World Cup sickies
With England and Wales playing today at the (controversial) World Cup, we asked a selection of HRs and small business owners for their views on how employers should deal with staff wanting time off, or being distracted.
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9 responses from the Newspage communityCopy all
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There is no getting away from the World Cup so employers shouldn't try and pretend it's not there. We encourage business owners to be proactive and make some decisions, as well as to be transparent with their staff about it. If you can provide flexibility and ask staff to make up the time if they watch it, that's usually a good first step. Equally, encourage staff to take annual leave if they know they want to watch a specific match that is a week or two away, and make suitable arrangements if it is going to impact productivity and work. Whatever you do, make sure your employees know the consequences of not being open and honest. Remember, flexibility goes both ways: if you are flexible with your staff, you can ask for it back when you need it in your business.
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For me, the most memorable World Cup moment was in the 90s, and it didn't involve Gazza. The inimitable Des Lynam introduced an England match by looking into the camera and saying: "Hello. Shouldn't you be at work?" Let's face it, football is ingrained in this country's culture. I think bosses should adopt a degree of flexibility at this time and maybe broadcast matches on the radio or TV where possible. The "Be Nice, Be Reasonable" motto is a good one to adopt here.
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My team are WFH veterans, who understand that I pay them for work done, not hours clocked. I couldn't care less if they're watching football, playing golf, or building the Taj Mahal out of Lego, as long as they get the results I'm paying them for. Not everyone has the self-discipline to work from home successfully, but for those who do, the World Cup will be just another reason to embrace the flexibility that WFH allows, and still do their best work, albeit at a different time.
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The World Cup is the perfect opportunity for businesses to look long and hard at the way they operate. A business whose organisational model is 'outcome-based' won't have any issues accommodating those workers who wish to watch World Cup matches. For those businesses that still operate on time-based contracts, allowing a few late notice holidays, putting up a big screen in the office or quickly arranging split shifts, will be the only way to try to avoid an epidemic of sick days.
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From a business perspective, it’s better to embrace the World Cup and embed it into your culture than try to ignore it. Run a sweepstake, have a lunch time conversation about the controversies in Qatar, put a screen up in the office. Those who want to be involved can and those who aren’t interested don’t need to be. First game today and we’ve told the team if they get into the office an hour earlier they can have an extended lunch to watch the game. Our only other rule is don’t come back half cut, but the World Cup only comes around once every four years so let’s enjoy it.
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My children’s’ school have entirely rearranged the school day today, presumably in an attempt to keep their absenteeism figures in the correct percentage range for OFSTED. Recording the game and watching it just a few hours later is entirely within the scope of our technological abilities, so I can’t fathom why we shouldn’t be expecting people to grow up a bit and defer their gratification to the evening. This goes for employees as well as schoolchildren.
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We always try to embrace events such as the World Cup, Olympics and other big tournaments and allow people the opportunity to watch, either together as a company or with their friends and family. This takes away all of the sickies and other shenanigans and actually improves morale and productivity within the group.
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If you want to enhance employee engagement then a pragmatic approach should be taken. Understand that staff will want to watch, so have the games running on screens in your offices, and expect staff to watch it at home. In return, it's not unfair to expect to be told who will not be available. So long as the work is completed at the right time and to the right standard, where's the beef? In customer-facing environments you need to make sure that your customer experience is not compromised, but, again, if you are flexible as a business your staff will be also. Watch and enjoy and trust your employees to continue their obligations to your firm.
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As recently as the Euros, I have witnessed some seriously hungover employees attend for work the day after a big match. If employees are unfit for work, employers cannot turn a blind eye and must take action, especially if there are other factors such as driving or using heavy machinery involved. Remind employees of your expectations prior to the games. Ideally, reschedule working times if you can.