MUNCIE, Ind.---As the NCAA basketball tournament’s Final Four is fast approaching, should employers be happy or mad?
Fox Business estimated that March Madness sparks 51 million office workers to participate in office pools and cause employers to lose $4 billion in productivity.
But a company in Muncie isn’t hiding brackets or banning online streaming. Lucas Tetrault, creative director at Whitinger & Company LLC, says he is embracing a new trend.
“When March Madness comes up, we naturally all want to talk about basketball,” Tetrault said.
Tetrault created an office pool.
“People like to be competitive by nature,” Tetrault said. “I think it is what drives us a lot of the time.”
The results from a report on Bloomberg take a more positive look at March Madness in the workplace.
The study shows that office pools, like Tetrault created, actually make people’s jobs more enjoyable. Embracing the tournament boosts people’s moods and a happy employee is more productive.
That same study shows three quarters of the 1,200 people surveyed said March Madness pools make them look forward to work more.
Tetrault says his company has a group that goes to watch the games during lunch break.
“We get a big group together and go to Buffalo Wild Wings,” Tetrault said.
Studies say it is essentially better to incorporate viewing time into work time. If not, employees are more likely to sneak around on their phones and tablets.
As the saying goes, "If you can beat em, join em." Right?
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