MONTREAL – In the light of the London Olympic Games, many Canadian businesses are facing an unexpected problem.
For the first time in Olympic history, all of the events are being streamed live on the Internet and so employees have the option to watch the games while at work.
This poses a new challenge for companies, as they are now faced with the issue of whether to control access to the Internet and the possibility of distracted employees.
While in many offices, as the temperature goes up, work ethic goes down, the Olympic Games bring an entirely new level of distraction to the office.
“I follow, yes,” Quebec-based CI Analytics industrial designer Victor Mancini told Global News. “But I see people getting distracted. I think any form of competition grabs people’s attention and if they’re at work, it would become distracting.”
With Canadians winning multiple medals in a day, it’s not hard to see why people would rather spend their time watching diving competitions than looking at spreadsheets.
In Los Angeles, watching the Olympics online was so popular among City Hall workers that the office’s computer system’s usage spiked over 20%.
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“City employees aren’t paid to watch the Olympics on their computers or TV,” Councilman Dennis Zine told the Los Angeles Times. “That is not what the taxpayers are paying them to do.”
Companies, like individuals, must pay for bandwidth usage and the amount of streaming that has occurred due to the Olympics can hit more than the bottom line.
According to Scott Martin, the Research Director at the digital media firm Captivate Network, this kind of distraction may result in a loss of over $1.4 billion for North American companies.
He told Global News that according to Captivate Network’s ongoing survey on summer distractions, 27% of North American employees are currently watching the London Games.
“I don’t follow the Olympics,” Richard Griffith, a circuit board assembler at Pathway Connectivity in Calgary told Global News. “A healthy amount of distraction at work, whether it be music, radio or TV is good for productivity – if it’s controlled.”
Indeed, many Canadian companies limit access employees have to sites like Facebook, Youtube or video live-streaming for better productivity– but also for financial and security reasons.
“We haven’t notice any spike in usage of the Internet lately,” said Mylène Bélanger, Senior Advisor, Media Relations at Via Rail.
“VIA Rail’s Internet network is to be used for legitimate business purposes. Employees who do not respect the policy may face consequences, including, in serious cases, termination of employment.”
Whether or not they are allowed or banned, many Canadian workers have said they plan to watch the Olympics while on the job, be it streaming videos online at their desk or watching it on television during their lunch break.
“I don’t think people are slackers because they watch while at work,” said Dominique Daoust, who works at the Federated Press in Montreal. “This is the biggest sporting event in the world, so it doesn’t surprise me if people went out of their way to watch it.”
And contrary to what most businesses may think, Steve Siebold, author of the book “177 Mental Toughness Secrets of the World Class,” says that watching the Olympics at work is actually good for professional morale.
“Ask most people what they’re thinking at any given time, and you might be surprised to learn how many think about just getting by,” he said. “Olympians are fearless and focused on manifesting their ultimate dream of bringing home the gold.” And connecting with them can be inspiring for employees.
Sound-off: What do you think? What benefits do you think watching the London Olympics on the job have? Let us know on Facebook.
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