Many companies believe that if they ban personal internet use in the workplace they will actually be helping to improve productivity at work. A new report by PopCap Games claims the exact opposite. It is their finding that a 10-minute online break from work not only reduces stress for employees, but sharpens and refocuses the mind.
PopCap Games believes the cost of banning personal internet use in the workspace adds up to a loss of £4 billion in productivity for UK businesses. The report also found that 57% of workers prefer to skip the traditional tea-break in favor of an e-break. PopCap Games makes the case that taking a tea or smoke break has become more acceptable then taking a break by surfing online while at work.
It is PopCap Games contention that employers should introduce a ten minute e-break into the work day of their employees. PopCab Games has even setup a website to help employees campaign for such a break. An employee can visit the PopCapBreak website to anonymously lobby their boss to introduce the ten minute e-break.
Read more from the PopCap press release.
Brian’s Opinion
I absolutely love PopCap’s logic when it comes to allowing employees to surf online. If an employer is going to let someone take a smoke break I really don’t see the harm of letting them surf online for 10 minutes. The business would simply need to be able to restrict their surfing to work appropriate content. If a business is smart they will have that restriction already in place anyway.
Basically it has been proving time and time again that a happy employee is a more productive employee. If you make an employee feel like they have to sneak away to browse the internet during a 10 minute break they are more likely going to work a little less for their employer and eventually move on to a less restrictive environment. A 10 minute e-break is a small price to pay to increase employee morale and productivity.
Best of all, instituting such a break costs an employer absolutely nothing if they already have internet access for their business. Now I’m sure we can all figure out that PopCap Games has a small agenda with their report. After all, they offer casual games for download online so the more people playing online at work the more business they will get.
Tags: hdtv, gprs, dvr, Hi-fi
