World Cup hysteria is upon us once again. Thursday will see the opening tie take place between Brazil and Croatia at 1:00AM Dubai time. For much of the world, work productivity may take a small dip over the next month as millions of fans become glued to TVs, phones, and computers to watch the games. While restaurants and cafés across the Middle East may see an uptick in business, other employers are considering how to allow their employees to cheer their favorite teams with the least disruption to their day-to-day operations.
Indeed, with the kick off of the World Cup employers might experience a higher level of absenteeism, increased requests for annual and sick leave, and increased web traffic on their networks as employees keep track of events on dedicated websites and other social media sites.
With Ramadan just around the corner and a non-negligible time difference (timings for games are 8PM to 4AM in the UAE and Oman, and 7PM to 3AM in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon) employers must not be thrilled right now.
No matter how gloomy all this may sound, managers need not worry. In this blog post, the career experts at Bayt.com, list four ways to help you manage your employees’ productivity during the World Cup in the best way possible:
1. Offer flexibility
Employers can offer flexible work hours during the World Cup. For example, allow staff to vary break times; swap shifts; take work home; access radios or TVs during work or vary start and finish times. While there’s no legal requirement for employers to give employees time off to watch World Cup matches, a bit of give-and-take to accommodate employee requests could do a huge amount for employee morale. Help your employees reschedule their daily routine for matches they feel passionate about. With your support, employees can adjust, accommodate, and adapt their work and their lives without compromising their happiness or productivity.
2. Manage absenteeism
Companies with football fans among their workforce could see an increase in unplanned absences during the World Cup. So it’s important to turn unplanned absences into planned ones. This means creating policies that will encourage and support employees for requesting time off beforehand. This gives managers the ability to plan for that absence ahead of time and mitigate some of that productivity loss. For those businesses that already have an absence policy in place, it’s a good time to review it and remind employees what is expected of them and the disciplinary consequences of taking unauthorized leave. It is also advisable for employers to reiterate its policies on sick leave, annual leave and PC and internet use.
3. Get involved
Rather than accept the high level of absenteeism around such events, employers can tap into the excitement of the event by screening matches in the workplace, perhaps by turning conference rooms into screening rooms or allowing the radio on in the background if it’s not too disruptive. Another option to really get involved would be to allow employees to wear their football kit to work, take ‘power naps’, or run some competitions perhaps. Use it as a way of improving morale.
Staff productivity is highly dependent on emotions. You can properly transform these emotions during this time in a positive manner to increase productivity. Use the World Cup as an opportunity for team building and organize competitions and sweepstakes related to the World Cup where employees choose the team they think will win the World Cup. The winners could get free meals from everybody else who joined the pool, for example.
4. Adapt
Don’t plan any big meeting for a morning after a major sporting event, especially if it’s a late event. Instead, do your research beforehand and pick a more suitable date. It’s also worth bringing up the possibility of absences the week before an important game, so that you can establish who might be planning a late night and may be coming in late the next day.
The World Cup is an international sports event unlike any other. An estimated 715.1 million people watched the final match of the 2006 FIFA World Cup held in Germany and the 2010 event in South Africa was broadcasted to 204 countries on 245 different channels, according to the FIFA World Cup website. This year, and with Ramadan just around the corner, the World Cup could result in a loss of working hours and productivity. These four tips will help your business curb absenteeism and manage productivity during the World Cup while having fun and boosting employee morale.
Do you have other plans to maintain productivity levels at your workplace during the World Cup? Share them in the comments section below!
