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Millennial Office Cellphone Policy

8,099 Views | 49 Replies | Last: 7 yr ago by Kool
Kool
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Has anybody who owns or manages a business ever successfully instituted a cellphone policy that was not draconian yet effective? I have three millennials who work for me, and texting on their cellphones is as much a part of their workday as is breathing. The desktop or laptop is on and working, but the phone is in front of them and it is hours a day spent on those devices. We had a problem with one of the employees doing live chats on the desktop, but that was shut down. In my old office, the manager once went around and took up cellphones and put them into a box and wouldn't give them out until the end of the day. I thought we were going to have violent protests break out at that point, and she realized her folly. Is this just part of the deal with hiring millennials, or are there policies that work? Thanks
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M.C. Swag
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Are they getting their work done? If they are, it means they aren't being asked to do enough. Put more on their plate.
Duncan Idaho
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Adding on this or they exempt or non-exempt cuz if they're exempt who cares?
JobSecurity
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jamey
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Start the writeup process for excessive non work related activity


Then fire the worst offender if it gets to that point.

It may take a little while but you'll eventually end up within whatever limits and exlectations you set. Just try and make it something you can quantify to some.degree



Kool
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M.C. Swag said:

Are they getting their work done? If they are, it means they aren't being asked to do enough. Put more on their plate.
I know this may sound like a cop-out, but there isn't a straightforward answer to your question. In some cases, they definitely don't get their work done and it gets pushed to the next day or someone else ends up picking up the slack. There is definitely a loss of productivity in my office due to cellphone and social media usage. I am a physician, so there is a lot of stop-and-start work in my office. My office manager is a millennial as well, but she is absolutely amazing and doesn't spend her every unsupervised moment texting, checking Facebook, receiving Instagrams, etc. She is able to police the cellphone usage somewhat, but she has work that she has to do as well and she isn't hired to be a babysitter. She did close down some of the online chat sites the others were using, which helped to a degree.

The current problem I am seeing with cellphone and social media usage isn't new to me, it's just worse than what I have been used to. I have two millennials who sit at the front desk. The office manager gives them "extra" work -sometimes it gets done, sometimes it doesn't - mostly what happens is that less gets done than what should be done. One of these employees is part-time, so not getting her work done during the day doesn't result in overtime pay. The other employee occasionally gets overtime pay, but I am OK with that - as a physician my hours can go beyond normal hours and that's just part of the deal. Of the front-desk employees, the worse offender is probably the better employee of the two. I hate to sound like the crabby old man yelling at kids to get off of his lawn, but I wondered if other business owners have had similar experiences and had practical solutions other than firing people. Gambling on the next hire and retraining them is not without its perils as well. Thanks for the responses.
No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. See full Medical Disclaimer.
gam 15
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Just make sure your "cell phone at work" policy is equally as strict as your "TexAgs at work" policy.
NorthsideAg
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If they are not getting their work done, address that issue, and don't bring up the cell phones at all. If they care about keeping the job, they will find a way to get their work done, whether that be spending less time on their cell phone or just working twice as hard when they are working.

If they ARE getting their work done, you shouldn't worry about the cell phones. With your talk about online chat rooms and such on the computer that you have already shut down, it's pretty clear they will find another something else if you take away the cell phones. People were distracting themselves at work in other ways before cell phones, and will always find something else to do if they aren't challenged enough or are getting all their work done.

If just seeing people on their cell phone is what bothers you because to you its a more obvious show of not doing work than sitting around a water cooler or doodling on a notepad or whatever previous generations did to avoid work, then change your mindset.

My dad was a top manager of a top region for his job and retired before smartphones were even around. His advice for me entering the workforce was that for a (non manual labor) 8 hour work day, people who on average do 4 hours of actual work are average employees, those who average 6 hours are great employees, and those who average 8 are liars. People don't change, they just have different distractions.
M.C. Swag
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Quote:

If they are not getting their work done, address that issue, and don't bring up the cell phones at all.
^THIS. They either aren't getting their work done, or they are. You don't need to fix their behavior, you just need to ensure their results. If they aren't delivering to the standards or expectations laid out for them, that's a performance issue, not a cell phone abuse issue.
Ag2012
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So much this. The younger employees in my office were more prone to being on their phones, but the older ones were more prone to wander around the office chatting about nothing in particular or hitting on the female millenials.

