Found In: Employment
Is it important for your employees to be comfortable in their work space? The obvious answer should be yes. However, a line needs to be drawn between comfortable and too comfortable. Otherwise, distractions are sure to crop up. Instead of creating productive employees, you might be creating employees who are so comfortable they forget their primary purpose should be to get their work accomplished.
Some employers have strict policies in force for break times, radio use, Internet activity, food privileges and more. Obviously, the boss has that right since it is his place of business. What’s the reason behind these policies though? Does he simply want to maintain tight control with even tighter reins or does he have something else in mind?
Other employers might have lax policies when it comes to such facets of employment as breaks, snacks, phone calls, etc. In fact, they might not restrict what an employee does or when he does it so long as he gets his work accomplished. Which type of employer is actually getting the best results?
The answer isn’t as cut and dried as you might think at first. After all, there are mitigating factors that must play a role in an employer’s decision to allow his employees to be comfortable. The type of work that needs to be accomplished is an essential facet of this policy-making decision.
Will the quality of the work be negatively impacted simply because employees are permitted their comfort while working? In some cases, the answer is going to be a straightforward yes. Sitting down on certain types of tasks will reduce the quantity of work that is produced since more can be accomplished from a standing position.
Additionally, if an employee is the type to change the radio station every five minutes, then you have a significant loss in the number of actual “working” moments each day. This is even truer if he needs to walk across the room in order to get access to the radio.
Personal phone calls can increase one’s happiness on the job since hearing form a loved one typically brightens the day. However, multiple calls in any given day or lengthy ones can significantly eat into the time that is meant for work production.
The picture that should be opening up for you at this point is that comfort in moderation is probably a good facet for any type of employment. Maintaining the happiness of your employees is after all a critical facet of employee retention and productivity. Nonetheless, it is important to include a few limitations in order to safeguard the primary goals of the business- growth and profitability.
Intro: Just where should employers draw the line between comfort and too much comfort when it comes to their employees? Should employees be comfortable when on the job?
By Susan M. Keenan ©2009
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