New research reveals that wasting time on social media at work could cost the UK £25.8 billion annually, or £824 per employee.
The study from OfficeBroker.com showed that 35% of staff admit to spending over an hour daily on Facebook at work.
But while it is easy to point the finger at employees and moan about them wasting company time, organisations must also take some responsibility for ensuring employees know what the guidelines are for social media use.
Other research suggests 73% of businesses may never tell their employees how to use social media properly. They just expect people to know what is OK and what isn’t and trust that everything will be OK.
But as with anything to do with behaviour at work, organisations should be clear and explicit about what is appropriate and inappropriate.
The following steps will help to manage inappropriate use…
Having a policy on social media use is only the first step; giving employees a chance to question, discuss and understand it is the far more powerful step and will minimise the sort of time wasting highlighted in the survey and the “difficult conversations” which may need to follow to manage the offending employees.
For more guidelines on managing any inappropriate behaviour at work see our workshops and case studies.
Or contact us for a chat about how we can support the roll out of a policy or develop your managers’ confidence in dealing with inappropriate behaviour at work.
The way we behave towards each other in the workplace has a direct impact on individual wellbeing, team performance and organisational results. This belief has underpinned our work at Focal Point for over 20 years and has never been more relevant. We are privileged to work with a huge variety of organisations wanting to get workplace behaviour and culture right - and to tackle the inappropriate behaviour that may get in the way of this. Supported by our fantastic team of facilitators and coaches, we are able to make a real difference to peoples’ lives as well as organisational performance. Having worked in both large businesses at management level and in 2 start ups at director level, I am able to combine hands on experience of growing and managing teams - and the associated challenges in creating the right culture - with over 20 years in learning and development. I hold the Certificate in Training Practice and am a member of CIPD. When I am not supporting clients or developing the Focal Point business, you will find me in a calming yoga class...