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Of brackets and productivity – and treating workers as humans
Here we go again. The annual March ritual. But I’m not talking about basketball. I’m talking about the regular chest beating of how the NCAA basketball tournament hurts productivity. Every year we hear a slew of stories about the impact. Challenger, Gray & Christmas annual estimate for this year is a cost of $1.9 billion. And that is the number that gets all the news play.
However, that estimate assumes that workers are simply time punching machines. Yes, there are hours lost. But there are also benefits gained. An article in the Washington Post states “Don’t worry about the March Madness productivity loss too much:”
A survey released March 5 of 300 senior leaders by OfficeTeam, a staffing service for administrative professionals, found that just 11 percent of managers think the NCAA tournament has a negative impact on productivity, with 27 percent saying it has a positive one and 62 percent saying it has no impact. Its survey also found that 33 percent of managers said March Madness has a positive impact on morale. That’s why some companies go so far as to embrace the tournament openly, with friendly competitions designed to boost sales, benefits that give days off during the tournament, or flexibility to watch while working.
The Guardian offers “Eight ways employers can make the most of March Madness“:
March Madness can boost morale and create a better work environment, and ignoring it isn’t a good option. The good news is that finding creative solutions for a legally safe March and April is ultimately easier than finding a wining bracket.
In fact, John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas actually recommends that companies take advantage of the activity. As the press release states:
“This tournament and the betting and bracket-building that come with it are ingrained in the national fabric. Trying to stop it would be like trying to stop a freight train. When even the president finds time to fill out a bracket, an employer would be hard pressed to come up with a legitimate reason to clamp down on March Madness activities,” said Challenger.
“Any attempt to do so would most likely result in long-term damage to employee morale, loyalty and engagement that would far outweigh any short-term benefit to productivity.
“If anything, employers should embrace March Madness and seek ways to it as a tool to boost employee morale and engagement. For example, creating a company-wide office pool that is free to enter and offers a free lunch or gift card for the winner could help build camaraderie and encourage interaction among co-workers who may not typically cross paths,” he concluded.
Maybe next year Challenger can try to estimate the benefits to the economy of companies using March Madness to boost productivity during the rest of the year.
Source: http://www.athenaalliance.org/weblog/archives/2015/03/of-brackets-and-productivity---and-treating-worker.html
