Are you wasting your employer’s time and money?
THERE are work habits that seem to be getting worse by the night in many organisations. Undoubtedly, they have a negative effect on productivity. If a survey were conducted, it might well reveal that the average worker wastes more than two hours each day, on things like making personal phone calls t
By Fred Ouma
THERE are work habits that seem to be getting worse by the night in many organisations. Undoubtedly, they have a negative effect on productivity. If a survey were conducted, it might well reveal that the average worker wastes more than two hours each day, on things like making personal phone calls to socialising with co-workers. Since time is money, these habits are costing businesses big bucks.
Customers too are becoming impatient, not only with employees who waste time on the job, but with the business owners who seem not to take corrective measures about the situation.
Some employers have taken notice and are cracking down on disengaged employees. While most employees do not purposely put off their priorities, those who frequently mismanage time should be aware that their actions — or lack of actions — can cost them choice assignments, promotions or even their jobs. Human resources managers list some of the habits businesses or organisationsmust not tolerate:
Chronic lateness
In the workplace, the hackneyed old saying: ‘better late than never’ does not hold water. If you get to work late, colleagues and managers may question your professionalism and be upset by your lack of respect for them and the clients. staying later to compensate may not work if you have not discussed it with your boss.
Fagil Mandy of FAMECON, an educational and leadership consultancy, suggests that one should determine when to leave home in order to make it to the work place on time. One should also aim at leaving at a reasonable time, and be sure to build extra time into your commute for unexpected delays.
Cyber-surfing
What appears to be the harmless 10 minutes spent surfing the web and emailing friends may add up to a full workday. In fact, a recent international research indicates that, on average, employees spend nearly an hour a day on personal Internet use while at work. Although in Uganda statistics are not readily available, in the USA it is estimated that this practice is costing corporations more than $178 billion annually.
If you are a celebrity-gossip junkie or sports score-checking fanatic, Sylvia Nandera of The Point, a local human resource management firm, notes that you should break yourself out of the habit during work hours.
“Although taking the occasional mental break to look up something online is part of modern-day work life, save the majority of your in-depth research for home,†she says. “And do not forget that your office computer is the employer’s property. What you do on that computer is the company’s business.â€
Post-lunch lethargy
Fatigue and low productivity immediately after lunch happens to most employees. In fact, many regard the time between 12 —2:00pm as one of the least productive times of the day for employees.
To combat this period of fatigue, nutritionists recommend that one should eat for energy. Healthy lunches can reduce the dreaded midday slump and aid attentiveness in the afternoon.
Distractions
When an employee is easily side-tracked by chatty co-workers, and excessive snack breaks or time taken to discuss the last episode of the night-before-soap opera, deadlines are likely to be missed. Infuriated customers or bosses are one result and a scramble to finish projects is the other.
Mandy argues that while it is beneficial to one’s career and overall well-being to have good relationships with one’s co-workers, job duties should never take a backseat to socialising. “Employees have a duty to complete work before taking time to chit-chat,†he says. “Your co-worker will be around for a while — deadlines won’t.â€
Personal errands
Proper balance between personal and professional commitments is important. But using work hours to run private errands is a definite no-no. Allowing personal obligations and tasks to interfere with your job is a sure way to damage your career, experts warn. “Focus on work when you are at work,†says Nandera.
Ruth Ssenyonyi, a counselling psychologist, agrees: “Save the shopping, pharmacy trips and dry-cleaning runs for your off-hours.â€
“Whenever possible, schedule routine dental or medical appointments before or after work, or ask for permission to take a long lunch break instead of trying to squeeze in an appointment. If you have issues involving children or an elderly parent, it is wise to discuss the situation with your manager,†she concludes.
THERE are work habits that seem to be getting worse by the night in many organisations. Undoubtedly, they have a negative effect on productivity. If a survey were conducted, it might well reveal that the average worker wastes more than two hours each day, on things like making personal phone calls to socialising with co-workers. Since time is money, these habits are costing businesses big bucks.
Customers too are becoming impatient, not only with employees who waste time on the job, but with the business owners who seem not to take corrective measures about the situation.
Some employers have taken notice and are cracking down on disengaged employees. While most employees do not purposely put off their priorities, those who frequently mismanage time should be aware that their actions — or lack of actions — can cost them choice assignments, promotions or even their jobs. Human resources managers list some of the habits businesses or organisationsmust not tolerate:
Chronic lateness
In the workplace, the hackneyed old saying: ‘better late than never’ does not hold water. If you get to work late, colleagues and managers may question your professionalism and be upset by your lack of respect for them and the clients. staying later to compensate may not work if you have not discussed it with your boss.
Fagil Mandy of FAMECON, an educational and leadership consultancy, suggests that one should determine when to leave home in order to make it to the work place on time. One should also aim at leaving at a reasonable time, and be sure to build extra time into your commute for unexpected delays.
Cyber-surfing
What appears to be the harmless 10 minutes spent surfing the web and emailing friends may add up to a full workday. In fact, a recent international research indicates that, on average, employees spend nearly an hour a day on personal Internet use while at work. Although in Uganda statistics are not readily available, in the USA it is estimated that this practice is costing corporations more than $178 billion annually.
If you are a celebrity-gossip junkie or sports score-checking fanatic, Sylvia Nandera of The Point, a local human resource management firm, notes that you should break yourself out of the habit during work hours.
“Although taking the occasional mental break to look up something online is part of modern-day work life, save the majority of your in-depth research for home,†she says. “And do not forget that your office computer is the employer’s property. What you do on that computer is the company’s business.â€
Post-lunch lethargy
Fatigue and low productivity immediately after lunch happens to most employees. In fact, many regard the time between 12 —2:00pm as one of the least productive times of the day for employees.
To combat this period of fatigue, nutritionists recommend that one should eat for energy. Healthy lunches can reduce the dreaded midday slump and aid attentiveness in the afternoon.
Distractions
When an employee is easily side-tracked by chatty co-workers, and excessive snack breaks or time taken to discuss the last episode of the night-before-soap opera, deadlines are likely to be missed. Infuriated customers or bosses are one result and a scramble to finish projects is the other.
Mandy argues that while it is beneficial to one’s career and overall well-being to have good relationships with one’s co-workers, job duties should never take a backseat to socialising. “Employees have a duty to complete work before taking time to chit-chat,†he says. “Your co-worker will be around for a while — deadlines won’t.â€
Personal errands
Proper balance between personal and professional commitments is important. But using work hours to run private errands is a definite no-no. Allowing personal obligations and tasks to interfere with your job is a sure way to damage your career, experts warn. “Focus on work when you are at work,†says Nandera.
Ruth Ssenyonyi, a counselling psychologist, agrees: “Save the shopping, pharmacy trips and dry-cleaning runs for your off-hours.â€
“Whenever possible, schedule routine dental or medical appointments before or after work, or ask for permission to take a long lunch break instead of trying to squeeze in an appointment. If you have issues involving children or an elderly parent, it is wise to discuss the situation with your manager,†she concludes.