From Vault.com:
OFFICE BETTING HAS BECOME ACCEPTABLE IN THE WORKPLACE, RESPONDENTS SAY IN LATEST VAULT.COM SURVEY
79% OF RESPONDENTS SAY BETTING POOLS ARE WORKPLACE APPROPRIATE; MARCH MADNESS MOST POPULAR EVENT; FOOTBALL THE MOST POPULAR SPORT
New York, NY, (March 12, 2013) Get your company’s NCAA Basketball Tournament brackets filled out. March Madness kicks off next week and, with workers facing longer hours in the office and continued stress over today’s economic climate, office betting has become more acceptable than ever, according to a recent survey by Vault.com.
The career intelligence company recently released results of its Vault 2013 Office Betting Survey and the numbers were overwhelmingly in favor of the often practiced, yet highly debated, activity. Of those surveyed, 70% admitted to participating in an office betting pool, while 81% claimed to know a co-worker who has participated in such pools. The more telling statistic from the survey – 79% of respondents believe it is appropriate to engage in such behavior in the workplace.
“Business professionals are working harder to meet the demands of today’s workforce and need something that allows them to let off a little steam,” explained Tara McCaffrey, VP of Marketing at Vault.com. “Office betting, done the right way, has the ability to bring co-workers closer together. When you build camaraderie in and out of the office using a social event like March Madness or the Academy Awards, it can enrich aspects of the actual workday, such as teamwork and project flow.”
Many professionals agree. One respondent touted the benefits of betting pools: “I think it's a recreational activity that allows co-workers to engage in something together outside of the main focus on workplace responsibilities and could possibly enhance rapport and workplace morale.” Other statements in favor of office betting included:
· “I see nothing wrong with it. It seems it could be a good bonding experience.”
· “I think it is important that the focus of the bets is never driven by the money itself, because its objective is to give a chance to build good relationships.”
· “I have run office pools, and the impact has always been positive and my efforts always appreciated by my bosses throughout the years.”
· “I made friends and got to meet people from the company that I would never meet otherwise.”
Not everyone believes this practice is harmless. “I think they are unethical and in bad taste in any workplace setting. They set a poor example and interfere with work productivity,” said one disapproving respondent.
Vault’s Office Betting Survey was conducted in February and March and asked respondents for their views on gambling in the workplace, the events they have bet on, the amount of time office betting pools take from the workday, how much it costs to participate, and how much they have won.
The results show that sports dominate office betting pools. March Madness is the most common focus of workplace wagers, with 69% of survey respondents admitting to filling out an office bracket. However, football is overall the most popular sport to gamble on at work – 60% of employees said they bet on the Super Bowl and 37% also reported participating in pools based on the NFL’s regular weekly games. A co-worker’s pregnancy (17%) was the most common non-sporting event, following by award shows (8%) and TV reality competitions, like “Top Chef” and “American Idol” (4%).
The costs to enter these pools are low – 38% reported that entry fees are $10 or less; 19% said the entry fee hovered between $11 and $25; and another 17% said the price of participation is no more than $5. Only 33% of those surveyed said they have actually won an office betting pool; but those winners aren’t likely to leave their jobs anytime soon, with jackpots reported at $51-100 (22%), $101-200 (15%) and $201-300 (15%).
In any case, money is not necessarily a factor when taking part in this office activity. Less than half surveyed (48%) said they play for a cash reward. A majority who participate said they do just to have a little harmless fun at work (81%), while almost half (47%) are looking to establish or improve relationships in the office.
McCaffrey warns that those who do take part in an office betting pool should do so for the right reasons. “It’s about having fun,” she said. “When you take it too seriously and spend too much time researching teams, making the right picks, and obsessing over the games, work suffers and that’s a problem.”
Results show that the majority (52%) of those surveyed spend less than 30 minutes of their workday discussing, researching and making their picks, with 15% taking up to an hour on this effort.
Only 29% of those surveyed feel that the whole office betting process has a negative impact on work. “I see the people involved spending an awful amount of work time on organizing and managing their fantasy leagues and betting pools,” said one respondent. “If I owned the company, I'd be pretty upset.”
Are companies upset with this practice? Nearly half of professionals surveyed (49%) are unsure whether their company has any policy regarding workplace betting. Among the rest, only 11% reported that their company does have a policy in place regarding office betting, while 39% claimed their company does not.
Regardless of the existence of a formal policy, one respondent sums up the attitude of many, stating that office betting is a practice “highly frowned upon by HR, ignored by everyone else.”
View the complete findings from the 2013 Office Betting Survey.
About Vault
Vault.com is the source of employer and university rankings, ratings and reconnaissance for highly credentialed, in-demand candidates. Vault.com is organized by profession, industry, company and schools. Vault profiles, rankings and assessment tools deliver the insider perspective and career research candidates need to successfully match themselves to the best available job, employer and career opportunity. The Vault.com website features profiles on more than 4,500 employers, 4,000 universities and hundreds of industries and professions including the law, finance, accounting and consulting sectors. Founded in 1996, Vault.com is the only career resource of its kind and attracts more than 1,000 employer and recruiter advertisers, more than 1,200 school and institutional subscribers and millions of individual visitors and members.
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