While laid-off workers really miss their paychecks and benefits, downsized employees are down about something else this time of year—missing the March Madness office pool..
However, outplacement solutions provider RiseSmart® is busy collecting brackets of participants in its second “RiseSmart Challenge,” an alternative program that serves as a fun way to help unemployed workers take a break from the job search to participate in one of the traditional rites of American office life.
Approximately 35 million Americans participate in NCAA basketball tournament office pools, according to an NCAA estimate. While some “experts” bemoan the lost productivity that results from this ritual, RiseSmart says in a press release that it encourages companies to embrace March Madness as a means of building interpersonal relationships and increase morale in the workplace.
The competition is open to the thousands of transitioning workers enrolled in the company’s outplacement solution, Transition Concierge®. Participants can access brackets online; top prognosticators will receive special recognition and prizes.
The Challenge gives participants a chance to have some fun and interact with other transitioning workers by enjoying one of the annual office rites that laid-off employees miss the most. It also presents an opportunity for RiseSmart employees to build a stronger bond with the people they’re helping to place in new jobs.
Last year, The RiseSmart Challenge was a huge hit among thousands of Transition Concierge program participants. “It is a fun way to lift the spirits of workers in transition and energize them for the real challenge ahead—reentering the workforce,” said RiseSmart Vice President of Operations Dan Davenport.