Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Cyberloafing as a Workplace Motivator

Are you a workplace deviant? If you spend any office time playing around on the electronic highway, you're in very good company. You may even earn a raise from it, too.

Cyberloafing, defined as nonwork-related Internet use while on the clock, is slowly losing its reputation as a productivity zapper and being embraced as a 20-minute power 'nap' of workplace motivation. Depending on the source, cyberloafing activities consume up to 3 hours of each workday that are otherwise used to boost the company's bottom line. Well, maybe in theory. More cutting edge research continues to illustrate how cyberloafing is not merely a one-way street of organizational idleness but an activity that has some pretty impressive impact on improving motivation.

Win/Win
There's a big difference between stealing a few moments of psychological engagement and making a career out of bamboozling the boss. Cyberloafing run amok can account for up to 24% of each worker's daily output, according to Schings. Yet as with anything applied in excess, this misuse detracts from what studies now prove is profit margin-friendly behavior. Web browsing "gives employees a temporal escape from work stress. This temporal escape allows employees to recharge, and in the recharging process they experienced positive affect. Positive affect in turn provides the resources necessary for work fulfillment."

Contemporary companies are caught between two harsh realities -- skyrocketing operating costs and significant job downsizing -- which place tremendous weight upon the better/faster/cheaper equation. Quickly coming to light is how an hour of daily cyberloafing is far less detrimental than having workers call in sick or use mental health days.

Some HR departments try to head off these tendencies by sponsoring stress management courses, but such structured outlets may not be nearly as effective (in cost or success) as simply letting people decompress through mindless Web surfing. Wouldn't it be simpler for workers to do a little online shopping, catch up on news or visit social networks instead of companies paying for highly complex and often unsuccessful corporate approaches? 
In short, Schings says make it a tool for greater productivity by curbing "detrimental cyberloafing such as e-mailing while [allowing] some Web browsing...as a coping strategy against work stress."


Cyberloafer photo from Men's Health.

1 comment:

  1. I do what I can to keep this balance! My job is pretty stressful!
    Lisa Y

    ReplyDelete