Office productivity and the World Cup DEATH MATCH

GOAL!!! The 2010 FIFA World Cup, the 19th FIFA World Cup, is held in South Africa this year, from 11 June to 11 July. As the World Cup progresses, soccer fans cheer their own countries as well as watch professional soccer, meanwhile a dark atmosphere engulfs office workplaces.

By referencing to the articles "How to manage your workflow around the England game", "Lower productivity, more sick leave expected during World Cup: HR experts" and "Some employers fear World Cup", a ghastly picture is drawn.

Yes, a death match between office productivity and the World Cup progresses, as employers combat falling productivity due to lack of sleep, distractions etc. due to the World Cup. The latter two articles show that employees would go the extra mile to watch 'live' matches rather than compromise for recorded matches. The first article, meanwhile, presents interesting tips to manage the workload better around the workplace, while making compromise for soccer fans.

The three articles present a global phenomenon: while matches may be shown in the afternoon in the United Kingdom, they are shown late at night in China and Singapore. Moreover, workplaces worldwide are facing decreasing office productivity due to employees being too engrossed with the matches.

While matches are increasingly intense on the soccer fields, another match is covertly happening: the death match between office productivity and the World Cup. While it is possible that office productivity may drop due to overflowing interest in the World Cup matches, the result can vary, based on the employer's actions.

History has taught us that unyielding to workers stubbornly may produce drastic results, examples easily found from strikes and riots all over the world, like the Air France strike. The World Cup creates displeasure, but only to a smaller extent. Being too rigid in the workplace makes employees feel that the employers do not care about their interests, and thus may create a barrier between the boss and the worker.

The first article gives us a few tools to work with, while employers must first feel empathetic towards employees' interest in the World Cup. Some employees are interested only in the World Cup since it only occurs once every four years, some bet on the matches, while others may watch it to discuss with their co-workers and friends. Accordingly, employers should use the World Cup as a platform to bond with workers.

Since the World Cup occurs at every hour possible, due to different time zones, late-night, mid-day and morning matches could be handled by introducing flexible work hours and lesser workload for this period. This should work for office workplaces, but as for the manufacturing industry employers may need to find part-time workers disinterested in soccer, while granting unpaid leave to a small number of employees who are die-hard fans.

Finally, office productivity and the World Cup may not necessarily be at a death match. They can coexist peacefully when handled properly, depending on what the employer thinks and do.

Now... time for some Mac and SO--CC--ER!!

By: Kwee Peng