In the spring of 2006, the single most popular course ever taught to undergraduates at Harvard University was Psychology 1504: Positive Psychology. The professor was a 36-year-old gentleman named Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar, a Ph.D. (Harvard) who had been featured on national media because of the huge enrollment of his classes. It was a historical moment. More than 855 students had enrolled in the class to study, well, how to be happier. The class size thoroughly trumped the former king of undergraduate enrollment at Harvard, Introduction to Economics, which “only” had a paltry 688 students that semester. To put it in perspective, more than 20 percent of the total Harvard undergraduate student body had attended Dr. Ben-Shahar’s lectures.
When I was going through the course offerings for the spring 2008 semester, I saw this Positive Psychology class and thought, “Hey! This looks like a great class. I want to learn to be happy. I want to learn how to enjoy myself a little bit more. I want to (in the rubric of Abraham Maslow) self-actualize!” Besides, one out of every five Harvard students couldn’t be wrong. Well, it turns out that the materials covered have multiple practical applications in the workplace as well as in my personal life.
In class we discussed topics like the measures of success and happiness, journaling, the value of introspection and reflection, and the importance of gratitude—all of which can be used in our personal as well as professional lives. But after I had heard the lecture on humor, I had an epiphany: Humor is vital for the gaming and hospitality industry, and especially for the casino industry. Not only is it good for enhancing our interpersonal relationships with our coworkers, but it is fundamental to improving our relationships with our guests, not to mention it helps us keep our sanity! But seriously, appropriate humor in the casino environment not only is good for business but is scientifically proven to be good for one’s health.
It Starts With a Smile
I recently attended a number of focus group sessions with customers of the casino I currently work for. One of the recurring themes the participants emphasized was that they thought we were “friendly.” As we discussed what friendly meant to them, it all seemed to surround the fact that our staff members smiled. When they greeted those guests, they did it with a friendly, sincere smile.
When interacting with guests, it is fundamentally important to smile. A smile says in a universal, unspoken language: “Welcome! We are happy you are here and we are so glad you chose us instead of our competitors. It is truly a pleasure to see you.” Taking a more relaxed attitude about trouble or problems allows us the room to be willing to smile, and thereby create a warm, entertaining environment that is a pleasure to work in or play in. And at the end of the day, isn’t that the message you want to give to all of your customers, either internal or external?
Humor in the Workplace?
There is significant evidence showing how important humor in the work place is. One study showed that “humor among colleagues enhances creativity, department cohesiveness and overall performance.” For me, a marketing executive, creativity and communication are key to my team’s success. I believe, for the most part, that marketing is the creative engine driving our properties. Department cohesiveness is also important to our operations. As professionals, we have to work together and with other departments every day; the true structure of the casino organizational chart is not a pyramid, but rather a series of interconnecting circles that rely on each other to get the job done. We have to be able to look at each other and communicate with each other. We have to be cohesive. If you have an overall good, humorous attitude—a “good feeling” about things—and you show it, you’re going to feel better and your coworkers are going to feel better, too.
Another study revealed that “using humor places the customer at ease, without any appreciable lengthening of the transaction.” When the guest initiated a humorous comment or situation and the customer service employee reacted appropriately to it, it helped alleviate many types of interpersonal tension, placed the customer at ease, and gave them a “better experience.” Now, I don’t expect you to be telling jokes to every customer who walks through the door or to start every interaction with a one-liner—personally, if I tried to do that, I would probably get fired in a heartbeat since I am not a very good joke teller. But when the customer makes a humorous comment, makes fun of a non-offensive situation, or jokes around, it’s OK to laugh if you find it funny.
Laughter is Contagious
One of my former bosses was always invited to parties and social events. Not because he was rich or powerful, or mixed a good martini, but because his laugh was a riot. It is hard to explain, but it was a deep, rolling, baritone chuckle that would put Santa to shame. The greatest thing, though, was that when he laughed, everyone in the room laughed, too. You couldn’t help yourself. And that goes to prove my point: Laughter, smiling and humor are contagious. Problem is, negative things can also be contagious. Wouldn’t you rather have a happy, smiley, friendly work and gaming environment than a sad, depressing one? Not only can negativity be contagious among those who work together, but it can also be transmitted to our guests. It’s better to smile and laugh with two guests, who then (hopefully) will smile and laugh with two other guests, and so on and so forth. A study showed that as a guest or customer who had a good interaction with a company’s customer service staff went out and interacted with other customers, it enhanced the overall experience of all of the customers. There was a ripple or domino effect from the customer service employee to the customer, and then from that customer to another customer—just like the winter office cold, but with positive results. Those results can be exponential in nature and it can all start with you.
Laughter Really is the Best Medicine
Now if you’re not convinced that smiling and having a good sense of humor is good for business, maybe you will at least be convinced that it is good for your health. Much research has been conducted on laughter and humor and its positive physiological effects on the human body. One doctor’s study, for example, showed that even small doses of humor benefit the immune system. This doctor studied bronchial asthma patients, exposing them to dust mites and then bringing them back to his office. There, he told the experimental group a joke and the control group a neutral story before exposing them to the mites again. He found that the experimental group, the group that heard the joke, flared up less after the second exposure to the mites. In other words, a joke staved off asthma attacks for those in the experimental group. I guess the control group, the “no-joke” group, did have attacks, which sounds kind of scary if you ask me. But it did prove a point: Humor can improve immunological responses. Other studies have shown that humor increases pain tolerance, lowers blood sugar in Type 2 diabetes patients, and even helps improve cardiovascular health. If you think about it, having a good sense of humor at work is not only beneficial for the company you work for, but for your personal well being, too.
Final Thought
I once heard a quote that sums up this entire article. I don’t know who originally said it, but when I heard it I thought, “That is exactly what it is all about in the casino business.” The quote goes: “People will forget what you say, but they will always remember how you made them feel.”
Chances are you will forget 99.9 percent of what I write here, but hopefully you will walk away and say, “Hey, you know what? I came out a little better than I was before I read that article.”
So during your next interaction with a guest on the floor or on the phone—even if you are just checking their points, giving them directions, explaining a promotion for the umpteenth time, or explaining why they did not qualify for a direct-mail offer when their neighbor did—keep in mind that what they’re going to remember is how you greeted them, how you talked to them, and how you made them feel. Even if it is a difficult situation, like when you have to tell them (gulp) no. How do we let that guest know that we still value their business even though there is nothing we can do at this time? How did we make that guest feel important? I’m not going to say that we are going to win in all situations, but we are going to try our hardest to make that guest feel good, and humor and a smile is a great way to start. Make them feel like it isn’t their fault. Make them feel like they are valued, because with the economy and gas prices, we really, really do value each and every one of them even more than ever. Every single customer counts. It’s OK to laugh and chuckle with them, because if you think about it, life is really funny—and even funnier here in the casino.
For more information on the studies referenced in this article, please click the following links:
www.livescience.com/strangenews/071107-office-laughs.html
www.gremler.net/personal/research/2000_Rapport_JSR.pdf
www.uni-duesseldorf.de/WWW/MathNat/Ruch/Texte/pain.pdf
www.drn.go.id/download/Emosi%20Positif%20dan%20Ekspresi%20Gen.pdf
www.avma.org/onlnews/javma/jun05/050615m.asp
Michael Broderick is the Director of Marketing for Lake of the Torches Resort Casino.
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