Deborah Rees, Director of Consulting, talks to French website 'Planet Labor'. The article has been translated below.
When businesses are tempted by Peter Pan’s spirit
By Jessica Agache-Gorse
Giving employees candy, setting up slides and swings at work or solving a problem through a ‘serious game’ with the Lego construction game: these “fun” management methods, traditionally used by web companies and presented as a relevant answer to the expectations of generation Y, are spreading to traditional businesses, experts say. What could look like a series of recreational gadgets is actually hiding in-depth changes to the way leadership is addressed.
But it doesn’t have a name yet. “Carambar management?” proposes, amused, Benjamin Chaminade, the head of a company that looks at innovative management practices. For her part, Deborah Rees, Director of Innecto, the British consultancy firm, said, “I like the idea of talking about Peter Pan management. Indeed, having fun at work is one of the demands of the notorious generation Y. “Initially, this management system came from start-ups created by friends who were often roommates,” says Chaminade, who was one of the first to talk about generation Y. “The couch was the office, we worked during pizza night. But after the pioneers, when the company grows, you need to recruit employees, who are not friends and who don’t come out of passion for a project but for the money. All these fun management proposals are attempts to keep the initial start-up spirit alive.”
Google, pioneer in recreational management. Google, the key search engine created by two students and now and since become an internet giant with annual sales of $59.8 billion (€43.4bn) in 2013, is the example all give of a company where you have fun while you work. In Google Italy’s offices in Milan for instance, employees can challenge each other in a video games room or meditate and do yoga in another room. Other option: playing table football. Along the same lines, Peer 1 Hosting, the Canadian web hosting specialist, inaugurated last year in Southampton (UK), its EMEA headquarters with a movie theater and a popcorn machine, a slide to go down to reception or even swings. “With this setting, we wanted to create an atmosphere that inspires our team and makes everyone a little more willing to go to work. We know that, if someone finds the right job, in the right environment, with the right people, they will be more productive and want to take part in the company’s success,” explained Dominic Monkhouse, in charge of the region, at the opening. However, is going down a slide really what young employees are expecting today? Ernest, 25, worked for Ubisoft, the French videogame company, which has, in its Paris head offices, “swings and game consoles in the cafeteria,” he says. “It’s clearly the atmosphere in which you want to work,” he says. “You spend a lot of time at work and you want to feel like home. In an atmosphere like this, you’re more eager to go to work and, when you under too much stress, you know you can blow off steam, taking a break and playing videogames with a friend. I think the company has a duty to create an atmosphere like this.”
Fun management spreading to other sectors. “All companies, even the traditional ones, are looking into this kind of management,” declares Deborah Rees, whose firm worked on Gen Y, notably posting a video that deciphers recurring stereotypes about it. “For example, a construction company asked me to find some ideas in this spirit because they are trying to recruit young people. We mustn’t forget that the first management practices were developed for manufacturing business, and therefore encourage repetitive work processes. Now we must adapt them to a creative atmosphere. It’s an alternative approach because the Gen Y employee is different. He will not be loyal all his life to one company. Young people want flexibility and independence. That kind of enlivened atmosphere is attractive to Gen Y workers and that’s why it’s going to extend beyond web companies.” Marie Desplats, former HR manager, CEO of a recruitment firm and co-author of a book on managing Gen Y, confirms: “For about a year, this type of management has been arriving in the industry and I think this method is going to stick to face the Gen Y phenomenon. For instance, one of my clients, a very serious consultancy firm, has set up its offices in a flyboat with a table football and mini-golf course when you enter. We’re not in the Taylorist system anymore, where you asked employees to unplug their brains and follow the others. Gen Yers are able to give an opinion, they’re used to taking care of themselves. Obviously, all this follows a business objective and aims to stop the turnover hemorrhage. These youngsters are aware that they are going to have at least 6 different jobs throughout their career. So they need work to be fun, otherwise they leave. They’re under a lot of outside pressure and they need to compensate.”
Beware of copy/paste. Actually, increasing its salespeople’s loyalty is one of the objectives of Cath Kidston, the famous British home furnishings and related goods company, known for its floral prints and patterns, has recently decided to embrace fun management. Louisa Fryer, L&D Manager, says she did everything to make her training sessions more “attractive, fun and colorful.” “I think Google first understood that creativity comes from the child’s part that we have but it’s not a school environment that you’re cultivating. That’s why in my learning approach, I try to avoid school vocabulary like ‘you should do that.’ I believe this sort of attitude can stop creativity and innovation. It’s better when people feel they are contributing and engaged in their work, not always being told what to do by their managers, more like telling their manager what they want to do and sharing their improvement ideas.”
Nevertheless, the spread of this ‘web-like’ management style to other sectors is still subtle, consultants warn, reminding that copy/paste is a bad idea. “If everyone has a slide in their office because Google does it, it’s useless,” declared Benjamin Chaminade. “It only works if it’s part of the company’s values. For instance, a company built a soccer field but that was only open after working hours, which is pointless.” In Toulouse, Vincent Encontre, CEO of Intuilab, which specializes in intuitive interfaces, agrees, even though his company has the profile of a typical start-up. “We try to be authentic,” says this manager, whose 25 employees are Millenials who are now more worried about daycare than having a swing at work. “There’s no need to be excessive – handing out candy on the one hand and having questionable ethics on the other. We’re about content rather than appearances, so maybe it’s more cloistered than a firm in San Francisco but it’s our culture. At our Christmas dinner, some there was a fight with foam guns, and there was a ski trip, but that kind of thing only happens twice a year. If it’s too much it soon turns out to be ridiculous. Recently, I visited an office where, to look cool, all tables were shaped like ping-pong tables, except that, because of the triangle that holds these tables, employees couldn’t sit properly. As far as attracting employees, we’re in a field that brings enough fun in itself. I’d rather tell a youngster that we have 600 customers worldwide than convince them to come because there are free M&Ms at the office.”
Apparent cool that masks a high level of responsibility. The other major point to understand before introducing “Peter Pan management” in a company is that its free, regressive look doesn’t mean, as some would believe, that there are no more rules. “On the contrary, it requires that young people have real boundaries,” Chaminade points out. “Some believe this way of operating is cooler but it hides a very strong message of responsibility. You give someone a mission, saying, on the one hand, you have video games, table football, a gym… But, the boss trusts you and thinks you’re capable of doing your job without spending your day playing. However, this means that there is a lot of pressure on recruitment as you need to find people who can work in this context.” Thus, young employee Ernest confirms that, at Ubisoft, though the temptation to play videogames all day is great, “no one abuses it.”
More generally speaking, fun management also implies a new way of managing. “It’s a fun approach that works with trends. You need to be flexible, sometimes being the shoulder to cry on, sometimes the career coach. Be in friend mode, and then, you turn it off and things change. It’s more and more about soft management,” Marie Desplats analyzes. “For Millenials, this new way is normal, hierarchy is useless, it’s all about give and take. They need rules, but legitimate rules, that are explained, not imposed. The company must listen to their needs and agree, for instance, to the part-time request of someone who doesn’t have children. This softer, more fun methods, which may take the form of a game where employees go home with a box of crocodile-shaped candy, keeps motivation up and really slows turnover down.”
