Mobile Devices May Hurt Employee Productivity: Survey Says

Do mobile devices make your employees more productive or give them an excuse to goof off all day? Would a glass of wine at lunch make them happier? And is FarmVille just an annoying Facebook popup or a brilliant marketing tool? Here's a closer look at some of the latest small-business surveys.

Mobile Madness

Do you really know what your employees are doing with their smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices at work? A Harris Interactive survey, commissioned by video support provider Qumu, polled 2,500 Americans about what they think people are doing on their mobile devices at work that they wouldn't do on their work computers. The suspected activities included:

• Looking for another job: 52 percent
• Visiting an online dating website: 47 percent
• Researching an STD: 37 percent
• Shopping for lingerie: 33 percent
• Investigating plastic surgery: 20 percent

The survey also uncovered the top ways people assume their coworkers are sneaking peeks at their mobile devices at work, including:

• Hiding their mobile devices under the table: 47 percent
• Going to the restroom (or pretending to): 42 percent
• Hiding their mobile devices in their folders, notebooks or papers: 35 percent
• Pretending to tie their shoes: 9 percent
• Creating a distraction: 8 percent

And 64 percent actually admit to "watching online videos," which I'm assuming are not all from the Disney Channel.

La Dolce Vita

American workers are twice as likely as their Italian counterparts to say they're "very stressed," according to a survey by Italian beer company Birra Moretti. Maybe that's because, as the study found, fewer than 20 percent of us actually use our full lunch hour, while 100 percent of Italians do so.

Not only are Italians eating their lunch, they're truly enjoying it. Nearly half (48 percent) of Italians were "inclined" to order alcoholic beverages at lunch. In contrast, just 20 percent of Americans were similarly "inclined." Wanna bet they're also the ones who take their full lunch hour?

Game On

Some 250 million Americans play "casual" or "social games" like FarmVille and Mafia Wars. But 84 percent of U.S. marketers have no plans to take advantage of these games' marketing potential in the next year, according to a new survey by Forrester Research. The casual gaming audience is an attractive market for businesses -- 59 percent of adult social gamers are women and 30 percent are Gen X.

How can your small business take advantage of this ripe audience? Don't worry about developing your own game -- instead, jump on the bandwagon of the existing ones with a big fan base. You might try offering currency in the games as a prize for contests or a reward when customers take actions such as liking you on Facebook or signing up for a newsletter.

Admit it, you know how addictive these games can be. You might as well profit while you're playing -- er, doing your "research."

Rieva Lesonsky is CEO of GrowBiz Media, a media company that helps entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses. Follow Rieva at Twitter.com/Rieva and visit her blog at SmallBizDaily.com. Visit her website SmallBizTrendCast to get the scoop on business trends and sign up for Rieva's free TrendCast reports.

Comments

[Mafdet]

03:11 PM on 09/09/2011

My employees are master carpenters who install projects in hotels and convention centers. Their trade union rules usually strictly prohibit the use of cell phones except during breaks. None the less, this class of artisan that used to need two hands to complete a craft now does it mostly with one. It has been years since we've had a crew that did not take 20 calls a day or text incessantly. They stand on ladders with cell phones cradled under their ears on the shoulders of the arms that are clinging to the ladder. A few use ear pieces, but most don't. In Las Vegas last fall, I paid 400.00 for a man to "spot" a rigging operation and he didn't look up from texting the whole time. His job, theoretically, was to make sure the guy on the cherry picker 20 feet up didn't fall off. I would have reported it to the union steward, but he wouldn't look up from texting when I approached. In my business, production employees spend a minimum of 10 minutes per hour on the cell phone unless they are directly supervised...and one hates to pay a master's wage to someone who has to be supervised. And everyone's day is a lot longer than it was a few years ago because of this. But I now know the name of the girlfriend(s) and boyfriend(s) of every man and woman on our crews and the status of every relationship.

[dwill123]

02:54 PM on 09/09/2011

Mobile devices, the new electronic opiate.

[grizzly bear55]

02:09 PM on 09/09/2011

I was offered a smart phone when I renewed my contract, took it, sold it and sticking with my old dumbbb phone.

