In Search of Fun at Work?

Dr Kathryn Owler is one of New Zealand's leading authorities on fun and wellbeing in the workplace. Kathryn is fascinated by the notion of having fun at work and is presently conducting research to explore how and when fun at work happens.

   Fun at Work Pic
Hear more about Dr Kathryn Owler's research

Kathryn's presentations are honest, light-hearted and informative. They include the story of her journey and her latest research findings. Current findings of her research indicate:

  • Fun is most likely to occur in trusting collegial environments
  • Fun is often experienced as a creative expression of self
  • Fun at work can have an impact on retention and engagement

To hear more about Dr Owler's research, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for your next conference, vision day or management meeting.

Published research on fun at work

Owler, K. 2008. ‘Fun at Work: Fad or Serious Business’. New Zealand Management Magazine, April.

Owler, K., Morrison, R. & B. Plester. 2010. ‘Does Fun Work? The Complexity of Promoting Fun at Work’, Journal of Management & Organisation, 16(3):338-352.

Owler, K. & Morrison, R. 2012. ‘A Place to be me, A Place Belong: Defining Fun at work in a New Zealand Call-Centre’. Submitted to the New Zealand Journal of Human Resources, In progress.

Owler, K. 2012. ‘Facilitating Internal Motivation: Impacts of the Life Code Matrix™ model on workers’, Submitted to the International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring.

Book: In Pursuit of ‘fun’ at work

Kathryn is currently writing a book about her on-going pursuit of fun at work. She is documenting her journey and discoveries in an honest and enlightening way with the goal of inspiring others in their own pursuit of fun in the workplace. This book is a work in progress and she aims to finish by year end 2012.

Testimonials

Kathryn, I wanted to take a moment to thank-you for the workshop last week. I found it very interesting & some of the comments you made have sat in the back of my mind to positive effect. I also want to complement you on creating your niche. Keep up the joyful work.

Dr Gillian Lewis, Associate Professor in Microbiology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland

Thank you again for your talk last night. It was a very timely reminder for many of us whose workplaces are going through change of some of the things we can do to ease the process. I particularly liked the concept of gratitude and that research shows that 'grateful' people are healthier and live longer - wonderful! I will make up my cube and keep it on my desk as a reminder, especially on those 'off' days. I thought the video clip was a great way to show the concept of 'bringing me to work' because it is all about keeping in your integrity.

Astrid van Holten, Acting Chair CDANZ (Career Development Association of New Zealand), Auckland