Looking for policy on use of phone, email etc. at work

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Erle Dardick on September 26, 2008 at 8:52pm

Mel:

I think in this day and age, you are fighting a real uphill battle. I believe a way to go might be to give "extra" cellphone, text message and email breaks, in addition to their regular breaks on their shift.

You will not only "control" the problem better in the sense that they can do it when it is good for you, but you will be viewed as a hero by your employees. I think.... Interesting issue in today's day ..... I am assuming we are discussing shift workers here and not office workers?

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Non-OperatorPermalink Reply by Mel Kleiman on September 27, 2008 at 6:12am

Erie great comments and thanks a lot for in input and ideas. I agree with you completely.

My question is why would the policy treat shift workers different than it does office workers?

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Permalink Reply by Erle Dardick on September 27, 2008 at 8:35am

Good Question. I would propose that the reason is that office workers are more task oriented and that their time may not be directly related to serving customers, or execution. At the end of the day, it is your customers that you want to worry about here....

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Non-OperatorPermalink Reply by Mel Kleiman on September 27, 2008 at 12:00pm

I think more than a question of customer service it is an overall question of productivity. I think the problem is that we seem to treat frontline/hourly workers as someone who needs to be controlled and those people who work in the office as those who can be left on their own. I disagree totally with that philosophy.

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Permalink Reply by Erle Dardick on September 27, 2008 at 1:53pm

interesting challenge for sure. It is not a question of "controlling" per se. It is more to do with customer facing staff vs. non, in my opinion. We can agree to disagree... that's what makes FohBoh so great.

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Non-OperatorPermalink Reply by Adam New on September 30, 2008 at 10:28am

Mel:

This really is a difficult one today. Particularly if you employ a number of younger employees. On a previous project that had 8 kitchens, 165 employees, and was about 75% under the age of 25 we tried a lot of different policies, notes, flyers, and constant verbal communication. Finally we settled on this -- plain and simple. This was a professional sports environment.

Cell Phones
Cell Phones are NOT permitted to be used while working.

It really is amazing how communication has changed and it is truly amazing to see the skill that young folks have developed when sending text messages and communicating on their cell phones. It is however, very distracting and should never happen in the presence of a customer.

Best of luck to you.

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Non-OperatorPermalink Reply by Mel Kleiman on September 30, 2008 at 9:47pm

Thanks Adam this helps a lot and makes it simple No cell phones at work. Got it.

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Permalink Reply by Amy Leclercq on January 28, 2009 at 3:08pm

I bet there are no cell phones allowed in the Magic Kingdom of Disney. Young people working w/o cell phones. It is possible.

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Non-OperatorPermalink Reply by Mel Kleiman on January 28, 2009 at 4:31pm

I like your approach. Sometimes/most of the time we make things too complex.

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Permalink Reply by Janet on March 28, 2009 at 1:29am

at my store we have sighns hung up that say " no cell phones, no exceptions" We write people up and take away phones. This seems to have at least made them all better at hiding it. I think that being consistant is the real key.

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Permalink Reply by Jim on March 30, 2009 at 11:27am

"No cell phones while on duty.
You may use your cell phones while on break.
Anyone observed using a cell phone while on duty will have it confiscated.
If it becomes a continuous problem, you will face further disciplinary action up to or including termination."

Most people get the picture right off the bat.
A couple need to have their phones taken before they get a clue.
I've let one person go because of this...3 confiscations and write-ups, but they still felt the need to send sweet nothings to their girlfriend while they were on the line.
Ahhh, young love, the downfall of mankind.

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