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HR and IT executives to clash over Olympics

HR and IT executives are set to clash over the Olympics. More than two in five (41%) UK HR directors believe Olympic activities, such as watching game footage online, will have a positive impact on employee morale, while 53% of UK IT executives have stated that they will not allow employees to view the Olympics from their computers at work.   

Concerned by the potential impact that viewing major sporting events will have on business infrastructure and operations, IT executives cite their main reasons for restricting access to viewing the Games as productivity, security and network capacity.  

Commenting on these figures, Phil Sheridan, Managing Director at Robert Half Technology, said: “We have been fortunate to have such an exciting and diverse summer of sport, providing ample opportunity to demonstrate our British pride while cheering on our favourite athletes.  It also gives companies the opportunity to host events in the office with the aim of building morale, motivation and teamwork, key considerations in making an organisation a great place to work.  There needs to be balance, however, with pragmatic IT directors sounding a word of caution about the outcomes of watching events on employee productivity, network bandwidth and security.  

“One of the important elements of any IT director’s or manager’s role is to keep systems up and running – despite what may be happening in the world of sport.  As with all perks, it’s important to balance the positive impact on employee morale against the overall needs of the business.”  

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