March Madness is a three-week college basketball tournament in the United States that draws large crowds to sports bars and creates friendly competition among fans. However, employers are expected to suffer lost productivity during this time, costing them an estimated $17.3 billion ( 143 crore), up from $16.3 billion ( 134 crore) in 2022, according to a new report by Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
This estimate includes the number of Americans who will watch the game and the time they will spend filling out brackets and watching tournaments, taking into account average hourly earnings.
Despite this disadvantage, the firm does not recommend fighting against March Madness. Instead, tournaments can be a great opportunity to boost morale and energy at work. Andrew Challenger, senior VP of global displacement and business at Challenger, Gray & Christmas, recommends creating events around March Madness, like watching sports or filling out brackets together, with incentives for the winner.
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The firm suggests ways for employers to boost morale and reduce productivity losses during tournaments. This can include setting up a designated workstation to keep up with the games, offering worker incentives for filling out brackets, choosing a game for the whole office to watch together (in person or remotely) and creating a program to compete for prizes. includes giving brackets to each department.
Regardless of whether one loves or hates the tournament, there’s no way to stop March Madness, so employers might as well embrace it. By doing so, they can create an exciting and competitive work environment that can have a positive impact on the morale and productivity of their workforce.
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In the single-elimination NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament, 68 teams compete over seven rounds for the national title. When only four teams remain, the final round is called the Final Four. The selection committee releases the complete NCAA tournament bracket on Sunday, including all teams and seedings.
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