover and Performance
AU - Tews, Michael J.
AU - Michel, John W.
AU - Stafford, Kathryn
N1 - Funding Information:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was supported by a grant through the Caesars Hospitality Research Center at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
PY - 2013/11
Y1 - 2013/11
N2 - This research demonstrated that fun in the workplace has both beneficial and potentially negative effects on employees in the hospitality industry. This research focused on the impact of fun activities and manager support for fun on employee performance and turnover. Fun activities include such endeavors as productivity contests, social events, teambuilding activities, and public celebrations of work achievements and personal milestones. In turn, manager support for fun reflects whether managers in general allow and encourage employees to have fun on the job. With a sample of 195 servers from a national restaurant chain, we found that fun activities had a favorable impact on performance and manager support for fun had a favorable impact in reducing turnover. Interestingly, manager support for fun had an adverse impact on performance. Thus, whether fun ultimately is beneficial depends on the type of fun and the desired human resource outcome.
AB - This research demonstrated that fun in the workplace has both beneficial and potentially negative effects on employees in the hospitality industry. This research focused on the impact of fun activities and manager support for fun on employee performance and turnover. Fun activities include such endeavors as productivity contests, social events, teambuilding activities, and public celebrations of work achievements and personal milestones. In turn, manager support for fun reflects whether managers in general allow and encourage employees to have fun on the job. With a sample of 195 servers from a national restaurant chain, we found that fun activities had a favorable impact on performance and manager support for fun had a favorable impact in reducing turnover. Interestingly, manager support for fun had an adverse impact on performance. Thus, whether fun ultimately is beneficial depends on the type of fun and the desired human resource outcome.
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U2 - 10.1177/1938965513505355
DO - 10.1177/1938965513505355
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84886407707
SN - 1938-9655
VL - 54
SP - 370
EP - 382
JO - Cornell Hospitality Quarterly
JF - Cornell Hospitality Quarterly
IS - 4
ER -