PLEASE VISIT OUR SPONSORS

Performance Management

Published March 2008

Downtime Management: Surfing May Not Be Slacking

 

  Kellye Whitney

We've all seen it: Employees yacking on personal calls, engaging in protracted personal e-mail sessions or indulging in a string of instant messaging. All of which seem to shout: Slacker! But these seemingly non-work related activities may be an important piece of a productive employee's workday.

The speed and scope of modern business have made issues such as cognitive health and stress management necessary topics for talent managers. New conditions such as Blackberry thumb, attention deficit trait and worries over energy depletion also are making the rounds as research surfaces to indicate downtime and play actually have value to adults — they promote high performance and stimulate brain power and creativity.

Still, it's natural for the average talent manager to raise an eyebrow when an employee is giving rapt attention to streaming online video or music downloads instead of assigned work tasks. But that may be an outdated view. As long as the employee consistently performs well, meets deadlines and adheres to the melange of other criteria that mark a high performer as such, the occasional break might be needed stress relief to ensure said high performer continues to produce at expected levels.

Present vs. Engaged, Activity vs. Accomplishment

Managing employee downtime may not require much physical work. Instead, talent managers may want to adapt their attitudes about non-work related activity to suit the changing nature of work and the modern business environment. The first step is to determine how to treat certain behaviors and decide what exactly productive and unproductive downtime are. For example, in some organizations, such as those with significant research and development functions, what looks like goofing off actually may be thinking or incubating. This may occur in organizations where lab work is common.

It's also important to consider that more and more employees today are connected 24x7, particularly if they work on a global team. High-performing employees likely know when they're most productive, and if they can be encouraged or enabled to decide how and when to work, they are generally more effective.

"If you've got a call at 6 in the morning and another one at 11 at night, in order to maintain some balance, there is a need to take some time during the day to take care of personal matters," said Jodi Starkman, COO of global consulting for ORC Worldwide. "We have a client who talked recently about how he hired this exceptionally brilliant young marketing guy, and he said, 'The guy likes to work at some place like Starbucks on an Apple computer, even though the company uses IBM. He has his own way of doing things.' He said at first he had to deal with the fact that he had preconceived notions about the way people should work, which is not necessarily sitting in the office from 9 to 5."

Flexibility and setting performance expectations are especially important when considering a formal or informal stance on non-work related activities. Talent managers must establish clear goals regarding deliverables and deadlines, be less rigid about enforcing a specific work structure and avoid watching to see who's sitting in his or her seat looking or behaving a certain way.