'Fish!' author tells Oklahoma ethics group to play, be present and make customers' days

Kirk Purnell, general manager of Ben E. Keith food distributors in Edmond, brought several of his customers to Thursday's event, which doubled as the 10th anniversary of OKEthics' founding. Purnell said he visited the Seattle market on a business trip 12 years ago.

“It was easy to see that having fun was good for business, and that happy employees take better care of customers,” he said.

Ideal Homes of Norman so believes in “Fish!” that the company uses its training video and handouts at all new hire orientations, human resources coordinator Linda Streun said.

“One of our core values is relationships — through respect, empathy, courtesy and responsiveness, so new hires are able to relate this core value when we begin our discussions on how they could make people's day, choose their attitudes and have fun at work,” she said.

Ideal Homes throughout the year plans several company functions, focused on employees having fun, Streun said. The builder just hosted chili cook-off and dessert contests earlier this month.