Social media and productivity

Caroline Mboijana. PHOTO/FILE 

What you need to know:

  • The employee will still have access to social media via their own data network. The key question to ask yourself is whether the job holder values the work they are responsible for and whether he recognises the importance of delivering on his objectives?

Dear Caroline,

I have an employee who is always on social media. He checks Facebook as if his life depends on it. If not Facebook, it is Instagram. This social media addiction is affecting his productivity. I have talked to him countless times but he shows no sign of prioritising his work. What should I do?Sarah

Hi  Sarah,

This is a common challenge that employers have to address. The cost of data is now more affordable than it used to be and in many cases, employees have access to the internet via their office network. There are some organisations that will centrally block social media from their office network. While this may seem like the ideal solution, it is only temporary. 

The employee will still have access to social media via their own data network. The key question to ask yourself is whether the job holder values the work they are responsible for and whether he recognises the importance of delivering on his objectives?

My advice is to speak with him again and since his distraction is affecting his productivity, he needs to be aware that this distraction and failure to perform now falls into the category of a performance issue.

It is important that you highlight where his performance is failing to meet expectations and come to an agreement on how, with your support,  he is going to improve. In addition, I will suggest you revisit the role, its scope, and deliverables. You may find the role is repetitive and mundane, hence perceived as boring by the employee; or it may be complicated and difficult that the employee is avoiding to address the challenges. 

In either case, you may need to rewrite the job description with the appropriate goals and KPI’s, which must be shared with the employee so he has clarity of what is expected of him.

Furthermore, I also would re-assess the job, person fit the employee to the role, which may result in unmet expectations, as well as a poor fit that will motivate him to transition out of the role and consequently, you have to identify a more suitable person for the role.

Caroline Mboijana,

Managing Director, The Leadership Team (U)  [email protected]