Results from Robert Walters Survey on Work Distraction

In the eyes of many employers, the long-time enemy of workplace productivity may have been the smoke-break – but according to a recent Robert Walters global survey, the distraction caused by smoking (7%) pales in comparison to surfing the internet (28%), personal emails (22%) and the number one disruption, talkative colleagues (39%).

Mark Ellwood, managing director of Robert Walters Singapore said, “Many of us spend our day glued to a computer screen and our professional interaction with colleagues tends to rely heavily on email communication. Not only has the need for office-chatter been reduced by technology, we may now see it as a distraction from our work.”

“However, high work pressure and long hours can also mean the line between work and social-life becomes blurred. In an effort to maintain some form of social interaction it might be personal chatter that interrupts the work-flow of staff – especially those subject to the distraction of others’ conversations.”

Globally, survey results showed personal calls were the least common distraction from work (4%). Mark Ellwood said, “The trend toward web surfing (28%), including the massive popularity of online social networking, has likely taken the place of much verbal communication. Using online channels to communicate and complete personal tasks just makes it less detectable to managers and employers. These days you can appear to be engulfed in your work, when in fact you are surfing the web for a holiday or chatting with friends or even colleagues across the office.”

In comparison with global results the survey also revealed a number of local trends, for example:

• Luxemburg and Belgium were most disrupted by office chatter, with more than 60% of the local vote going to talkative colleagues. New Zealand, the United States and Hong Kong accounted at least 50% of their wasted time to talkative colleagues, and Singapore attributed this factor to be the #1 distraction.

• UK workers are the worst culprits for time-wasting with personal emails, at 36%. However, less than 10% of workers in Belgium, Hong Kong, South Africa and the United States said personal emails were their biggest distraction.

“Despite the fact we continue to find distractions from our work, by agreeing upon clear and reasonable parameters for personal time in the office, employers will ultimately keep staff happy and productivity up,” added Mark Ellwood.

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