The Tribune

By Ian Ferguson

Many business owners and talent management professionals spend their energy ensuring human capital is fully engaged in their work assignments, and that there is limited time allotted for random corporate slackness.

Professional studies have often been done regarding what people really do during the course of the day; from the time they clock in or report for duty to the time they swipe out and leave the premises. It would surprise most employers to learn that research indicates that the average office employee spends more than 50 per cent of their actual work time engaged in ‘side’ activities not directly related to the work assigned by their supervisor, or impacting the company’s goals and objectives.

These rather disturbing and startling statistics made me wonder: What on Earth are these people doing with up to 20 hours within a typical work week? Naturally, this question is answered based on geography, sector, age category and many other demographically-determined variables.

In the Bahamian context, though, one might wonder if these statistics are accurate and, more importantly, what Bahamian workers might find themselves doing throughout the course of the day. With just a little bit of non-scientific research, many guilty employees confessed to being consumed throughout the day with any number of extra-curricular activities. Some of the major ones included:

• Spinning and playing numbers at work

• Engaging in office gossip and telephone chat at work

• Ministering to others who need a word

• Exploring and browsing on Facebook and other social media outlets

• Visiting Pornographic and ‘hook-up’ sites

• Organising church activities and Sunday morning services

• Organising and strategising other personal business ventures

• Planning lunch and happy hour details

• Collecting children from school and other recreational tasks

• Shopping online or browsing sites for consumer buys

• Reading the local tabloids online and enjoying good political/social dialogue that naturally ensues as a result

• Elongated coffee breaks in the kitchen, which become unplanned team sharing sessions

If the statistics are true, then employers are receiving less than 50 per cent value from their team members, and could easily double productivity if the efficiency gaps were closed. The question is how, though. Perhaps another question is why do we encourage employees to commit to doing nothing but work? Shouldn’t employees receive some slack and be allowed to take regular intermissions for the sake of breaking the monotony, which in itself leads to decreased productivity?

Again the reminder comes… all in moderation. Besides, we render to Caesar the things that are Caesars: An honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay.

So, how then does the employer prevent his staff from engaging in these practices and cause them to focus their attention on the assigned tasks? Here are four simple tips that can with ease be implemented today:

• Establish the deliverables for each individual employee. Outside of a job description, each team member should know what they are expected to produce by the end of each week to keep them focused on what they must do, in order to have met the goal and to consider themselves a contributing member of the team.

• Monitor performance based on the goals and targets set

• Place computer locks on lottery, pornographic and social media sites unless their work requires them to be so engaged

• Establish as a company Core Values, Honesty and Integrity, and train to it as often as time allows.

• NB: Ian R. Ferguson is a talent management and organisational development consultant, having worked in both the public and private sector locally and regionally providing interventions and solutions for promoting business and service excellence. He was educated at the College of the Bahamas, the University of the West Indies, St. Johns University and holds a Masters of Science Degree from the University of Miami.