During work hours, it’s clear that employee usage of phones is happening, but what can you do about it?

Employee Usage of Phones During Work Hours

• Employees are often distracted at work, which leads to less work getting done and sometimes accidents that could be deadly.
• During the day, employees often use their cell phones to check email and social media.
• Managers can help employees be more productive in many ways, such as by giving them flexible work hours, places to use the phone during breaks, and quiet places to work.
• This article is for people who own or run a small business and want to limit cell phone use at work.

Even though their time cards might say they work a full day, many people don’t spend their whole office day working. Many people let their phones keep them from doing what they need to do. They spend hours every day texting, shopping, or looking at social media. So, what should you do?

Employees Wasting Time Using Cell Phones at Work

A recent survey by Screen Education found that employee usage of phones is almost two hours each day. That means your company lost more than two hours of work time. Not only is productivity at risk, but 14 percent of respondents said that distractions from mobile devices led to accidents at work, many of which hurt or even killed people.

Robert Half Talent Solutions and OfficeTeam surveyed in 2017 to find out what employees do on their phones instead of their assigned tasks: Most people use their phones to check personal email, and 28% of those surveyed said they also looked at social networks. Workers have said that they use their mobile devices for things like sports or entertainment websites, mobile games, and online shopping.

Because people are so attached to their phones, it’s not surprising that they are a popular way to waste time at work.

Brandi Britton, the executive director of Robert Half’s contract finance and accounting area, said in a statement after the poll came out, “It’s understandable that employees may occasionally use their mobile devices or attend to personal tasks during business hours.” But these things can become big distractions very quickly.

Also Read: Are You in the Right Career? How to Choose the Best Job for You

How Employees Use Phones for Non-work-related Tasks

Employees’ usage of phones happens at work in many ways that aren’t helpful. Here are the most common workplace distractions caused by smartphones:

Accessing Restricted Content

The employees use their mobile devices to get around the barriers that their employers put on their laptops to keep them on task. Around 58% of people who answered the Robert Half survey said they often use their own devices at work to access company-blocked websites. In 2012, that number was only 22 percent. Only 39% of managers think that employee usage of phones is about restricted content, which is too low of a number to show how common this is.

More than half of the people surveyed said that their boss doesn’t let them visit at least some websites while they’re at work. The report showed that 39% of employers block access to social media sites, 30% block access to entertainment sites, 27% block access to online shopping sites and 23% block access to sports sites.

Completing Personal Tasks

Content limits are not the only thing that can be annoying. On average, employees said they spent 42 minutes a day doing things for themselves. In addition to the time, they spend studying illegal information, employees waste about eight hours a week doing things that have nothing to do with their jobs. This is almost a full workday.

Britton said that employees should get better at managing their time so they don’t waste valuable work hours.

“To optimize their time management, employees can use breaks during lunch and throughout the day to catch up on non-work-related emails or errands,” she said.

How to Reduce Employee Usage of Phones Office?

Some ways to cut down employee usage of phones in the workplace, in general, can also help employees put down their phones. Here are a few ideas to help your employees stay focused on their jobs instead of their phones:

• Offer flexible schedules. People who struggle to find a good balance between work and life can benefit from flexible work hours and the option to work from home. By giving employees some freedom, they can take care of personal tasks outside of work hours. This lets them stay focused on work while they’re on the clock.
• Designate go-to spots. Set up quiet areas in the office and teach people how to manage their time. If employees have a quiet place to work, they might be less likely to check their phones.
• Provide break rooms. Encourage your staff to turn off alerts that don’t have to do with work when they’re at the office. This way, they won’t be reminded of what they have to do later. You can also give your employees short breaks when they can use their phones.
• Use monitoring software. The best software for keeping an eye on employees can track how productive they are and let them know about it. If they know you can see, for example, how long their computer has been idle, they might be less likely to use their phone instead of the keyboard and mouse.
• Provide regular feedback. Make plans for employee usage of phones. Include exact information about how much time was wasted on mobile devices or accessing restricted content, as well as incidents that happened because people were distracted at work.

Also Read: New Security Layer for WhatsApp Web & Desktop

Encouraging Your Employees to Be Productive

Companies are trying to stop employees from using personal devices at work in several ways, such as by blocking access to certain websites, forbidding personal phone calls or conversations, and keeping track of Web use.

Before phones could connect to the Internet, employees wasted time at work, but now it’s easier than ever to get them to do something else. Managers must find a balance between what the company needs and how their employees feel. Haefner says that being honest is the best way to deal with these worries.

Conclusion

Employee usage of phones can waste time because they have easy access to text messages, social media, and “clickbait” information. Even though it might be tempting to ban cell phones from the workplace, they are just one of the many things that can distract workers.

Because of this, entrepreneurshipvalley suggests its reader’s to be good manager who needs to limit distractions and help people reach their professional goals.