Canadian HR Reporter Weekly

March 7, 2018 Published weekly by Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. CUSTOMER SERVICE Tel: (416) 609-3800 (Toronto) (800) 387-5164 (outside Toronto) Fax: (416) 298-5106 customersupport.legaltaxcanada@tr.com www.thomsonreuters.ca One Corporate Plaza 2075 Kennedy Road, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M1T 3V4 Director, Media Solutions, Canada: Karen Lorimer Publisher/Editor-in-Chief: Todd Humber todd.humber@thomsonreuters.com (416) 298-5196 Editor/Supervisor: Sarah Dobson sarah.dobson@thomsonreuters.com (416) 649-7896 News Editor: Marcel Vander Wier marcel.vanderwier@thomsonreuters.com (416) 649-7837 Sales Manager: Paul Burton paul.burton@thomsonreuters.com (416) 649-9928 Circulation Co-ordinator: Keith Fulford keith.fulford@thomsonreuters.com (416) 649-9585 ©2018 Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher (Thomson Reuters, Media Solutions, Canada). Celebrating sports not always a win: Poll BY SARAH DOBSON With March Madness set to transfix many a worker, employers might be wondering how to respond. Should employees be encouraged to celebrate the time of year when basketball tour- naments are held by the National Collegiate Ath- letic Association (NCAA)? Or what about other events, such as the Olympics? Judging by a recent survey, there's no obvious answer — employees are of mixed feelings when it comes to keeping up with sporting events at work. Almost one-quarter (22 per cent) said they love being able to follow sports while working, found the survey by OfficeTeam, a Robert Half company. But nearly half (45 per cent) said they're not re- ally into sport-related activities at the office, though they are willing to play along, while one-third (33 per cent) said they would rather not celebrate at all. Breaking down the stats, 32 per cent of men said they love being able to keep up with sports and bond with co-workers, compared to just 14 per cent of women. Broken down by age, 27 per cent of younger employees aged 18 to 34 said it's a "slam dunk," compared to 21 per cent of those 35 to 54 and just 15 per cent of those 55 and older. e numbers are less varied when it comes to people "on the sidelines" who are not particularly into sports but are OK playing along with the ac- tivities: 38 per cent for men and 50 per cent for women; 51 per cent for people ages 18 to 34, 42 per cent for people ages 35 to 54, and 36 per cent for those 55 and older. And when it comes to those who really disagree with the concept, 30 per cent of men and 36 per cent of women said they'd rather focus on work and not celebrate sports. at breaks down to 22 per cent of people ages 18 to 34, 37 per cent of those 35 to 54, and 49 per cent of those 55 and older. But March Madness definitely has an impact: 50 per cent of managers said there's an increase in the frequency of sports talk at work; 29 per cent said employees take the time to check game scores and team rankings; 28 per cent said there are sports- themed decorations; and 26 per cent said employees wear team jerseys or other fan attire. And in the end, em- ployees only spend an average of 8.5 minutes at work each day on sports-related activi- ties during the playoffs (men average 12 min- utes compared to wom- en at five), found the sur- vey, adding up to two hours for the whole tournament. "I wouldn't considerate it as an exuberant amount of time. I think, at the end of the day, it's a nice break from the day-to-day activities and grind of work to be able to check out and do something you enjoy," said Mike Shekhtman, regional manager for Of- ficeTeam in Vancouver. "Companies can't underestimate the importance of establishing a sense of fun in the workplace; with sports, it's a great avenue to build a strong company culture, so certainly it's a great opportunity to lever- age March Madness and other events." Takeaways for employers It's true that too much chatter and enthusiasm around sporting events could lead to resentment among some employees, said Shekhtman, "if you as an employer are not setting proper expectations around sporting events with teams." For example, if people take 10 minutes to discuss the basketball at the start of an hour-long meeting, there may be some unhappy attendees. "It does go back to respecting other people's preferences in sports and ensuring that if you're having conversations around it, that you respect the people in the room and ensure everyone is on the same page." One way to combat any bitterness is to encour- age employees to celebrate the sports in a desig- nated area or at a certain time of day, he said. For example, encourage people to take a "time-out" to talk about scores and who made the next bracket. "It's not going to disrupt the work flow and the rest of the office," said Shekhtman. Many employers are also building social com- mittees where feedback can be shared. "It's so important to collaborate with your teams to understand what they're looking for when it comes to different sporting events or general ac- tivities that companies put on," he said. "Getting that feedback before and after the event is critical for future events as well." Overall, when enjoyed in moderation, sporting events are a great opportunity to boost morale, said Shekhtman. "(It's about) making sure that you are still very inclusive in the process," he said. "It really helps with the culture and just allows people to step away from their desks; it becomes mandated sometimes for individuals to work for eight, 10 hours a day, so being able to pull away to discuss whether it's sport- ing events or other events that are going on allows people to build further collabo- ration in your teams, and other departments as well." Credit: Lightspring / Shutterstock.com

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