by Not all employees are hard working employees, in fact, all employees end up wasting time every day. Some of it it’s natural, as the human body needs a few minutes of rest every now and then.
However, enough is enough. While I can understand that an employee takes 5 or so minutes to stand up and stretch his legs, I do not forgive employees who spend an hour or more doing meaningless things that contribute nothing to the company.
In a recent poll by Forbes, the famous business magazine, 64% of employees admitted wasting time on unrelated tasks, most of which is the result of social media and other websites. Note that this number reflects ONLY those employees who were willing to accept that they waste time at work. I believe that the real number is higher, and that there are many more employees who are just not going to tell you they waste your money. However, with a smartphone monitoring app, you can track what sites and applications your employees waste time with.
But why do employees waste time? Here are the main 5 reasons, according to the poll:
1. They don’t feel challenged enough in their job.
2. They work too many hours.
3. The company doesn’t give sufficient incentive to work harder.
4. They are unsatisfied with their career.
5. They’re just bored.
Are these reasons valid? My guess is that they sometimes are, but more often than not they’re not. After all, they knew what they were getting into when they accepted the job, a job that they APPLIED for.
Sure, you can do things to improve their efficiency and motivation and keep them productive, but there will always be a point where they say “this is not good enough for me; therefore I’m going to work.”
And these reasons don’t even mention other activities that are even more harmful for your company than wasting time. For example, an employee who uses the smartphone you provide him with to find a job elsewhere. While you can’t stop anyone from leaving, you don’t want to lose all that time and money it took you to train someone so easily. Plus, if you know in advance that someone is going to leave you, you can stop wasting time and money on that person and prepare yourself for the loss.
And yes, some employees do use your time and equipment to sell your information to the competition. Those employees should be given the boot right away.
In any case, just paying attention to the computers that they use is not enough. Employees can now waste as much time on the smartphones of the company. But if you get a smartphone monitoring app, then you can turn the tables on them.
