Be Prepared for World Cup Disruption!
As you are probably aware, the World Cup is starting in just over two months; but are you ready to deal with the potential difficulties and take advantage of the potential benefits? We have taken a look at the two biggest issues that could affect your business during the tournament to help you keep your business prepared! 1. Employees
Businesses of all types often find that the number of employees that are too ill to come to work mysteriously increases during the world cup season! This can make it difficult to complete tasks or cover all necessary jobs.
It is difficult to prevent and deal with this issue during an event that holds a lot of importance to most people.
You could make sure that your employees know that taking time off work to watch the football is not allowed; no matter how important the game, it is not an excuse to fake illness. The problem with this is that you risk angering or upsetting staff by potentially forcing them to miss vital games or watch them when they get home; especially as it can be particularly difficult to go a whole day without overhearing such an important result.
A better way to prevent absenteeism during the tournament is to actively show that you care about your staff being able to watch an event that is important to them. Here are a few things you could do to help:
- If your employees work shifts, why not try to operate on a smaller number of workers on important match days; after all, the odds are that many of your customers could also be at home!
- Similarly, a number of employees will be likely to ask for holiday days during important games; you could try and accommodate as many of these requests as possible.
- If you cannot avoid needing employees to work during important matches, why not provide them with a television or radio in the office to allow them to monitor the game as it happens. It is better to have your employees distracted by the game than not at work at all!
- Why not allow as many employees as possible to have an extended lunch break while the game is on?
- If the game starts late in the workday, why not let your staff leave an hour early so they can get home in time to watch the game?
2. Promotions
It is tempting for businesses to bulk buy flags and other patriotic themed items ready for the inevitable World Cup excitement in the summer. Many businesses will be holding World Cup related sales or promotional events, particularly businesses involved in sports goods or services.
It is vital to remember however that the progress of the England team is not guaranteed; after all, the champions went out in the first round last time! You might ask what relevance this has to your business, and the answer is fairly simple:
If we go out in the first round, will you be left with a pile of unsold and worthless stock? Could you be left promoting a World Cup related sale after your customers have lost interest?
Even if we do well in the tournament, if the weather during the cup is wet and rainy, your potential customers might just stay at home; and if it is sunny, they may all be in the pub!
A well timed and organised promotion can be an effective way of boosting short term sales; but like all promotions, you need to plan carefully and be ready for any unexpected circumstances. It is better to spend a little time planning than to risk losing money if things do not go as expected.
We all want our team to do well, but make sure that support and related promotions do not come at the expense of business sense!
Find out more about dealing with staff in our Employment and Personal Development portal here.
Find out more about promoting your business effectively in our Marketing and Sales portal.
