Posted

To say that the topic of cell phone use in a company is not a bit of a tight rope walk would be an understatement. On the one hand, you’d probably rather your employees make emergency or personal calls on their own dime. On the other hand, do you want them taking advantage of using their cell phone while clocked in on your dime? WorkSource has put together some easy ways to allow cell phone use without being taken advantage of.

Where are the disadvantages of cell phone use?

Cell phones have become the oxygen many breathe, sadly to say. While the functions a cell phone performs can be crucial to multi-tasking and organizing, they can also be a way for employees to play games, watch T.V. or videos, or spend half their work day “chatting” via text. Other disadvantages include confidentiality laws. With one click of a button, your confidential documents, sales sheets, contract bids and so on become public property within seconds. Before allowing free cell phone use, take a look at your company and what type of cell phone use will be allowed.

Understand company tolerances.

Before making a cell phone policy for your company, think about where it is your work. If you are on a construction site, things like texting, games and music should probably be prohibited. You need your employees to be fully aware of their surroundings when working in or around heavy machinery. If your company works heavily in marketing or social media, then your employees may need access to their cell phones to help post tweets, Facebook messages, blogs or other social media related activity. Also, graveyard shifts need to be considered as well. For those working overnights, allowing music from cell phones (without ear plugs and at low volume) may be considered appropriate. Research shows that music and reading material helps keep the brain active and the body awake.

Create a cell phone policy.

While cell phones can be a nuisance, in today’s society, they are pretty much integrated into every aspect of daily life. With that in mind, coming up with a cell phone policy at your company is one way to allow usage without it disrupting your business. To start, make sure managers and human resource staff is involved in all aspects of policy creation. Once this step is done, the next step involves asking some very important questions. First- why are you considering a cell phone policy to begin with? Are there current situations within your company environment that warrant issuing a cell phone policy? Second- is there already a policy in place that can be updated? Third- how do we tailor this policy so that it fits with the nature and culture of our business? Fourth- what mobile capabilities do our employees need? For example, do you have employees that drive trucks long distances, run deliver routes or have to be at various construction sites to oversee projects? Once these basic questions are answered, then you can start implementing the nitty-gritty details like: when to keep a cell phone on vibrate or low volume, letting some calls go to voicemail, applying confidentiality rules that follow standard company policies and using appropriate language if answering a call during work hours.

WorkSource understands the value of your time and that of your staff.

Our staff is highly experienced in handling your work needs. Contact the experienced workforce management team at WorkSource today and learn how we can help you!

Leave a Reply

  • (will not be published)