Make this about productivity, not about cell phone usage. People are either doing their work or they're not and there should be clear cut consequences if they're not. Make your expectations clear and the consequences clear.
Kool
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gam 15 said:

Just make sure your "cell phone at work" policy is equally as strict as your "TexAgs at work" policy.
The policy for "TexAgs at work" goes something like, "When I am on TexAgs at work, I receive no pay for being on TexAgs at work". It's draconian, but quite easy to enforce.
No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. See full Medical Disclaimer.
Ragoo
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What about the old people who leave their desk to get a cup of coffee, take the elevator downstairs, stroll across the parking lot for a 15 minute smoke break every 2 hours?

I know more people 40+ who do this than sub 35.
JobSecurity
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If you make your office so strict people are afraid to check their phones you'll lose the good employees you have as well as the bad.
ORAggieFan
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If you worry about performance and doing the job rather than the distractions you'd be better off. Too many different types of distractions.
Camo
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You lock my phone in a box I will punch you in the throat.

But also, I feel the kind of company which has to do that isn't the kind of company getting the best applicants, jus sayin
Camo
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Ragoo said:

What about the old people who leave their desk to get a cup of coffee, take the elevator downstairs, stroll across the parking lot for a 15 minute smoke break every 2 hours?

I know more people 40+ who do this than sub 35.


Also this for god sakes, if some jack wagon can go take a 15 min smoke break. Why can't a millennial take a "text" break. Yea it sounds irrational but technically it's equivalent.

ATM9000
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The difference is focus. If I have an employee leaving for a smoke break or coffee, I hope o can count on them to do a bunch of uninterrupted work when they are on the desk. Constantly text messaging, you are starting and stopping... focus won't be there.

I've got 5 people that report to me in 2 different offices. I would NEVER implement a no phone policy but have had no problem telling 1 or 2 of them that I think their phones are distractions to them. I have also implemented a no phones during meetings policy... because it's both rude and I find listening drops immensely when the phone is right there.
ORAggieFan
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I think setting office goals is a good aim. No phknes during meetings is great. I'm working on no phones during calls (I'm on calls all the time. Although no phknes on calls is hilarious to think about).
10andBOUNCE
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Plenty of non millennial folks in our office are tethered to their phones. Lady in the office next to me is always bringing "funny memes" over. I hate how it's a stereotypical millennial thing. Heck, my mom has her dang phone on Facebook all the time.
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mhayden
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And there you were not caring what everyone else was doing and just enjoying the moment...
Kool
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Camo said:

You lock my phone in a box I will punch you in the throat.

But also, I feel the kind of company which has to do that isn't the kind of company getting the best applicants, jus sayin
The manager who went around and collected everyone's cell phones was in charge of a practice that I left. The founding partner of the group was one of the worst human beings I have ever come across, and the attitudes flowed downhill from there. After over $300,000 in consultant fees, attorney fees, and pay earned but not rendered to me by that company, I am out and on my own. As a tribute to the difference between my style and that office's style, I never had to advertise for a position - I had loads of employees asking to work with me, even though the corporate attorney tried to sue me for loss of fiduciary duty to the corporation if I spoke to employees during my 140-day Notice period. (Long story, I won, they lost ).

My aim is to set up a more friendly company, but one that is efficient. I have noticed the cell phone and social media issue to be really problematic, maybe I am alone in this and maybe I am not. My worst offender was a 31-year-old Ph.D. audiologist who had a side business and had 10,000 Facebook followers. She was late to work every day, sometimes as late as an hour and a half, and constantly hid in the supply room so that she could text and answer her Facebook followers without being seen. She was well-paid and her husband was a physician - she should certainly have known better than to treat the job the way she did. Needless to say, I allowed her to resign and she is no longer my problem.

Going through TAMU then med school, residency, and fellowship gave me absolutely zero business training, save for an accounting class that I took during summer school. I appreciate the responses that I get from fellow Ags who might have insight into a problem that I am having in my office.
No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. See full Medical Disclaimer.
Harkrider 93
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My wife works for a place that demands no cell phone usage or emails during work. I get the overall issue, but at some point you have to trust your employees judgment on this or realize you hired wrong.

