Mobile phones are used for a variety of purposes, but did you know that majority of your phone use is not productive? With mobile phones, we can keep in touch with family members. It can also be used for conducting business. Most of all we can have access to a telephone in the event of an emergency. Some people carry more than one mobile phone for different purposes, such as for business and personal use.
Survey finds that smartphones are an alluring distraction that zaps productivity at work. According to the latest CareerBuilder research, 1 in 5 employers (19 percent) think workers are productive less than five hours a day. When looking for a culprit, more than half of employers (55 percent) say that workers’ mobile phones/texting are to blame.
The research found that “more than 8 in 10 workers (83 percent) have smartphones, and 82 percent of those with smartphones keep them within eye contact at work. And while only 10 percent of those with smartphones say it’s decreasing their productivity at work, 2 in 3 (66 percent) say they use it (at least) several times a day while working.”
Productivity killers
- Cell phone and texting
- The internet
- Gossip
- Social media
- Co-workers dropping by
- Smoke breaks or sneak breaks
- Meetings
- Noisy co-workers
- Sitting in a cubicle
The majority of workers with smartphones (65 percent) do not have their work emails on their smartphones. Of those who access their smartphone during work for non-work use, they spend their time on these non-work related sites during work. These include personal messaging, weather, news, games, shopping etc.
In this scenario, managing workers in all phases of workplace behavior are what line managers’ responsibility. These include the on-the-job use of cell phones and other technology. It is important to note that managers should acknowledge the existence of such distractions. That the majority of phone use especially at work hurts productivity. This should be discussed because this is an ongoing challenge and solutions should be in place to keep productivity up. We can help, let us know.
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