Former Phillie Phanatic now pushes fun at work
Too bad phormer Philly Phanatic Dave Raymond didn't have time to stop by Keystone Helicopter Corp. around noon yesterday. That's when about 100 of the Chester County company's 1,000 employees showed up on the front lawn dressed in Phillies red for a hot dog cookout.
Too bad phormer Philly Phanatic Dave Raymond didn't have time to stop by Keystone Helicopter Corp. around noon yesterday.
That's when about 100 of the Chester County company's 1,000 employees showed up on the front lawn dressed in Phillies red for a hot dog cookout.
Raymond would have approved.
These days Raymond, who was shaking his big furry green derriere all over the ballfield in 1980 when the Phils last won the World Series, preaches the gospel of fun on the job. And if the Phillies provide an excuse - that's all the better.
"Fun is powerful. It's valuable. It's not silly," said Raymond, whose new title is emperor of fun and games for the Fun Department, a Newark, Del., company that produces fun events for employees.
Having fun at work is especially important now, when the stock market is tanking and many workplaces are laying off employees right and left. "This is when you need it the most," Raymond said.
Wearing his Phillies shirt yesterday, Keystone president David Ford stopped by the party. Keystone, he said, doesn't need the Phillies as therapy. Business is great, orders are up, and the company is hiring.
The problem is that Keystone, near Coatesville, is growing so fast that people don't know each other, Ford said, recalling that when he started 13 years ago, the company employed 100.
"One of my biggest challenges is to retain the small-company feeling," he said.
It seemed to be working. "Is the keg on the way?" human resource manager Ed Tomko shouted jokingly to Bridget McAllister, another employee.
"She thought you said 'cake,' " accountant Tim Chopp answered, glancing over at the big Phillies sheet cake in a place of honor next to the baked beans and sauerkraut.
Hot dogs will also be on the menu Monday at Tozour-Traine, a 200-employee heating and air-conditioning contractor in King of Prussia. Stephanie Erhardt is a member of the company's "Fun Committee."
It used to be called the "Engaged Employee Committee," reflecting the business belief that emotionally committed employees are more productive.
"Everybody said, 'Do you have that many people being engaged at your company?' " she laughed. "So we had to change that up a little bit."
Erhardt said she will lead her coworkers in singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." They may not be the best singers, she said, but "we always try to have fun at work."
Good plan, said business psychologist Ross DeSimone, managing director of the Corporate Psychological Resource Center, in Royersford.
"I think every company should be doing it," he said. "When a team is doing well, it collectively raises the optimism of the region, whether you are a fan or not."
That can carry over to the workplace, he said. "The psychology of rallying around something, in this case the Phillies," leads to a sense of energy and cohesiveness.
Conversely, "if an employer doesn't capitalize on the Phils," employees may wonder why not, leading to anxiety and anger, he said.
Raymond says Phillies Phever gives employers a great opportunity to start a fun program, but they shouldn't stop there.
Yes, he would like it if companies hired his firm, but he said, it's not necessary. Any small, regular ritual - bringing in coffee, having employees bet on scores and then donating their bets to charity, awarding modest prizes, even a $10 gift card - can lead to a better workplace spirit.
But, he said, "you can't have dissension in the workplace, or no air-conditioning and it's 90 degrees, or you're not paying your people . . . then bust in with a couple of clowns and say 'Hooray, we're having fun.'
"You have to be a company that understands how valuable you're people are," he said.
By the way, how about them Fightin's? "I believe," Raymond said. "The Phils are going to win."
Now wouldn't that be fun?!