How the world cup could affect your business

 

The World Cup kicks off tomorrow and it’s probably going to have some impact on businesses up and down the country. If you’re a business owner it’sa good to have put a bit of thought into what’s going to happen over the course of the next month. Furthermore you might also be able to use World Cup as an opportunity to raise morale and piggyback off the back of the tournament with some marketing activities.

 

Time off for matches

 

There are always people that want time off for the World Cup. We’re lucky this time with a lot of the matches taking place late at night but even so it would be a good idea to speak to your staff about what’s acceptable and what’s not and agree any time off in advance.

 

If it’s the case that everyone wants the same time off be careful to give the time off in as non-discriminatory a manner as possible – you don’t want to leave yourself open to a discrimination claim, so don’t agree to one person’s request because they’re an England fan and turn another’s down because they’re not.

 

Unplanned absences

 

During major sporting events unplanned absences can increase and it’s important that these are monitored and managed to ensure they don’t get out of control. With the events in the 2014 tournament taking places so late this could especially be a problem, so it’s important to make sure your employees know you know when the matches are taking place and that everyone should be turning up on the morning after the matches. It's probably also worth reiterating that it’s not acceptable to turn up late or intoxicated or so hung over that productivity drops below expected levels.

 

TV at work

 

Having a TV in the workplace can work in some sectors, however in the construction industry this is probably going to be more of a problem, especially if your employees are working onsite, plus it would only really impact on those people who work in the evenings as the earliest matches don’t start until 5pm BST.

 

Overall the World Cup should be seen as a time for your whole team to come together and get involved, sure some people won’t be interested but you can still engage their opinion, get a bit of a conversation going and have a bit of fun with it! Oh and don't forget we've got Wimbledon to contend with on the 23rd June as well!