A knockout tournament

Euro 2016 kicks off on June 10^th. Are you going to use it to meet employee engagement goals, or are you going to get caught offside?

For any football fan, the countdown to a major tournament is exciting. Your team hasn’t yet been eliminated on penalties and the prospect of watching hours of football is scintillating. But for an HR professional, the outlook isn’t always quite so rosy.

Queries start to flood your mind. Are we getting big screens in? Is it fine for employees to spend the afternoon in the pub watching the game? And from an inclusivity point of view, is it OK to focus on England and a tournament restricted to teams from Europe?

Also, can people take time off to watch the tennis at Wimbledon instead? What arrangements are we making for the Olympics in Brazil this summer? Suddenly you start to feel like you are 2-0 down with only five minutes of the game remaining…

There’s no panacea. But rather than wishing you were substituted (all right, I think I’ve overplayed the footie puns now) try seeing the upcoming championships and other major events as opportunities to help engage your workforce.

Trust your staff. Trust the fact that when you offer them reasonable time to watch the game during working hours, they won’t think twice about more than making that time up.

And when they do, you might also observe a team that have bonded over missed penalties and respect their employer all the more for the trust shown.

About the author

Martyn Dicker

Martyn Dicker is Director of People & Learning at The Prince’s Trust.