The impact of implementing fun activities on employee's engagement: The case of Lebanese financial institutions

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the effect of fun activities on employee engagement at Lebanese financial institutions.

Design/methodology/approach

The study follows the qualitative process through semistructured interviews. In total, five managers and 20 employees within five different financial institutions and banks were interviewed. The data were first analyzed using the coding technique and then “quantitized” data were analyzed using SPSS software.

Findings

The findings convey the factors that can influence employee engagement, the measurements associated with employee engagement, the advantages and disadvantages of fun activities and the types of fun activities applied and its inhibitors. The findings demonstrate that workplace fun can help attain organizational goals through increasing the level of engagement regardless of the financial satisfaction.

Research limitations/implications

The results stress on the importance of implementing fun activities and highlight the importance of implementing such activities and their effects on the employees’ overall engagement and productivity, as well as the various ways of applying those activities in Lebanese financial institutions.

Practical implications

The findings assist managers in creating a fun workplace environment that enhances employee engagement, which in return will help organizations attain their goals.

Social implications

Understanding the work–fun concept in Lebanese financial institutions may encourage potential candidates to apply for a job within these institutions and be the reason to encourage other organizations to adopt such activities as well. Such development will help improve the quality of candidates and employees, which will reflect better institutional income.

Originality/value

This paper offers new insights and perspectives regarding fun activities and their relationship with employee engagement in Lebanese financial institutions. It introduces a new idea in Lebanese businesses as well as sheds light on the importance of adopting such activities to enhance employee engagement that creates organizational competitive advantage as reached in the results.

Citation

Sakr, C., Zotti, R. and Khaddage-Soboh, N. (2019), "The impact of implementing fun activities on employee's engagement: The case of Lebanese financial institutions", International Journal of Organizational Analysis, Vol. 27 No. 5, pp. 1317-1335. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOA-09-2018-1527