New research shows that restrictive approach to phone use does not help improve productivity. — dpa
SCROLLING though social media, booking flights, even sending a quick thumbs-up reply on a messaging app: That’s all usually a no-no while at work.
Some companies, viewing smartphones as pure distraction, even make workers leave their devices in a locker before entering the office or shop floor.
But those kind of prohibitions could be counterproductive, according to Australian and Irish researchers, who say using personal phones at work makes no difference to productivity and can even reduce stress.
The University of Galway and University of Melbourne team spent a year keeping tabs on 40 employees who were allowed to use their phones at the European branch of an unnamed global pharmaceutical company. The team compared the impact to that on another group who did not use their phones while at work.
They found that those using the phones did not perform any worse than their ascetic colleagues and that so-called work–life conflict “declines when a ban on using smartphones for non-work purposes in the workplace is revoked.”
Workers had earlier complained about the company’s “restrictive approach” to phone use, which dates to the 1990s, saying they felt “disconnected.”
They were backed by some of the management team, who slammed the curbs as “technophobic” and out of sync with other branches.
“Managers must realise the unintended consequences of forcing a smartphone ban,” said Eoin Whelan of University of Galway.
“Preventing phones in the workplace can increase work-life conflict, which in turn has significant implications for work performance, job satisfaction, absenteeism, turnover intentions, as well as general wellbeing,” Whelan added. – dpa
