Fun: A strategy for employee empowerment?

There's a difference between employee engagement and empowerment. The former refers to the degree to which your workers are satisfied and involved in a process, while the latter refers more so to their ability to bootstrap their role within an organization and forge growth for both their careers and their employers.

So what drives empowerment? If the answer were simple the question wouldn't have been asked. But clearly, methods vary, so it's important to take inspiration from other success stories. In a recent article for Business Insider, Keepskor founder and CEO Tristan Louis argues that focusing on fun and enjoyment in the workplace is particularly effective when it comes to empowering employees.

Specifically, he cites childhood as an example. Household chores, although forms of work, are often fun or enjoyable activities for kids – not because of their exhilarating nature, but because of the responsibility entailed. And the same attitude applies to professional environments.

“As a kid, the work you're given around the house is empowering: It's something big people do and thus something that must be important,” Louis writes. “The perception of the impact of the work by a kid is that he/she has contributed something important, and the simple reward of appreciation … creates the necessary validation to empower the kid.”