Perception or a Common Belief That Work

¶ … perception or a common belief that work and fun should are impossible to blend together. Older generations have passed down attitudes regarding work, which imply that fun cannot be had at work. After all everyone has heard the saying "all work and no play." Past generations have described work as a simple virtue and a duty. These two descriptions of work leave no room for the concept of fun within their interpretation. It is important to recognize that the work place is so much more nowadays. Work encompasses so much more for individuals and if one analyses and takes into account the great multitude and variety of different fields in the workforce, one will definitely come away with the conclusion that indeed fun can be had at work. Old attitudes, saying and notions regarding the compatibility of fun and work are not necessarily true, they now appear to be outdated; many managers and business leaders have now come to find out that it is indeed possible to have fun at work. These managers and business leaders have also come to find out that when employees have fun at work their morale increases; boosting productivity in the workforce.

Establishing an atmosphere where fun is encouraged can be very beneficial for a workplace. It is important to allow workers to truly be themselves and not be restrained by outdated notions and ideals regarding professionalism. Employees can have fun in the workplace when they enjoy what they do and when they feel a sense of camaraderie with other employees while at the same time knowing that their managers and supervisors are part of their network of support. Fun at work can be brought on by presenting rewarding challenges that assert the value of employees.

Having fun in the work place or productivity enhancing fun can be a valuable asset to a company. My current experiences with productivity enhancing have been varied and positive. The most important element required to have fun at work is the establishing of a positive and trusting atmosphere in the workplace. All employees are different and therefore have different preconceptions and definitions about what is fun. In order to allow employees to present and share their own varied definitions of having fun in the workplace one must allow them to actually be themselves without fear of rejection of retribution. According to Dave Hemsath "an environment that fosters fun is characterized by positive energy, high self-esteem and team spirit" (3). Having fun in the workplace is all about attitude, making a conscious effort to lighten up while responding and embracing humorous moments that occur in the work place go a long way toward establishing an environment where employees can have fun. This in turn increases productivity because workers feel motivated to contribute and be a part of an organization that is unique, important and rewarding.

Leaders at Kenexa are very successful when it comes to creating a productive performance management programs because of their ability to motivate employees by using techniques that are scientifically proven to work. One of these techniques is undoubtedly promoting that employees have fun at work. Kenexa's performance management programs motivate and allow employees of companies using their program to become fully engaged with the organization's philosophy. If an employee is fully engaged the company will profit not only financially but in other ways also. Being fully engaged is different from being happy because employees can be happy and perform well at a job, but when he or she is fully engaged they will go the extra mile. When employees go the extra mile they are exerting themselves and tapping into a reserve of potential that sometimes, they themselves did not realized they possessed. Kenexa leaders are successful at what they do because they use the latest technology and software to identify employ factors and techniques that are of great value when it comes to motivating employees. According to Kevin Kruse Kenexa "conducts employee engagement and opinion surveys for more than 10 million in over 150 countries each year" (13). When it comes to creating a productive performance management program Kenexa's leaders have no excuses because they have scientific data to back their chosen approaches. They have an excellent team that consists of statisticians, scientists and organizational and industrial psychologists. The combination of such a skilled team and the latest data processing software results in a positive plans that boost profits for companies that hire this human resources firm.

If I worked for Kenexa the talking points that I would use for my sales pitch would be few but significant. I would try to outline the most beneficial ways that Kenexa can help a company and its employees reach their potential. It would be important for me give the customer the background information regarding the correlation between human resources management and employee production and satisfaction. I would want to make it clear to the customer that it is very important that employees function in a manner that brings out their full potential.

One of my selling points would of course be the history of success that the company has, I would provide examples of the many success that Kenexa has had while being in business since 1987. Another thing I would mention is the very qualified and talented team that Kenexa has assembled. Kenexa's use of the latest software would also be a selling point that I would like to address with customer. It would be important for me to be able to assure the customer that Kenexa is working and employing the latest technology and software in order to help customers and their employees succeed. Surveys and data that prove that the approaches that Kenexa takes are successful, specifically with performance management programs would definitely be one of my selling points.

Another selling point that I would present is the fact that the very techniques and approaches that Kenexa sells to its customers are the very same techniques and approaches used internally within the company. I would point out what is stated by Krietner regarding the approaches of Kenexa within its own company in the book Organization Behavior, "Everything from recognition programs to in-house competitions to the corporate structure is constantly subject to employee feedback and everything is meant to boost involvement and loyalty, Kenexa draws a line straight from its employee's behavior to its success" (270). The most important selling point I would employ would be the financial factors that resulting from using Kenexa. To me this is the most important because what employers and business people really want to know if their company will benefit financially from a partnership with Kenexa.

I would rate Kenexa's potential for generation intrinsic motivation fairly high. Kenexa appears to employ and use the concepts and ideals that are part of Thomas's building blocks for intrinsic rewards and motivation, which are choice, competence, meaningfulness and progress. They employ choice by allowing and motivating workers to succeed and communicate freely in an atmosphere that allows them to exercise and reach their potential. They employ competence by using scientific studies and data that allows them to hire and retain the best and most qualified employees which will in turn help the company succeed. They employ meaningfulness by using psychological approaches that allow them to really get to know what motivates workers and what is important to them as people. This allows them to set their employees up for success. They employ progress by constantly challenging and rewarding their employees when they do succeed. They celebrate their achievements and reward them financially.