Social Networking at Work
This morning in the Metro, there was an article entitled “Don’t get fired for shopping at work.”
The article discussed the time that employees spend on the Internet doing tasks unrelated to their job throughout the day. They indicated that about 58% of employees use the Internet for “nonwork activities” and about 21% spend more than 1 hour a day doing so. The article then goes on to discuss the use of social networking sites at work. The journalist states that three out of five full-time workers have social networking profiles, that half spend time on their site during the work day, and that 11% spend an hour or more doing so.
Somehow, I was not surprised by the article. The Internet is an integral part of most work environments, and there seems no effective way to block employees from spending time on non-work related activities, unless employers invest in close monitoring systems. But would this make for a pleasant and efficient work environment? Are employees likely to focus better on the tasks at hand, knowing that somebody is watching them? Does social networking at work produce less effective employees? Or does it provide them with a needed break during the day.
It seems to me, from my few work experiences, that part of the problem related to social networking/e-mail/etc. at work is that the work employees are doing may not be engaging, or that there is enough free time to spend playing online. I also think that many jobs, which require sitting at a desk all day in front of a computer, with set hours that must be filled, lead to unhealthy and inefficient work style.
I wonder, if rather than prohibiting employees from going online during working hours for leisure activities, employers should experiment with task-oriented, instead of a time-oriented, work environments (so that where possible, when employees finish the tasks allotted to them, they can go home, rather than having to stay for the specified amount of time). If it were me, I would finish my work as fast as possible so that I could leave and social network at home (although I would much rather go to the gym and watch reality tv shows, since that activity seems less shameful while running on a treadmill than while sitting on a couch at home). I also think that workplaces should mandate regular exercise throughout the work day (I don’t think that’s ever going to happen, but it seems like a really good idea).
