Bad communication wastes employees' time, survey says
Research shows poor office relations and unnecessary e-mails soak up workers' time.
US employees are being forced to fritter away time dealing with pointless e-mails and resolving personality conflicts, according to recruitment website, Salary.com's annual "Wasting Time Survey" of over 2,000 workers.
However, survey respondents also admit that they waste time too, mainly through personal internet surfing and chatting with co-workers.
Office politics lead to signficant wasted time for 16% of respondents.
The survey found that:
- Office politics lead to significant wasted time for 16% of respondents.
- Dealing with pointless e-mails affects 13%.
- Employees aged 20-29 slack more (2.1 hours per day) than those in the 30-39 age group (1.9 hours per day) or the 40-49 year olds (1.4 hours per day).
- 35% of employees admit to using the internet at the office for non-work purposes.
- Chatting with co-workers is a cause of wasted time for 20%.
Organizations should allow a certain amount of flexibility for employees to conduct personal business.
Asked the reason for non-work related time-wasting workers claimed:
- they didn't have enough work to do (18%);
- they're underpaid (12%); and
- they lack challenging work (11%).
Managing time better
Bill Coleman, Salary.com's chief compensation officer, says companies should allow employees some leeway for personal activities during work time.
"A shortage of labor and tighter company budgets have resulted in an increased burden on employees who now have less time available to waste. This translates into a greater return for companies but increases the risk of employee burnout," he says.
"Organizations should allow a certain amount of flexibility for employees to conduct personal business or take a mental breather," Coleman says.
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