(Published December 1, 2008)
Between tending to personal responsibilities, decorating for the holidays, shopping for holiday gifts, wrapping those gifts, sending holiday cards, attending parties, baking sweet treats, and, oh yeah, working, the temptation to do anything but work while at work is high.
Admittedly, I would love to spend an entire workday surfing for and buying holiday gifts instead of writing about the new Family and Medical Leave Act regs. The angel on my shoulder reminds the devil, though, that I'm not getting paid to shop. That's why I make holiday purchases only on my lunch break.
Not all employees listen to the angels on their shoulders, though. So don't be fooled! Just because they are feverishly typing away doesn't mean they are hard at work. Take the Iowa employee who was directed by her supervisor to stop writing in her personal journal at work. She complied by simply switching from handwriting her entries to typing them on her work computer. All 300 single-spaced pages of it, which chronicled her time-wasting activities.
Wrote the employee: "This typing thing seems to be doing the trick. It just looks like I am hard at work on something very important...I haven't really accomplished anything in a long while...and I am still getting paid more than I ever have at a job before, with less to do than I have ever had before. It's actually quite nice when I think of it that way. I can shop online, play games, and read message boards and still get paid for it."
After she was fired for misusing company time, she applied for unemployment benefits, but was denied because the journal demonstrated a refusal to work and her "amusement at getting away with it."
Frenzied on-the-clock typing can also be symptomatic of employees managing their fantasy football teams, playing online games, e-mailing their friends and family, or updating their MySpace or Facebook pages.
Computer access isn't the only key to looking busy when work is the last thing on employees' minds. Remember that episode of Seinfeld where George wanted to appear hard-working? He went out of his way to repeatedly frown and sigh. Others may purposely forgo ironing their wrinkled slacks or tucking in their shirts because they think if they look frazzled, then you won't question what they're doing because it's obviously something very important and integral to the company's success. Otherwise, they would have had the time to tend to their appearance.
My point is looks — and sounds — can be deceiving, especially during the holiday season when employees have more on their plates to accomplish (it's so tempting to shop for grandma instead of finishing that report!) or need some downtime (playing solitaire until winning instead of working on next year's budget is a must after a weekend of extended-family holiday celebrations!). So never hesitate to ask employees who look hard at work what they're working on. Employees who are goofing off will think twice before doing so again as they stammer to reply, and employees who are truly overloaded will appreciate you checking in with them.
Melissa V. Pomerantz
Editor
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