Some leaders still view fun as a distraction from work. The most successful organizations understand something different: people do their best work when they genuinely enjoy being part of the team. There is a difference between a workplace where employees have to be and a workplace where employees want to be. More often than not, that difference is found in the daily experience of work itself.
For generations, work was viewed as separate from leisure and enjoyment. It was where people went to earn a living, fulfill their responsibilities, and support their families. Employee satisfaction was rarely part of the conversation. But over time, organizations began to recognize that how people felt about work mattered. By the 1980s, employee relations strategies increasingly focused on fairness, well-being, and satisfaction. Holiday parties, recognition programs, and relaxed workplace policies may not have created belly laughs, but they represented a significant shift from the more rigid workplace cultures that came before them.
In the 30 years between the acquisition of the Golden Nugget and the opening of Wynn Las Vegas, Mr. Wynn focused on the proposition that happy employees make happy guests who drive profits. We believed that happy employees came from not just cool workspaces and fantastic staff dining rooms, but also from parties, picnics, volunteerism, and annual Employee of the Year recognition dinners that employees worked hard to be invited to as award winners.
Those activities were never really about entertainment. They were opportunities for employees to connect with one another, build relationships, and actively participate in something larger than their individual jobs. They created experiences that strengthened belonging and reinforced the idea that every employee mattered.
The culture was fair and respectful, and it led not just to feeling good about working there but getting involved. Caring. Doing more than what was required. And enjoying coming to work.
Zappos was the epitome of this concept. You could hear it in the voices of the people you connected with on the phone. It felt different from other companies. While not every organization can take it to that extent, every company, yours included, can adopt the countless things, big and small, that make employees enjoy work.
The organizations that receive the most effort from their people are usually the organizations their people enjoy belonging to. I challenge you to come up with one thing that will do that where you work today.
Anthony Hsieh (1973 – 2020): American Internet entrepreneur (LinkExchange), business executive (Zappos), and venture capitalist (Venture Frogs).
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