With the nearly ubiquitous use of mobile\/cellular phones in most countries, there is a growing concern about its impact on workplace productivity.<\/em><\/p>\n
Though the serious newsreaders among us might overlook the \u201cPudding & Souse\u201d section in the Barbados Nation newspaper, on 10 January it carried an interesting segment, which we included in this week\u2019s ICT\/tech news roundup. Essentially, the piece highlighted a situation in Barbados where an unidentified hotel was reportedly now mandating that its employees hand over their mobile\/cellular phones to hotel security before beginning work (Source: NationNews<\/a>). As expected, this new measure was not going over well with the staff, and questions were being asked as to whether it infringed on workers\u2019 rights.<\/p>\n
Over the past several years, there has been a growing concern about the extent to which mobile\/cellular phones distract drivers on the road, and the accidents that can result. According to the World Health Organization<\/a>,<\/p>\n
In order to better manage the devastating effects of driving whilst using a mobile\/cellular device, many countries, including a few in the Caribbean, have introduced laws prohibiting its use under that circumstance. However, it is still sobering to note that in a country such as a the United Kingdom that has made it illegal the use of hand-held phones or similar devices whilst driving, it has been projected that by 2015, deaths due to mobile\/cellular phone distraction will overtake drunk driving as the leading cause of road fatalities in that country (Source: Fleet News<\/a>).<\/p>\n
Eroding workplace productivity<\/h3>\n
In a considerably less devastating context, than the use of mobile\/cellular phone whilst driving, there is a growing concern about the impact of those devices on workplace productivity. The frequent checking of phone, responding to incoming messages and alerts, all add up over the course of a day. According to a survey conducted by recruitment firm, CareerBuilders,<\/p>\n
One in four workers (24 percent) admitted that, during a typical workday, they will spend at least one hour a day on personal calls, emails or texts.<\/em><\/p>\n
Twenty-one percent estimated that they spend one hour or more during a typical workday visiting non-work related websites.<\/em><\/p>\n
(Source: Daily Mail<\/a>)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
What are employers to do?<\/h3>\n
To varying degrees, employers benefit from their employees having a personal communication device, such as a mobile\/cellular phone, for example to update them on a unforeseen but important developments, and there would be some expectation of use during working hours. Having said this, the difficulty occurs when we, ourselves, are unwilling to regulate our use, cognisant of how distracting and rude the continual checking and responding to our mobile\/cellular phones can be.<\/p>\n
It could thus be argued that increasingly, employers are being forced to introduce measures \u2013such as that which the Pudding & Souse article reported \u2013 when we are not prepared to exercise more prudent behaviour on our own.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Image credit:\u00a0 Matt Gibson<\/a> (flickr)<\/em><\/p>\n
_____________<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"