Can the mission of “having fun” really work?

having fun

Motorcars Group Cleveland has been judged the No. 1 best place to work among mid-sized companies in Northeast Ohio.

This is the second consecutive year that Motorcars has been one of the top ranked. The dealership opened its doors in 1973 and has always been a little different from competitors, partially because of where it is located, and more recently because its owner has embraced a simple but radical workplace philosophy: Have fun.

Chuck Gile, who began as the general manager of Motorcars in 1978, is an advocate of the Fish! philosophy.

Fish! is a high-energy management technique its developer saw happening among workers at the Pike Place Fish Market, an-open air fish market in Seattle, where the focus on “having fun” lead to happier workers and better service to customers.

Gile not only believes in the philosophy explained in the 100-page book, “Fish: A Proven Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results, he practices it and gives a copy of the book to any employee who wants it.

“There are four principles: Choose a positive attitude, be in the present, have fun and make someone’s day,” he said. “We live by that philosophy, that you have got to have fun.

“Attitude is the only thing you can control. Why go through life with a bad attitude? When you are with a customer or with other employees, you’ve go to BE there to listen to what they have to say.”

Gile summed up his enthusiasm this way: “To have all of your employees buy into that philosophy sure makes a difference. People have fun and enjoy what they are doing. And they have a better attitude. And it goes back to the customers. We have more customers tell us the reason they come here is that our employees are so happy.”

 

 

Read the full article from Cleveland.com: https://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2017/06/motorcars_group_scores_highest.html