Companies which embrace costumes and playing dress-up in the workplace reap the benefits of a happier workforce, according to a survey by US employment culture company O.C. Tanner.
The research, which collated responses from 953 full-time adult employees, found that 45% of respondents were allowed to dress up and wear costumes for Halloween and at other seasonal times of the year. Some 20% wee unsure of their official company policy, while 35% said it was an outright no.
However, a not-insignificant 61% of those surveyed believed that workforces should be able to join in with the fun.
The survey also found that employees who are able to dress up at work show higher engagement than those who are not. For example, 73% of those who can dress up at work are highly motivated to contribute to the success of the company they work for, compared to 58% of those who are not encouraged to dress up.
These figures stack up across the board, with respondents who are able to wear costumes to work generally having more positive feelings toward their company than those who cannot.
For example, 68% of those who can dress up are proud to tell others who they work for (compared to 58%), 65% would recommend their company as a good place to work (vs 49%) and 73% fully support their company values (vs 58%).
O.C. Tanner’s vice president Gary Beckstrand told CNBC that Halloween is indicative of a festive time, which gives employees a chance to ‘gather and be social’, which helps boost workplace morale
“As [millennial workers] increasingly blur the line between work and life, creating opportunities to really socialise in the workplace is important,” says Gary, who believes that encouraging employees to have fun tells them that; “you trust them to use good judgment, have fun within the work guidelines and that you want them to express their individuality.”
