Corporate Expectations Outdated and Overruled.

I usually do not have much writing on this blog, I try and stick to visual appeal - but I have a bit of a rant, or opinion rather, that I would like to share. 

I have been reading a lot of articles lately and one topic keeps coming up: Employees slacking off at work - what is realistic, what is wrong, and what is necessary.

According to Inc.com the average employee wastes 20% of their workday doing something else, whether that be daydreaming, facebooking, or doodling eyeballs on their notepad (guilty!) Of these 'lackluster' employees, the ones who wasted the most time were 20 - 29 years in age, and as employees get older, that amount of wasted time got smaller.

So what's the problem? Traditionalist corporations frustrated that they are seemingly paying you to surf the web? 

Quite the contrary. If we are speaking of full-time, salaried employees - then the fact that only 2 hours of a 8 hour workday is being used to have some downtime seems like a good thing. Since the employee is not paid hourly, you want their overall, long-term performance to be high, rather than an employee paid hourly to enter data vigorously into a system. 

Let's take us all back to high school for a minute, we were taught to study in spurts - 90 minutes of studying with a 20 minute break in between (or whatever ratio worked best for you). The same principle applies to employees sitting in front of a computer all day. Why would breaks benefit us? Breaks keep us from getting bored, and thus, unfocused. Being able to write a personal email, check your facebook messages, or simply read a funny article can completely recharge the brain helping you stay on task when you return to work. Without any downtime to refresh and recharge, we're less efficient, make more mistakes, and get less engaged with what we are doing, according to bufferopen.com. 

Moreover, a happy worker is a productive worker. No one wants to feel like they are trapped in a box, and being examined under a microscope at all times. Employees should feel trusted. As long as they are producing quality work- they should be trusted to get it done in what ever manner, or what ever time frame best suites their lifestyle. 

Here come the Millennials (Millennials are also known as Generation Y, reaching adulthood in the early 2000's). The under-30 crowd seems to be at the center for the revolutionary way of thinking -- Can you work anywhere, for however long, and still be a valued employee? 

Well, Gen-Y is proving yes! Luckily, the stereotype of the 'lazy millennial' is dying down and employers are realizing - we are ready to work! We want a challenge - we want motivation! Millennials grew up a different way than any of their predecessors - we grew up multi-tasking. The younger generation is used to doing many things at once, with a lot of distractions, according to Inc.com. When we don't receive instant results - we get bored and move on to a new task. Developing systems with flexibility will be how corporations engage this new set of future leaders.

So instead of punishing your employees for the occasional daydreaming - or assuming they are not motivated due to a few Buzzfeed articles - Understand that they can do it all! Trust us until we give you a reason not to! Remember, we spend one-third of our human lives at work - shouldn't we find some way to enjoy it?

Thanks for listening.

xo

H