Wedding gives staff chance to bond

Royal watchers will already know St George’s Chapel in Windsor is the location, followed by a carriage procession and two receptions, to include a private one at Frogmore House in the grounds of Windsor Castle.

One upstanding British broadsheet has even suggested this break with form on the chosen day of the week “…means we can easily watch the ceremony live on TV from our living rooms…”.

I imply no overt criticism; the title in question is an employer of my services of several years standing, and, after all, and viewed on its own, it’s not an inaccurate statement when applied to the majority of the working population.

Yet it does rather ignore the fact that more than a few people do actually work on Saturdays.

Of course everything is effectively set in stone, and the wise employer will already have some sort of contingency to deal with the most likely issues arising. What might that mean in work scheduling terms?

I would normally tend to think of lower overall output, the potential for customers to be miffed by late deliveries, even process shutdown and complete office closure.

All, to a larger or lesser degree, have been past symptoms of such occasions; a cause for genuine celebration in many senses but a challenge still to be met.

However, this royal wedding being away from the norm means another view might be taken. If you believe the statistics from one human resources advisory source earlier this week, it is even an opportunity to engage with employees.

As a major event, it twins this opportunity with another significant occurrence – the World Cup.

That might be tantamount to heresy to the thousands of enthralled wavers of mini Union Jacks tomorrow.

Yet it does present some logical thinking to employers able to accommodate pragmatic temporary change.

According to its findings of a sampling of what might be regarded as enlightened employers from SME and some larger enterprises, more than half (51.7 per cent) say their organisation’s approach to major sporting and special events has a positive or very positive impact on employee engagement.

Compare that with fewer than one in 20 (or 4.2 per cent) indicating it has a negative effect.

I admit I’m surprised by the gap between those figures; it is only one survey but it does come from a trustworthy source. Apparently, employers favour taking an informal approach when it comes to managing the workplace impact of sporting and special events. Only one employer in 10 (9.2 per cent) has a formal policy in place.

Perhaps based on experience, the majority of employers take some degree of action to accommodate major sporting and special events taking place during typical working hours. Contingencies include everything from a television strategically located in a communal staff area to allowing employees to follow events online on work devices.

The first is an easy one, the latter needs consideration against device use policies and monitoring; employers have a duty to ensure appropriate use of business tools (a computer is a business tool).

This research also found that 75 per cent of employers make special working time arrangements for such events. These tend to centre on flexible start and finish times, considering late requests for annual leave, and allowing employees to make up any working time taken to view events.

Perhaps of necessity, other employers take that more rigid approach mentioned. This still recognises the popularity of the occasion but it may require employees to officially request and book annual leave or to use existing flexible working time. People management problems are surprisingly rare for clued-in employers.

Only 26.7 per cent or respondents reported issues as a direct result of major special events; ie unauthorised absence.

I’m no psychologist, and nor do I wish to be a party pooper cynic, but is it possible that for employers seeking to lift employee morale and motivation, tapping in to positive emotions, these events might just be what the corporate doctor ordered?

Whatever the driver for making alternative working arrangements, there is little doubt that going with the flow, where at all possible, is indeed the way to go.

Champagne? Optional, depending upon circumstances.