Why people waste time at work?
By DoctorDidi
@DoctorDidi (7018)
India
July 19, 2011 7:14am CST
A recent study shows that young employees waste more time at work The reason could be that they confuse the meaning of getting more done with spending more time at work It has been found that about one-third of such employees spend their work-time for non-work related activities because they do not have enough work to do. The solution may seem to be very easy by providing them with more tasks. But that is not a wise decision. The key component in productivity, innovation and job satisfaction is personal and professional development. So it would be better to fill the wasted time with developmental programmes to help employees grow personally and professionally. Another quarter of employees waste time at work because they feel they are not paid enough. So the employers must look into this grievance of the employees and if the allegation is true, necessary steps should be taken to satisfy them so that they can also treat the organization as their own. But the first and foremost aspect to give attention is in my opinion motivation. As for motivation, the employees are more likely to be motivated by regular praise, respect in the office, a sense of having a real voice in the organization and some level of job security. These things matter more than high wages. Do you too agree with my observations?
3 people like this
15 responses
@rappeter13 (8608)
• Romania
19 Jul 11
One of my teachers at the University has said that a study shows that the wage is only on the fourth place in the importance scale of an employee, while the appreciation and respect is the first in this scale. Personally, I think that this is true, a person needs to feel that he is valued, but this value is given also by the salary.
The person has to feel that he is an important member of the company, because we tend to work harder and with more efficiency if we feel that our work is very important and if we feel that the company is ours as well.
@hotsummer (13835)
• Philippines
19 Jul 11
i totally agree with what you said. i think that respect is more important than the amount of money that we received in our job or salary. if we gain respect and praise and appreciation for our own hard work. i am sure that we will persevere in our job despite that we may not get a raise for that job. we would be too happy to give more importance to our job if we are highly appreciated. as i think more than the money it is our satisfaction in what we are doing that we will make us work more.
@rappeter13 (8608)
• Romania
20 Jul 11
If you feel that you are appreciated, then your satisfaction is also higher. But the level of the salary can also show you how much appreciation you have in the company.
@DoctorDidi (7018)
• India
26 Jul 11
I think both respect and salary are equally important to the employee. Only a high wage without any respect is useless. Similarly only respect without a justified salary is not welcome at all to the employee.
@inertia4 (27961)
• United States
23 Jul 11
Nice, I agree with you, but unfortunately here in the US, most companies do not want to pay enough and like I say, they get what they pay for. There is no more loyalty in the jobs today. No one is considered special or a great employee. I agree with the motivation aspect and the training aspect. But, companies today do not want to pump money like that into anyone. They just want profits. But, if they looked real hard, they would find that if the employee was treated properly and trained properly and got some incentive, they would perform much better and the company would make more money. But, the corporate machine does not see it like that. So, employers and employees alike, will only put in what they get out of it.
@blue65packer (11826)
• United States
20 Jul 11
Were I work sometimes we waste time at work because we don't have alot to do! Then there are the people who waste their time bossing other people around. We also have a woman who would rather talk all day instead of work! What happens,most of the time,she has the other cook she works do everything! Sometimes it is easier for the other cook to do it then to argue with the b*tch! Some people are just lazy. Some people don't care. We have had team leader meeting in the past year. At those meetings we could not mention who the big problem was. It was our boss! Luckily after 3 years and tons of complaining to Human Services he was fired! Since then things have gotten so much better! Less stress,more fun and better work production! Hopefully our next boss won't be a pompous @ss like the other was!
@wings143 (133)
• Philippines
20 Jul 11
its alright to waste time when the employees are fast to finish their work on scheduled or at hand.its called leisure time..the work is done.time to relax..tomorrow is another day..but there also employees who love to procrastinate..who mingled work with something else..they are headaches to the employers.they should go in business..
motivation is not really the issue.its knowing what his function is.
@beingwell (3625)
• Thailand
20 Jul 11
Hi again! Well, the simple reason for this (I guess) is because they can.
Honestly though, if I were the boss, I wouldn't mind my people doing non-related work during office hours as long as they give me good results. I always look at the end products of my team. If it took them a long or short time in giving me great results is entirely up to them.
