The survey was developed by Accountemps, the world's first and largest specialized staffing service for temporary accounting, finance and bookkeeping professionals. It was conducted by an independent research firm and is based on interviews with more than 1,400 CFOs from a stratified random sample of U.S. companies with 20 or more employees.
CFOs were asked, "How important is an employee's sense of humor in him or her fitting into your company's corporate culture?" Their responses:
|
Very important |
22% |
|
Somewhat important |
57% |
|
Not at all important |
20% |
|
Don't know/no answer |
1% |
|
|
100% |
"Sometimes, a little levity goes a long way toward building rapport among colleagues and diffusing workplace tension," said Max Messmer, chairman of Accountemps and author of Managing Your Career For Dummies® (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.). "All work and no play can erode employee morale."
Messmer added, "Job candidates should let their personality shine when meeting prospective employers. The interview is no place for a standup comedy routine, but it is the right time to show hiring managers you are approachable and will be easy to work with."
Additional Commentary from Accountemps Chairman Max Messmer
"Managers with a good sense of humor will be viewed as more approachable by their employees. Levity by those at the top can make the office less stressful and even more fun, which can help improve productivity, morale and retention.
"Fostering a culture where employees have a chance to build their rapport with each other and work together to alleviate stress is attractive to those outside of the organization as well. Firms with a reputation for a healthy corporate culture are better able to attract new top performers and keep their best people on board.”
Messmer offered five tips for managers to maintain their sense of humor and help their teams:
- Don’t take yourself too seriously. If you fumble over your words or make a harmless mistake, it’s OK to laugh at yourself.
- Provide an opportunity for casual conversations. Whether it’s at an offsite event or in the few minutes before a staff meeting, give employees a chance to talk about their interests outside of work. This will help them strengthen their bonds and, ultimately, productivity.
- Share a funny story. Kick off meetings with an entertaining anecdote to put everyone at ease prior to the discussion. If you and your employees enjoy the same sit-com, don’t hesitate to talk about the latest episode.
- Be in on the joke. If somebody else shares a funny story, don’t be afraid to laugh. You’ll show you’re part of the team.
- Keep it clean. Discussing inappropriate material or being sarcastic or disrespectful will make people uncomfortable and sour your working relationships.
About the Survey
The national study was developed by Accountemps. It was conducted by an independent research firm and is based on more than 1,400 telephone interviews with CFOs from a random sample of U.S. companies with 20 or more employees. For the study to be statistically representative and ensure that companies from all segments are represented, the sample was stratified by geographic region and number of employees. The results were then weighted to reflect the proper proportion of employees within each region.
