Who's Laughing Now?
Veterinary medicine is no laughing matter, but in this very emotionally-charged profession it’s great to cut loose every once in a while. Do you remember the last time you had a great laugh?
It feels like every muscle in the body experiences an intense work-out and then typically it all ends with one big exhale of breath. I wonder if we experience it enough in life, let alone the workplace?
During a recent conversation with a practice manager concerning employees and morale, she recalled the day she received a fax about laughter in the workplace:
Practice Manager: “I received this fax that stated, ‘Laughter results in a happier workplace.’ I read it out loud to the employees who were around the fax machine and one of the employees replied, ‘Well, how are you gonna make me happy?’ She was serious and had one hand on her hip and one eyebrow lifted.”
Question: “What was your response?”
Practice Manager: “I told her that management is not responsible for making her happy, however we support laughter and lighter moments in the workplace at the appropriate times. We want to provide a safe, healthy, and productive workplace so employees can do the best job possible and want to continue coming back to work.”
Question: “What was the outcome?”
Practice Manager: “Well, ultimately the employee left our practice. It wasn’t a direct result of the fax, but the fax incident was just one of many occasions which indicated that the employee didn’t fit in with our culture. She was a very efficient employee, but we rarely saw her smile and that posed problems with other team members and clients.”
Culture
I regularly visit many practices and one of the first things I notice when I enter the front door is the “vibe” of the practice. This is often first detected by the demeanor of the receptionist team: 1) was I greeted? 2) were they smiling? 3) did they make eye contact? and 4) were they friendly? When I experience a less than friendly overall tone from the team, I wonder if the team members were hired to match the culture or have the employees just…lost that lovin’ feeling?
According to the results of the 2008 Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, a high percentage of employees working in negative work environments report higher levels of stress and worry. They don’t experience happiness and enjoyment, which ultimately negatively affects overall well-being. The Well-Being Index finds that people who work in a negative work environment are less psychologically resilient and are more vulnerable to stress during economic downturns (Gallup).
Laughter in the Workplace
Clearly there are times when it is not appropriate to have laughter ringing throughout the practice. Team members always need to be aware of who is in the practice and why they are there. A client who is present for the euthanasia of their long-time family member or a patient who was rushed in due to an emergency, both present good examples of when laughter is not appropriate. Team members sometimes forget who’s on the other side of the door, so we want to stress awareness of who is in the practice at all times.
The top contributors of strong employee well-being: (Gallup)
1. Interesting work and development opportunities
2. Social time with family and friends
3. Daily exercise of thirty minutes or more
4. Frequent laughter
5. Overall job satisfaction
Is it the employer’s responsibility to make employees happy? No, but employers have an interest in the happiness of employees as performance and attitude are much more healthy. Imagine not only how other team members feel when working with happier team members, imagine the impact on the client?
At the End of the Day
It’s about balance. Although veterinary teams regularly deal with life and death and joy and sadness, nothing brings teams together like the bonding moments of smiles and laughter. At the end of the day, after recognizing the emotional roller coaster our teams experience, it’s a tremendous relief to know that a small dose of laughter can go a long way.
References
Gallup-Healthways, Well-Being Index, 2008.