I have worked with teenagers quite a bit and have always told them how simple it is to move up in this world. All you have to do is work harder than the average person and you will be recognized. Look around at your competition. It isn't hard to outperform.
TRADUCTOR
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They are stealing from you, nut up and shut it down. OR just factor-in the loss.
permabull
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ebdb_bnb
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It's your business, right? You need to have a discussion with all employees. Something along the lines of "This is what I've noticed, it needs to stop." Good luck.
DannyDuberstein
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M.C. Swag said:

Are they getting their work done? If they are, it means they aren't being asked to do enough. Put more on their plate.
This. I really don't give a crap what people do as long as they are getting the job done well. If I saw this type of behavior, I take it as an easy read that they have some capacity and I could push more to them.
DannyDuberstein
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jake2011 said:

The amount of time people are on their phones these days is mind boggling. I was just on a ski trip and every millennial and many adults (mostly females) would whip out their phone immediately after getting on the ski lift. I mean you are in a gorgeous place in the mountains and you are more concerned about looking at your phone to see what Suzie posted on facebook about her kid. All anyone cares about these days is what everyone else is doing.
Sadly, while driving through Colorado last summer to spend some time in Breckenridge and our service is getting interrupted by mountains, my kids are in the backseat chanting "LTE vacations! LTE vacations!"
CapCity12thMan
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just give them the perception vs. reality speech. If you can offer some real examples of where something did not meet expectations and/or failed to back it up. Something like "the perception is everyone is always on their phones, and not being focused on their work. The reality is, we had X% less revenue last year/quarter, or we lost the Y project"...something along those lines. Not pointing out anyone individually and not being accusatory - just seeing things at a high level but with facts to back up your argument.

FriendlyAg
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Camo said:

You lock my phone in a box I will punch you in the throat.

But also, I feel the kind of company which has to do that isn't the kind of company getting the best applicants, jus sayin

I am a high producer, but if you micro manage me and take away my cell phone at work, I will find another employer ASAP.

If you fire people for not doing their job, then it shouldn't matter. If they are doing their job and they are also using their cell phones, who cares. I can understand if you would be upset if they did it in front of clients, but if there is a slow moment in the office, why do you care if they are texting?

As others have said, the distractions just change. They will read articles online or talk to their co-workers or stare at the computer and pretend to work. Keeping people motivate is just as much about keeping them happy and enjoying their work.
hangman
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Just let them know extended time on the cell phone can reflect poorly on them to management. Offshore I would read books on my larger cell phone while other older guys read a physical book during slower times. Just the act of it being a cell phone made it seem more unproductive to others. If they do a good job and get the work done I would say it's okay but any smart person might stop and switch to a more socially acceptable form of wasting time like visiting coworkers and talking. I think letting people know how it is perceived as lazy and unfocused could help change their behavior.
silent majority
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A millennial can be on their phone all day and still gey twice the work done than a boomer or gen x can.
Kool
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https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/286794
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-power-prime/201103/technology-myth-multitasking

It is nearly universal to overestimate one's own abilities. Myself included. But multitasking is a fallacy. In my business, mistakes are really bad.
No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. See full Medical Disclaimer.
The Wonderer
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If salary, you hired them to do a job. If it's done, then don't question it and leave it alone.

We work differently than you. I'm usually streaming a movie or tv or music while working because that's how I've always been and I produce work product faster than anyone in my office. Mess with my routine and my productivity goes down.

If hourly, then that's a different story as your are paying for time and time should be productive.
rlb28
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Cell phone use was a problem at my office, but we shut it down. Customers don't like to see cell phones out - they feel like they aren't being helped the best they could be. Our employees are told that if they need to make a call or have someone call them they can use the office land line.

As one poster on this thread said "everyone has their own distractions". And now it turned to FB, Twitter, email, etc...

Our sales growth has been tremendous in the last five years, so I sit in my office and try to take deep breaths from time to time. I'm 47 years old and I catch myself doing the same stuff the millennials are doing, only I'm the boss.
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