“Didja Hear the One About ...”

Workplace humor is invaluable, but also fraught with risk. Here’s how to make your team members laugh, without giving offense or putting your job at risk.

Humor in today’s workplace isn’t always a laughing matter. In fact, the jokes that used to make you a hero around the office or in the field just might earn you a disciplinary hearing — or even a pink slip.

“The demographics in the workforce have changed dramatically,” observes John Okamoto, the chief administrative officer for the Port of Seattle. “There are more women, more people of color, and more sen-sitivity toward gender and sexual orientation than there was, say, 10 years ago. iii“Further- more, if you look at the overall demographic trends, employers are fighting hard to attract and retain good employees. If you want to create an attractive workplace, you’ve got to be sensitive to those issues.”

No humor allowed?

There’s more to consider than just employees’ hurt feelings and offended sensibilities. In today’s litigious society, jokes that are perceived as harassment or discrimination can result in costly legal action. “You could be on the hook for huge financial penalties,” Okamoto observes. “It hurts your organization not only on the work side, but on the pocketbook side, too.”

Okamoto’s background makes him knowledgeable about the issue. During a public-sector career that spans more than 30 years, he has worked in human resources, public affairs, and labor and government relations. Along the way, he’s had plenty of experience with humor, good and bad. As a third-generation Japanese-American, he knows full well the sting inflicted by ethnic jokes.

So what’s the solution? A mirthless workplace where employees tiptoe on eggshells, afraid that even the most innocuous joke will land them in the personnel director’s office? Not at all.

“I’m not promoting a sterile work environment,” Okamoto says. “If anything, I enjoy humor in the workplace. It’s what makes coming to work fun. Appropriate humor can reduce stress and pressure and help a team work more productively by breaking the ice and working through interpersonal issues.”

Scientific research backs up his assertions. Studies show that humor in everyday work life can reduce absenteeism and employee turnover. Furthermore, laughter actually increases the production of endorphins, the so-called “happiness hormones,” stimulates the immune system, and reduces stress hormones.

Often in his career, Okamoto has seen truth in the adage that “laughter is the best medicine.” Labor negotiations are a case in point. “When tempers start to flare, a well-placed joke can calm people down and get things back on track,” he notes.

“But there’s always the risk of humor backfiring. I’ve used humor in some negotiations where others didn’t feel I was taking things seriously enough. I may have started out too early with humor, and it set back the discussions. Timing is everything. You have to get a good read on the situation.”

Things to Consider

Before employees take a stab at being funny, they should consider three things. First of all, weigh whether the joke is derogatory to someone’s race, nationality, gender, religion, age, disability or sexual orientation. All these are protected classes under federal law, Okamoto notes.

Second, if humor goes awry, good intentions are no defense. “The person telling a joke usually doesn’t intend it to be offensive,” Okamoto notes. “But it’s not about intent. It’s about how the joke is perceived. From my experience, that’s something many people don’t understand.”

Finally, employees should know the person or audience well enough to realize what they might find offensive. “Everyone takes humor differently,” Okamoto says. “If you don’t know someone very well, you need to be much more cautious.”

Does that mean if you know someone won’t be offended by an ethnic joke, you can feel free to tell it? Not really. “The legal arena would say no,” Okamoto observes. “If you tell a joke that’s offensive, and it gets repeated, it can still create a hostile work environment.”

For example, an employee of Polish descent might feel comfortable telling a “Polack joke” to fellow Poles in the department. But if telling that joke makes those fellow employees feel like it’s OK to tell it again, this time with people of various ethnic heritages present, it could spell big trouble.

Moreover, most employees, and many employers, don’t realize that the same rules that govern humor in the workplace itself also apply at offsite organization functions, such as department picnics, holiday parties and celebrations.

Self-humor is safest

“Some companies believe that if the event is held offsite, and it’s not during work hours, that there’s no exposure legally,” Okamoto explains. “But case law says there is.” He cites a conference where the host organization hired impersonators of Rat Pack stars such as Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. They proceeded to tell late-1950s and early-1960s ethnic, religious and racial jokes that offended some attendees.

The safest joke around, and sometimes the most effective, is anything that makes fun of yourself. “With the title I have and the organizational role I play, employees often feel intimidated around me,” Okamoto says. “But if I can present myself in a humorous light, it gives people permission to view me as a human being, not just a suit.”

In some situations, spontaneous humor can be a huge risk, but reap big rewards. Okamoto recalls his first day on a new job when a group of African-American employees gathered in his office to demand changes to what they viewed as unfair hiring, training and promotion practices — a smoldering issue that Okamoto knew nothing about.

“I felt very defensive because I didn’t know the background of the situation,” he says. “The leader of the group cited example after example of discrimination, and he said the only way to get ahead in the organization was to sleep with your boss.

“Things escalated further, and the leader then asked me what I was going to do about things. I was stunned at their anger and frustration, and felt I was really being put on the spot. So without thinking, I said, ‘One thing I can assure you is I’ll never sleep with you.’ After a moment of total silence, everyone started laughing hysterically.

“It was a huge risk, said without any thought. If there would have been a gay employee present who thought I was making fun of homosexuals, it could have really erupted into something major. But after the joke, we had a very good discussion about how we’d work together to remedy the situation. It was very constructive; the humor brought things down to a collegiate and collaborative level.”

You might not be so lucky with your next punch line. So think twice the next time you try to be funny around the workplace. But also remember that humor in good taste can be the spice of work life.



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