[Tc Birden]

02:08 PM on 09/09/2011

"May?".... (commenting from my phone at work)

[Golabulus]

01:56 PM on 09/09/2011

What an amazing realization... that mobile devices drag down productivity. Tell ya something else they do... they make it so kids don't have to socialize face to face or through voice... cell phones are doing nothing but making kids a bunch of wussies because they can totally avoid any conflict whatsoever... not to mention that the kids bowadays can't even drive because their phones are surgically attached to their heads and hands.

[darquelourd]

02:31 PM on 09/09/2011

so true!

[tod47]

01:46 PM on 09/09/2011

wow another article written by captain obvious

[TeeLolly]

01:27 PM on 09/09/2011

Given the choice between pursuing personal interests or sweating it out for an employer that underpays you, skimps on benefits, and generally treats you like a brainless tool, wouldn't you opt for the mobile device?

An employer who wants productive workers should treat them with respect, pay them fairly, and give them credit for all they do.

[longtimelistener]

01:33 PM on 09/09/2011

Unfortunately, even if an employee is well treated they can abuse the system as well. I work in a small family business and the young woman who worked here with me spent most of her day first on MySpace and then Facebook and her smart phone. She was treated like family. She doesn't work here anymore.

[Scribe57]

01:40 PM on 09/09/2011

So you fire family members if they aren't productive enough?

[MikeDu]

01:16 PM on 09/09/2011

Heaven forbid 'employees' should be human beings too. Look on the bright side, lower worker productivity means more workers need to be hired to do the same amount of work. This fetish for 'worker productivity' is the enemy of full employment.

[darquelourd]

03:44 PM on 09/09/2011

who the H*ll can measure productivity in jobs these days anyway? it's not like we produce widgets on an assembly line.

I just act pissed off and in a hurry whenever I see my boss. Not pissed off at him, of course, rather pissed off at being "so" busy.

[KarateKid]

01:14 PM on 09/09/2011

So can computers with Internet access. Speaking of which, I'd better get some work done today.

[miamorphos]

01:16 PM on 09/09/2011

Indeed!

[exitBxC]

03:38 PM on 08/24/2011

create a "need" then fill it. Ironic, a guy named Jobs played such a role in workplace downslide

[darquelourd]

03:45 PM on 09/09/2011

I still can't remember how we "worked" before the internet?

and I've been in the workforce since 1978

[tomeb]

07:34 PM on 08/23/2011

I hope they are.... Anyone who has revived pay cuts in the past 10 yrs is in titled to waste company time.

[Matt12]

03:51 PM on 08/23/2011

Is this another excuse to offshore jobs, or is it simply a matter of creating buzz for Harris Interactive?

[BassMonk]

03:38 PM on 08/23/2011

I think they are a symptom more than the problem.

In my experience, some people just are not productive, whether using a mobile device or not.

[ColumbiaPatricia]

01:18 PM on 09/09/2011

That is the truth ! The truly lazy will find ways to not work, electronic or otherwise.

[Body politic]

12:27 PM on 08/23/2011

OOOHHHHHHH! Don't blame it on "mobile devices".....what about wage slavery and the 5-day (8 HOURS A DAY) workweek! Just b/c folks have worked like this for decades (making it common), doesn't mean their civil rights AREN'T being (or haven't been) violated. I don't care who you hire, they will ALWAYS find ways to goof off.............and whether employers like it or not, it's rational........b/c Americans are overworked and underpaid...........reverse this and productivity will skyrocket!

[Robert SF]

06:30 PM on 08/22/2011

Frankly, I don't understand why employers allow cell phones in the first place. I've seen businesses where receptionists and clerks are constantly on their cell phones unless a client or customer is actually in front of them. And then there's the eye-rolls when they have to put the cell phone down for a moment.

[cyoohoos]

01:54 PM on 08/23/2011

Best ever. Once I went to a drive thru at McDonald's. The woman taking my money was on the cell phone yelling at someone. Didn't put the phone down to take my money, either.

[jason83]

01:16 PM on 09/09/2011

Hey she's busy and you're interrupting her conversation by being there! What do you expect her to do, provide actual customer service?!?