Keeping employees happy while they work is one of the easiest ways to improve productivity, enhance job satisfaction, and reduce costly turnover.
Employers are constantly looking for new ways to make the workplace better for their workers while at the same time managing the costs of these the worker benefits that achieve this goal.
Today, one of the cheapest, fastest, and easiest ways to instantly improve work conditions for employees is by allowing them to use their smartphones openly in the workplace, or even facilitating workers to use their devices by providing charging stations.
Fighting Against a Rising Tide
The thought of allowing workers to use their personal smartphones and other devices on the job automatically makes many managers defensive. But the “battle of the smartphones” is not one management is likely to win, at least not in the long run.
In many businesses today, managers and supervisors today spend more time policing their employees’ use of smartphones than they do other more important supervisory tasks. Some companies even ban smartphones altogether, requiring workers to leave them in their lockers or locked up in their cars.
But what are they really accomplishing? First of all, people are going to use their smartphones. They’re going to sneak them in, use them in secret, and generally push the limit as far as they can. That’s human nature. It’s just too easy and too tempting not to check that Facebook account or look at the text that just came through.
Think about your own smartphone use: It’s just too easy and too tempting not to check that Facebook account or look at the text that just came through.
Second, the reality is that smartphones are now a permanent part of just about everybody’s lives, both inside and outside of work.
So rather than fighting against rapidly improving, highly-addictive technology that makes it easier than ever for people to remain connected to their family, friends, and the internet itself, effective organizations might benefit by looking for new and innovative ways to empower workers to use the same technology for the organization’s benefit.
Using Smartphones to Your Benefit
There’s little value in playing “Gotcha!” with workers and their smartphones. Supervisors are expending a lot of time and energy trying to prevent workers from doing what they are inevitably going to do anyway: Look at their smartphones. It’s a lot like herding cats.
But what if rather than taking the hard line, reasonable, mutually agreed upon limits were placed on smartphone usage, such as allowing them to be used in the workplace during breaks, at mealtimes, and before and after shifts.
Or what if workers were actually rewarded for using their smartphones and other devices to find new ways to improve operations, reduce costs, and increase customer service? That’s a win/win/win for most employers!
So easing up on the smartphone police and even providing a place for workers to recharge their phones without fear of being busted is something many businesses probably should consider in the not so distant future.