Employee motivation: Be flexible around the Olympics

Date: 10/07/2012

With the Olympics kicking off this month many companies will be finalising plans for their employees while the Games are on.

And while the sporting event has the potential to be disruptive for businesses due to congestion in London and people wanting time off to watch or attend the events there is also a real opportunity to boost employee motivation.

Matt Gordon-Smith, director of security at Attenda, a managed services solutions company, offered some tips for ensuring that the Games cause minimal problems.

"First of all, looking at the staff and working hours issue, we had an existing policy for major events - particularly around sporting events - that takes into consideration staff who may wish to take time off. There might be a significant number of leave requests for specific events," he stated.

"There's a consideration that staff might decide to take unapproved leave and then of course the general conduct of staff around sporting events. So what our policy lays out is a specific working requirement for staff around these types of events and these are things any organisation should consider."

However he also recommended that employers are "flexible" with their staff where possible.

Being flexible and allowing staff to take time to enjoy the Olympics could create a lot of good feeling in the office and boost employee motivation.

You could even make it a team building event by watching the opening ceremony together in the office.

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