Do you have a personal phone use policy for your workplace?

Most of us have a personal mobile phone and keep it with us all the time.  Some surveys suggest that we reach for our mobile phone up to 58 times a day, spending on average 3 hours a day on our phones.

So what amount of use is acceptable in the workplace? 

This does vary depending on the industry and type of job, so how do you make it clear to your employees and contractors what is acceptable?

Personal phone use policies that are read and agreed to by all staff ensure consistency and fairness, and gives a basis for enforcement when company policies are referenced in employment or contractor agreements.

Here are some tips on what to include:

• The scope of the policy, eg employees, contractors and temporary staff while performing work related duties
• What are the restrictions, eg personal use only during designated breaks, or no personal use when customer facing, in a production environment, or around heavy machinery
• Safety considerations, eg must be hands free while driving
• Phone call etiquette. Eg keeping your phone on silent/vibrate, stepping out to take your call so not to interrupt others
• Security considerations, eg making sure phones are regularly updated and have password protection if also used for work purposes
• Exceptions to the policy, eg on call, family emergencies
• What actions will be taken if there is a breach of the policy, eg disciplinary action

Once you have documented your policy, it is important to get all staff affected to agree to the policy and to acknowledge their understanding. Get the team involved with writing the policy if you think you will get some resistance.  Ask them to suggest what a fair policy looks like.

This policy then forms part of your company policy and procedures manual that should be reviewed at least annually and discussed with your staff as a gentle reminder of what they agreed to.

Having a fair policy in place can eliminate complaints on how much another employee is spending on their phone, increase productivity and improve safety standards. 

Thanks for subscribing to my newsletter. I hope you have found it helpful.  If this is a topic you would like to learn more about, please get in touch.  Feel free to forward this newsletter to others.

Ann Gibbard - Oxygen8 Consulting

ann@oxygen8.co.nz

021 682 014