Driven To Distraction
This month, workers haven't really had their minds completely on the big picture, bottom line or thinking outside the box.
"This month is offering a whole bevy of distractions," John Challenger, CEO at the Chicago-based employment-services firm told the DailyFinance.
Productivity is down in many workplaces of late, in part due to snowfall and ice storms mucking up the workday commute. Some firms shut down altogether due to inclement weather.
But when they are at work, employees' attention has been taxed, said Challenger, due to the Super Bowl. Whether it's chatter about expectations in the weeks ahead of the big game or the Monday-morning quarterbacking, employees are not as productive as they would otherwise be in the time before and after game day.
Politics can also put workers in neutral. Unfolding events in Egypt, with a massive government uprising, have also been eating into productivity. And the sources of distraction can be myriad. From news reports on TV to first-hand accounts broadcast via Twitter to friends posting messages of concern on Facebook, they conspire to keep workers' attention away from the job at hand.
Where sports events or political issues don't prevent employees from physically coming to work in most cases, telecommuting can help ease the productivity strain of company snow days. And impact of distracted workers has a short-term effect, so workplaces instituting work-from-home days for Super Bowl hangovers is unlikely.
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments