Trying to increase productivity, many companies impose various restrictions, sometimes, rather strict, on their employees. During the last October, the Rabota.ru analytical center polled 1804 respondents, as to what restrictions were the most irritating and preventing them from working normally, coming up with the following results.
One third of all respondents (33%) complained about being unable to get leaves of absence for personal reasons. Each eighth respondent (12%), were upset about their mail and phone calls being monitored by the administration during work hours. Seven percent of all respondents had trouble coming and leaving exactly on time. Six percent complained about not being allowed to work remotely, even though their jobs allowed it. Another 6% were upset about strict dress codes. One fifth of all respondents did not like being video monitored and just as many disliked that critiques against administration were banned and there was too much red tape (they had to write memos and explanations for every little reason).
Four percent of respondents complained about their access to the Internet being restricted, so that they could not reach their social networks, messenger services, entertainment websites, etc. while at work. As many respondents did not like the prohibition of smoking at their offices. Three percent did not like strict lunch time limits. Another 3% did not like that eating at their workstations was banned. A bit less, just 2% complained about being prohibited from observing their birthdays at work. Just 1% did not like being unable to work outside work hours, flirt or drink alcohol at work.
Zulphia Yupashevskaya, director, personnel administration, BDO, thinks that companies, when imposing restrictions, should use common sense. She believes that denying a leave of absence to an employee, while a difficult project is being delivered to the client, is reasonable. Yet denying a leave of absence to the mother of a sick child may cost the company a valuable professional.
Mrs. Yupashevskaya also believes that by allowing certain employees to work remotely or follow flexible schedules the administration uses a very powerful motivational tool. This is why each situation calls for all its aspects being seriously evaluated. If, for instance, you want to save non-smokers from smoke, think about arranging a smoking room to save smokers a serious discomfort. Try paying bonuses for not smoking so as to motivate smokers to gradually quit.
As to video monitoring as well as mail and telephone calls monitoring, according to the BDO expert, security services of some companies may use such measures in order to prevent the theft or accidental leaks of confidential data. "However, employees should be told about it as early as during their job interviews", – says Mrs. Yupashevskaya. She recommends that information about video monitoring and mail/telephone calls monitoring be reflected in companies' internal normative acts. Personnel must be familiarized with those acts and sign for it. "Employees', – she continues, – "must use communications supplied by their employers as intended by their companies. This way, all misunderstandings should be avoided".
Mrs. Yupashevskaya further said that she believed direct bans to be hardly effective. Companies would be better off not using fines and punitive action but, instead, creating conditions stimulating correct behavior on the part of employees.
Source: Vedomosti.
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