Employees & Their Work Focus Degraded Substantially by Smartphone On Their Person?!!

[Carl]

Employees & Their Work Focus Degraded Substantially by Smartphone On Their Person?!!

I have a sscw, 6 handbays, 2 automatics, 2 dog wash tubs, vending machine, 2 combo vacs, 6 vacs. I pay attendants, four of them, to keep my facility clean, to keep vehicles too big for my auto bays from entering, to give great service to customers and to do real easy stuff that I ask them to take care of day-to-day. I feel like I have a good team of honest people...BUT I AM TIRING OF THEIR GETTING SO DISTRACTED FROM THEIR SMARTPHONES & all that we know smartphones can do nowadays that I admit is pretty amazing.

What policy do you have w/ your employees and their smartphones? I know a total ban of the device is extreme. I just recently had to change my modem/router and SINCE I CAUGHT ONE EMPLOYEE WATCHING STREAMING VIDEO SERIES ON HER SHIFT VIA NETFLIX whenever I was in the attic working on the attic trough hoses, texting her to test such and such bay's functions BUT INSTEAD SHE WAS WATCHING A NETFLIX TV SHOW, I've kept the Internet passcode to myself and feel my employees don't deserve the Internet and can use & pay for their own 4G usage w/o my help in letting them abuse the privilege?!!

I think it's so disrespectful, even though we've been admittedly very slow at work, to "check out" mentally from your job and watch TV like this when I am paying you well above minimum wage! But I will admit, I do not have an employee handbook so what I would think all should know in "common sense behavior", well, since it's not written in policy, I almost have no ground yet to complain...but of course I do! The other day, her boyfriend was to come by and drop off some warmer pants for her rounds but video review showed me he then stayed 75 minutes admittedly it was another very slow day but come on! And then another employee w/ his smart phone...we've been so slow I had to shut down my auto bays for the overnight so I told him to shut off the breaker switch for the in-bay lights whenever he barricaded the bays to save me a little money but guess what? Was a slower day so it appears his surfing heavily on news articles on his smartphone distracted him enough to forget my task I gave him, simple task, to TURN OFF THE FRIGGIN' BREAKER SWITCH at shift's end as instructed?!!! FAIL! It happens so frequently w/ this smartphone generation, it ticks me off more each day. Just wondering what your policy is w/ such lack of common sense as described above. These are good people who do not steal money from the business BUT FEELING LIKE THEY ARE STEALING SOMETHING ELSE FROM ME - AN HONEST DAY'S FOCUSED WORK!

Thanks for letting me rant! - Carl

 

[robert roman]

“These are good people who do not steal money from the business”

Perhaps, but they are most likely “addicted” to smart-phone usage.

Not even my 25 year old daughter and boy friend when over for dinner cannot keep from glancing at them (phones) occasionally while eating.

After dinner, its click, click and click while they get their fix.

My wife use to complain about it but now she owns one and is just as bad.

No wonder video game industry revenues are greater than carwash industry.

The last time I presented to a group, it was distracting the numbers of folks that would glance down at their phones to read or text.

Some people die because of smart phone usage.

So, how do you deal with an addict? For example, alcoholic or cigarette user who sneaks a smoke at work.

One way is to not hire them or fire them.

Otherwise, you will need to break their habit.

 

[JGinther]

Im not sure how to help you on this, but i thought i would add that i am at work right now...

 

[MEP001]

FWIW, I hate when I'm trying to get service someplace and the employee is paying more attention to their phone than to doing their job.

We tried to keep an attendant on duty but couldn't find anyone reliable. The last kid who was supposed to stay available to customers would just come in, put his feet up and spend three hours playing games on his phone. If you don't think that was theft, on his last day he came in, punched in and left, then came back and spent about ten minutes cleaning up before he punched out again.

 

[lag]

Having multiple locations, we needed to supply employees phones. We supply flip phones. The automatics send text messages when there is an issue. We can also communicate directly with an employee on site. That being said, most employees also have a personal phone.

We encountered the same issues, as you. I completely banned use of personal phones at the washes. Employees are not allowed to have them while on the clock. Period. They can be contacted in emergency on company phones.

I agree. It is theft when employees are on the clock,but not doing anything productive. We even give "lists" of work to do. Sometimes all I seem like I do is "babysit".

 

[Waxman]

i have fired employees for texting at work after being told not to.

we give employees proper breaks throughout the work day. they can text etc then.

i am on site so it is easier to police.

one tip; busy employees have less free time to be distracted. I keep a list of things to be done; washing bays/walls/windows, empty garbage, sweep lot etc.

i do not allow personal visits from friends and family. state safety reasons if anyone asks why.

 

[getnbusy]

6 months ago I had a discussion with 42 year old employee. I praised him dearly for a job well done and complimented his work. Explained that I was happy with all that when he's mentally present, and not preoccupied by the phone. Then we talked about his abuse of his phone, girlfriend visits and constant texting. I offered him a raise and 10 more hours per week, plus a new smartphone on my plan, all of which he was happy about. THe next morning, he had slipped his keys under the door. havent seen him since. He was the best employee I have ever had, until he discovered his phone

 

[MudMoney]

I've got a strict policy,company flip phones only.no visitors either,at work the employee belongs to me.No exceptions!

 

[jimbeaux]

We just hire part time help and do most of it ourselves. The ones I do hire are older, mostly retired, and happy to have something to do & earn some extra money. They don't want to play on the phone/internet. Works for us.

 

[JMMUSTANG]

Some things never change just get A LOT worse.
Back before cell phones I remember my customers telling me at the wash that they tried to call but it was busy.
So I added 2 landlines to our washes (1 phone number that flipped over to another line when first one was in use) so my customers could get through.
Then later I found out the first line was always busy because the employees spouses would call the washes all the time.
Today hardly anyone uses the landline (1 now).
Still the same problem though but worse because they all have their own cell phones.
I'm thinking of instituting a rule that all the employees have to put their cell phones in a box in the office.
Telling them that I cannot be responsible for the phones getting wet, dropped or stop working because of moisture in the tunnel or bays.
If I didn't try something I'd be firing employees all the time or they would just stop working.
Won't eliminate the problem but I'm hoping it will reduce the time their on the phone.

 

[MEP001]

Most work places like Walmart don't allow their employees to use their phones while at work at all.