Do Your Employees Schedule Too Much Social Interaction?

Whether one runs a small business or one employs hundreds or even thousands of individuals, workplace productivity is always the main goal in order to get the best results for the company and its customers.

With that said, just how productive are your employees on any given day of the week?

While many business owners are fortunate to have hard-working and reliable employees that show up at the front door or via telecommuting each and every day of the week, others have to deal with workers who are late to their desks, don’t do a good job of handling customer questions and complaints, and ultimately just don’t invest the needed time on a daily basis in their jobs, instead socializing.

Yes, much of that is certainly the fault of the employee, but the business owner who is not on top of the issue bears some responsibility too.

Letting your employees know from the day you hire them that they are expected to be on time and productive while at work is critical to a successful operation.

How Much Work is Truly Being Done?

One of the ways to greatly improve the odds of your employees being more productive than counter-productive each day in the office or through telecommuting or when out and about with clients is keeping them on a proper schedule.

Sure, some employees may not like the hours they’re asked to work, but unless they are the cream of the crop workers who you feel are worth working around to a degree, you can certainly find those willing to work the needed hours.

If you decide to turn to an employee schedule maker, you can make things much easier for both you and your employees.

Such a tool allows you to add employees, locales and positions in just minutes. This employee manifest can even be imported via an excel spreadsheet or CSV file.

If you find the need to have one or more workers cover a last-minute shift, you can use the employee schedule maker to fill that need by sending them a mobile alert and email regarding the required shift.

Now about those shifts….

Even though you think you hired the best employees available, are some of them spending a little bit too much time socializing during the day, specifically on their computers and mobile phones?

If employees are wasting time at work (your time specifically), they are ultimately doing a dis-service not only to the customers, but also their boss.

In order to keep employees on a proper and productive schedule, make sure you:

Set the ground rules from day one;
Put in place schedules that are fair and consistent;
Realize that workers are humans, not machines. That said know that they need a couple of breaks (see below) during the day;
Allow for “social” breaks during the day in 5 or 10 minute spans. Instead of employees trying to sneak in time chatting with loved ones or friends on their personal devices or using social sites on their computers for shopping ventures and other ventures when they are supposed to be working, the breaks are a good idea. It allows them to hopefully focus on their work and have the break/s to look forward to.

When you set schedules and rules for both you and your employees, good things more times than not are bound to happen.

Photo credit: Image courtesy of patrisyu at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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