How To Stop Staff Using Mobile Phones At Work

Employees are often distracted at work, which reduces productivity and can fifty-fifty lead to life-threatening mishaps.
Staffers often use their personal cell phones during the workday to cheque email and browse social media.
Managers tin encourage productivity by offering flexible work schedules, break areas for phone usage, and tranquillity areas to concentrate on work, amid other methods.
This article is for small business owners and managers who desire to reduce cell telephone usage in the workplace.

While their time cards might say they are putting in a total twenty-four hours, many employees aren't devoting all of their time in the part to their work. Many are distracted by their mobile devices, spending hours each day texting, shopping or scrolling on social media. So, what can you do nearly information technology?

Employees wasting time using cell phones at piece of work

A recent survey performed by Screen Education showed that employees waste, on average, more than two hours per twenty-four hour period using their phones. That's more than than ii hours where piece of work for your business isn't getting done. And information technology isn't just productivity at stake – 14% of respondents said workers distracted past mobile devices had caused workplace accidents, many of which resulted in injury or even decease.

A 2017 study by Robert Half Talent Solutions and OfficeTeam uncovered just what information technology is staffers are doing on their phones instead of their workplace responsibilities: Almost are using their mobile device to check their personal e-mail, while an additional 28% surveyed admitted to perusing social networks. Sports or amusement sites, mobile games and online shopping are amidst the other things workers admitted they use their mobile devices for on the clock.

Given people's attachment to their phones, it's hardly surprising that these devices are such a common source of lark at work. "It'due south understandable that employees may occasionally use their mobile devices or attend to personal tasks during business hours," said Brandi Britton, executive director for Robert One-half'southward contract finance and accounting group, in a statement when the survey was released. "Only these activities can easily become large distractions."

Tip Tip: Even if your company provides mobile devices for employee apply, you might let some personal activities on the device, such as discussing child care. Always set articulate basis rules for permissible use.

Employees use their mobile devices in a number of unproductive ways while at work. Here are the nearly common ways smartphones distract employees:

Accessing restricted content

Employees use their mobile devices to get around roadblocks employers take in place on laptops to proceed their staff focused on work. In fact, 58% of respondents in the Robert Half survey said they frequently use their personal devices at work to access websites that are blocked by their company, up from simply 22% who did so in 2012. Managers underestimate the prevalence of this activeness: Only 39% suspected employees used their mobile devices to access restricted content.

More than than half of the employees surveyed said their company blocks them from visiting at least some websites in the office. The research found that 39% of employers block social media sites, 30% entertainment sites, 27% block online shopping sites and 23% bar sports websites.

Completing personal tasks

Restricted content isn't the only lark. Employees admitted to spending 42 minutes a day – on boilerplate – on personal tasks. When added with the time they spend perusing blocked content, employees are wasting nearly eight hours, or close to 1 full mean solar day a week, on non-work-related tasks.

Britton recommended employees amend manage their time then they aren't wasting valuable working hours.

"To best manage their time, staff can take reward of breaks during lunch and throughout the solar day to catch upwardly on non-work email or errands," she said.

Tip Tip: Entirely prohibiting employees' use of prison cell phones isn't e'er an effective way to eliminate the distractions that impale workplace productivity. Incentivize your staff to remain engaged with their piece of work past limiting distractions and creating growth opportunities for high performers.

How to reduce employee phone usage in the office

Some of the methods for reducing general workplace distractions are but as applicable to getting employees off their telephone. Here are a few tips to keep your staffers focused on their responsibilities instead of their mobile devices:

Offering flexible schedules. Flexible work schedules and the selection of remote piece of work can help employees who are struggling to create a work-life balance. By providing flexibility, employees can take care of personal tasks during their off hours so they can stay focused on assignments while on the clock.
Designate go-to spots. Establish quiet spaces in the office and offer time-direction workshops. Workers may exist less tempted to look at their phones if they're able to work in a peaceful environs.
Provide break rooms. Encourage your employees to turn off their non-work-related notifications when they are in the office and then they aren't reminded of what's waiting for them later. You can too set up short break times when your staff can apply their phones.
Apply monitoring software. The best employee monitoring software tin track productivity – and let your employees know you're doing and so. If they're aware yous're able to see, for example, how long their computer is sitting idle, they may be less probable to ditch the keyboard and mouse for their phone. [Learn about the laws and ideals of employee monitoring .]
Provide regular feedback. Establish performance plans for underperforming employees. Include specific information about time wasted on mobile devices or accessing blocked content, as well as any incidents that stem from distractions on the job.

Encouraging your employees to be productive

With easy access to texts, social media and clickbait content, it'south no surprise that personnel can waste time on their phones. While it tin exist tempting to but ban employee phones in the workplace, these are just one of the many distractions employees face. Consequently, it'southward important for practiced managers to exercise what they can to reduce distractions and help employees be productive to reach their workplace goals.

Chad Brooks and Adam Uzialko contributed to the writing and reporting in this article.