3 Ways Taylor Swift Will Affect Your Office Productivity

Taylor Swift will probably affect employee productivity.

From days off to office distractions, the newly engaged pop star is making her mark in the workplace. But it’s not all bad. In fact, she might help with employee engagement.

Taylor Swift at Work

In August, Swift announced on her boyfriend Travis Kelce’s podcast New Heights that she’d drop a new album on October 3. Well, HR pros: You can expect a dip in attendance that day.

In fact, the folks at BambooHR did some number crunching on the Taylor Swift impact (after all, she’s already made an impact on the NFL), and here’s what they found:

• 6% of salaried workers plan to take PTO around the release of her album, The Life of a Showgirl. That number jumps to 15% for Swifties (the nickname for superfans), making it unofficially the most anticipated “sick day” since the Monday post Super Bowl.
• 22% of employees first heard about Swift’s recent engagement at work, and 14% of Swifties admit to missing deadlines because they were distracted by pop culture moments (compared to just 5% of non-fans).
• Almost 10% of workplaces now have dedicated Taylor Swift Slack channels.

Fear Not, HR!

But HR doesn’t need to consider this Swiftie celebration a danger to workplace productivity or employee engagement.

“When employees feel safe enough to share their interests, hobbies, and passions at work, it’s a signal of strong psychological safety,” says Kelsey Tarp, Director, HR Business Partners at BambooHR, and an admitted Swiftie. “Whether they are a huge Taylor Swift fan, have a houseplant with an exciting new leaf unfurling, or have spotted a unique bird at their feeder, sharing topics that bring them joy with peers is a signal of a healthy culture.”

So, if it’s not Taylor Swift releasing an album or two football teams playing a title game, it will likely be something else that will distract employees. And that’s a good thing if they can use the distraction to engage and unite.

“Employees using their PTO for something they find energizing and joyful is something to celebrate,” says Tarp.

Tips to Avoid a Productivity Drain

Whether you have a few Swifties on your team or one devoted fan, you probably won’t lose a full day’s work to the release (remember, we were only talking about 6-15% of people taking time off for the release). But people do traditionally take off time around certain events, and you can expect productivity dips. To quell that …

“Enable leaders to consistently consider requests and make decisions around business needs,” says Tarp. “Then, communicate what to expect to your team members, and reinforce their role to provide advance notice, and plan responsibly and reduce last-minute disruptions.”

Beyond that, she adds, “Consider other events, like March Madness, that may cause distraction for a longer duration, and be balanced in how your leadership team responds to perceptions of business disruption. Business continuity is an important consideration throughout the year, and especially during times that may be popular to take off.” 

Improve Employee Engagement

Here’s a better way to look at the Taylor Swift album release and it’s potential on attendance: It could improve employee engagement – or at least be a lesson in ways to improve it.

“Whether it’s a Slack channel for Swifties or a watch party for a big game, these shared interests create connection, conversations among team members who may otherwise not have a chance to get acquainted, and build camaraderie,” says Tarp. “They’re a chance to reinforce community, celebrate what brings us joy, and create a workplace where people feel seen both inside and outside their roles.”

So take the opportunity and invite employees to get creative with new Employee Resource Groups based on favorite artists or genres. Or open up music Slack or Teams channels in a similar way.