@AgentGulaman (3546)
• Philippines
20 Jul 11
Yes I do agree on this. I experience for myself that high wages are not my concern but the satisfaction and motivation in my work. Money isn't everything and I am learning to make my money work for me. With this, I don't want to work for the money but I only work because of what I do in work. I think this should be the mentality so that when they can't seem to ind any work needed to be done, they will focus on improvements or on looking for other things to do to develop themselves. Yes, I think employers should focus more on motivating their human resources and also developing them by providing trainings. They are a very important part of making the employees stay.
@sarahruthbeth22 (43143)
• United States
19 Jul 11
I agree 100%. Well see the job I have, I started when I was still living with my mom. It was to help out . The money was good but more than that I loved it. It is the kind of job I would Still want to do if I were independently wealthy. But I was welcomed in and praised my first week. As the years went by , my bosses saw I Knew what I was doing and I did it well. Now The Head Know too and she is Always willing to hear any suggestion. So You are correct. If a worker can feel a part of the company there Is a difference.
@celticeagle (159058)
• Boise, Idaho
20 Jul 11
Yes, alot of time wasters and procrastinators. I think it shows up on their evaluations though and they get demerits for it. They will never get raises or be put in high power positions because they can't be trusted to the work at hand and will be doddling around. I do agree that motivation is a good thing but they need to have some of that to keep their jobs!
@preethaanju (3000)
• India
19 Jul 11
we have a different work culture in India. In the West people are more disciplined and dedicated to their profession.They seldom waste their time and energy.In India its quite the reverse. Our employees,if not all a majority of them are not dedicated to discharging their duties.Money making is their aim and are least concerned about economic factors of productivity and efficiency.With corruption deeply rooted in our system its difficult to set ourselves high standards like the Japanese
@umabharti (3972)
• India
19 Jul 11
yes it is because they do not get sufficient work to be done in the office.And they get engaged in outside works or not related to the office work ,To give them more tasks would lead to high wages because no one would work the whole day.
Now governement employess are doing a lot of work because the strength is reducing in the Government offices.They are getting whole lot of work as well as high payout.
Private organisations do work but have sufficient time also.The pressure is same at both the places of work.
@hardworkinggurl (37063)
• United States
19 Jul 11
I find that those who waste time at work is usually related to lack of management. Management maybe there but not managing the employees appropriately. Most managers kick back and expect the office to run on its own when in fact the office needs leaders and team players.
A good manager is one who can effectively run a team as well as be a team player themselves. This will give the management person a sense of what is going on in the office as to who is wasting time intentionally and or there is a lack in duties too.
@tiffnkeat (1673)
• Singapore
19 Jul 11
You should look into Maslow's theory first. If a person cannot meet his basic needs, what good are regular praise and words of love? A person is motivated in different ways.
The fact you feel that wages don't motivate is because you have enough to fulfil the basic needs and you are looking beyond. This is not so for everyone.
@diala84 (138)
• United States
19 Jul 11
In my case one reason to slack off at work is that I am sent home when my work is complete. I try my best to find work to do to extend the time and do some tasks a little more slowly but I never spend more than a couple minutes doing stuff like checking email or going to websites to waste time unless I am waiting for a project my boss is working on for me to finish when he hands it over. I really like the job and my boss but it can be hard to support myself when I don't know how many hours I will be able to work on a given day. If I had more work to do I would do it and get more hours of work.
@zax340 (86)
• India
19 Jul 11
Some how it is still believed that it is better to be in office even if you have nothing to do. Coz Employees are over monitored. Very less importance is given to their personal life. Most of employees in todays competitive scenario are overloaded with work and they are less paid. System needs to be changed where payouts are justified with work efficiency and outcome without any time constrains.
@SomeCowgirl (32191)
• United States
19 Jul 11
When you say younger people, in my mind that means those who are supporting themselves through college by working a part time job, or aren't old enough to go to college yet. The types of jobs these people do are usually retail and so I think another key factor to lack of motivation / slacking off at work is the stress they are under and the way they are treated by customers.
I've not gone to colege so any qork I am qualified for is retail type work. It's not the funnest thing but it's something I'd rather do then go to college. In any case, I know what it's like to work in retail and how stressfulit really can be. When you get a chance you do what you can to relax because that is just how hard the work can be. It's not so much slacking off as not telling the boss you need more work.
