Currently, the concerns of business owners and managers go far beyond financial control and sales. To remain competitive and ahead of the competition, the most important aspects for companies have become efficiency, productivity, and the delivery of results by their teams.
In this scenario, one of the main problems for team managers is the excessive drop in efficiency and productivity! And this concern seems justified if we consider a study conducted by the North American portal, Salary.com , involving more than 10,000 employees in the United States. Here are some key points from the research:
More time than you think.
Given the reality of today's world, where most time is spent at work, dedicating part of the day to personal activities is common and doesn't surprise even employers, who estimated that their employees spend 1 hour/day on activities unrelated to work.
Human Resources managers, perhaps because they are closer to employees, are more pessimistic, estimating that employees spend an average of 90 minutes per day on personal activities. The problem is that the wasted time is double what business owners imagine. According to the survey, in an eight-hour workday, employees spend an average of 2 hours per day on personal activities, not including lunch breaks and other breaks.
The internet is the biggest villain!
The inefficient use of time by employees during work hours costs American companies the equivalent of US$759 billion per year. Therefore, it becomes necessary for companies to adopt measures to reduce this idle time, especially in relation to the misuse of the Internet.
As we can imagine, the Internet is the biggest cause of wasted employee time, as it was the activity cited by 44.7% of respondents. Personal internet use would cost companies something like US$330 billion per year.
Other factors also contribute to wasted time at work. The second most cited activity as consuming the most time during work is socializing with other colleagues, mentioned by 23.4% of respondents. This is followed by: managing personal finances and business (6.8%), searching for another job (1.3%), and planning personal activities (1%).
Young people waste more time
When asked about the reasons for wasting time at work, 33.2%, the majority, stated that they were idle. Just under a quarter of respondents (23.4%) claimed that they are underpaid for the work they perform, 14.7% claimed that they are distracted by other colleagues, and 12% stated that they do not have time to deal with personal matters.
An interesting finding is that age seems to influence wasted time. According to the research, employees over 50 years old lose only 30 minutes per workday; while those aged 35 to 50 spend 72 minutes/day; those aged 25 to 35 spend 96 minutes/day; and those with employees under 25 years old spend an average of 2 hours/day.
Given that the internet is the biggest culprit in terms of wasted time, it's only natural that older employees, less accustomed to its use, are the ones who waste the least time during the day on personal activities.
In your company or team, how much time do you estimate your employees waste, and what have you done to reduce this waste? Share your experience with us in the comments!
