CEOs dread
March Madness at work as much as their merchant
counterparts welcome the holiday shopping season.
They must deal with office pools, employees who fill out
brackets during working hours and workers who find every
excuse imagineable (sorry about your grandmother) to
watch the Big Dance -- online or on TV, at home or the
office.
CBS Sports is offering a free online viewing service
that makes it easier than ever for folks to track scores
and watch the action from the privacy of their own
cubicles, if not at the mall, supermarket or barbershop,
not to mention the nearest saloon.
A recent study by the Chicago placement firm of
Challenger, Gray and, yes, Christmas fouund that
American companies are losing up to $3.8 billion in
productivity during the three-week frenzy over college
basketball.
Using numbers like the USA's labor force of 142.8
million, an average wage of $18 per hour and a Gallup
Poll finding that 41 percent of Americans are college
hoops fans, the study pinpointed specifics:
** Average time spent on college hoops Internet sites:
13.5 MINUTES.
** Average amount earned every 13.5 minutes by an
American worker: $4.05.
** The cost to employees nationwide in lost wages for
each 13.5 minutes of time workers spend on the Internet:
$237 MILLION.
** Total amount March Madness may cost employers over
the 16 business days of the tournament: $3.8 BILLION.
A follow-up survey by the Las Vegas Review Journal found
that it's wise for employers to swallow the bad with the
good on this occasion and not only tolarate hoops
hysteria, but actually join in the festvities.
Such behavior fosters goodwill and promotes a sense of
conviviality among employees, whose improved morale
results in higher productivity.
Lynda Collins writes for
Procappers
