Mobiles in the workplace.

ByTheSea2019

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Those are exactly the kind of messages that should go to your manager, who organises safe travel to the hospital for you, and cover for your job. There are plenty of workers who cannot simply walk out, no matter what the personal emergency is.

Those messages go to your manager through you and you control the level of private detail about your family the manager gets. You are not a schoolchild with someone ringing up to tell the teacher something about you, all over your head. That's degrading for adults.

Management being supportive is great but you do not want the company taking over complete responsibility for handling peoples personal emergencies, by controlling the contact.

A receptionist can't find the employee in the building. They then get a message muddled up. They leave something out of the message. The employee when they do get the message, is frantic because they want to know X. The receptionist didn't ask X because they didn't think of it/it's a private matter that's none of their business. The employee can't get back in contact because whoever called is driving to a hospital etc.

OMM 0000

I don't agree with putting phones in boxes. There's an easier way to handle this through disciplining people. It's an employers market right now so there's no need to tolerate people who are not doing their job and not following basic instructions.

Obviously I have no problem with the odd message or phone call.

KevRossi

It depends on what you are doing. Two examples in places where I worked with chronic phone users;

1. 250 boxes with new chairs to be moved, up a few steps then on a trolley about 40m, then up a few steps, then another trolley for 30m.
5 men so each would do 50 boxes. 1 always on the phone, standing there, or barely walking along, he probably did 25 boxes all day. The rest of us pick up his slack and end out doing nearly 57 boxes each, or about 2-3 times what he did. If he wasn't on the phone, he was in the jacks, or trying to show us the latest meme or shlt on youtube. That leaves a bad atmosphere.

2 Last place I worked in was in sales. 3 on each team. One fella always fcuking around with his phone, he got 50% of the leads of the other two, but got the same commission at the end of each month. I left when they wouldn't move him.

Yeah it treats us like kids, but in some places it's just needed and the other 80% suffer.

For those going on about kids emergencies, well there are other options like ringing the bloody office. It's always 'won't someone think of the brats'. Stay at home if you're so worried about an emergency. And obviously there should be exceptions for someone where family member is seriously ill, or just get a phone with no internet ability.

Mrs OBumble

Princess Calla wrote: »

So a manager would be fielding calls from numerous creches (my team alone has 8 creche using parents) when they ring to advise the child has a temperature and they are going to administer calpol? Plus discussing a child's details with a third party??? Best of luck with that, I can't see any manager wanting that hassle.

If the manager can't be contacted the next inline is company director....jesus talk about creating unnecessary work !

Those aren't emergencies, and can wait for your break. Message would just be "call Janet on 1234567", no need to say what it's about.

Princess Calla

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Those aren't emergencies, and can wait for your break. Message would just be "call Janet on 1234567", no need to say what it's about.

A child running a temperature is an emergency, children can deteriorate very quickly.

Oscar Madison

They're the burning cigarette in a no smoking area!

kippy

Everyone here is getting punished the the actions of what (appears to be) the few.
Instead of the few being brought into line to resolve the issue.
It's a pity grown adults need to:
Have a complete lack of understanding of their responsibilities in the workplace (those who consistently use their mobiles)
but also a complete failure of management that cannot control the situation.

Mrs OBumble

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Those are exactly the kind of messages that should go to your manager, who organises safe travel to the hospital for you, and cover for your job. There are plenty of workers who cannot simply walk out, no matter what the personal emergency is.

There is nothing more important than your child. Nothing.

I work to live, not live to work.

antimatterx

Sam Hain wrote: »

I don't think you're really being honest.

I really would. I'm a developer, I'd have a new job within a month.

Why do you think salaries are so high? There's a huge demand for developers.

paddy19

This problem is a lot older than mobile phones.
People have been acting the maggot and not pulling their weight since the industrial revolution.

Boxes are a cop out.
This is a management problem.

First rule is you have to meet your targets.
If you are not hitting your targets you start getting a lot of attention.

A team not hitting targets and someone is nattering on a mobile gets very fast feedback.

A team meeting their targets and someone nattering on a mobile means the targets are too easy.

Make targets more aggressive.

Follow this process for a couple of months and Johnny the mobile Natterer will get the message very fast.

0lddog

greenspurs wrote: »

...Surely this kind of rule is commonplace in workplaces?

Many places just dont allow them at all.

Apart from time wasting they are a safety issue in production / warehouse environment, cameras are a security issue in some environments, hotspot capability and large memory capacity opens up a pandoras box of data security issues.

twowheelsonly

kippy wrote: »

Everyone here is getting punished the the actions of what (appears to be) the few.
Instead of the few being brought into line to resolve the issue.
It's a pity grown adults need to:
Have a complete lack of understanding of their responsibilities in the workplace (those who consistently use their mobiles)
but also a complete failure of management that cannot control the situation.

The danger is that it's only going to get worse as more and more young people enter the workforce (as has been happening already). If they don't clamp down now then it becomes a bigger issue as time goes on.
At the moment it's probably a minority causing the issue by dawdling on their phones for half the day but that can very quickly become a substantial number and can affect productivity as well as piss off those staff that don't spend half the day on their phones i.e. they go to work to do what they get paid for.

If you deliberately bring a phone into my place of work you get sacked. End of story. I work in a Prison so that's slightly different but somehow we all manage to make it through the day without the world caving in. Emergency family calls etc come in the very very odd time and somehow the person concerned can always be contacted and a message passed on regardless of what area they're working in or what meeting they might be at.

Eoin

This all sounds a bit silly. If they don't have a good way of measuring productivity, then that's a glaring issue right there. Dossers will find a different way to doss.

Saying that managers should be responsible for fielding their staff's emergency calls and deciding the next steps sounds absolutely mental to me.

Mrs OBumble

Niner leprauchan wrote: »

There is nothing more important than your child. Nothing.

I work to live, not live to work.

If you're a surgeon or a theatre nurse or a teacher, guard (in some roles), pilot, train driver, air-traffic controller, prison guard, even a motorway toll-booth operator, then you CANNOT just leave the job because you get a phone call about a family emergency. No matter what is important to you. Because if you do, quite likely other people will suffer severe consequences or perhaps even die.

If properly run, these companies have protocols for how family emergency calls should be placed, and part of induction is getting you to tell relevant people about these.

MrMusician18

These kind of policies just lead to reduced morale and higher staff turnover.

That's fine, is that's the aim.

Strumms

Nothing more frustrating then working with a tulip who is constantly messaging, talking.. “sorry, I just HAVE to take this” then to be seen roaring laughing like a fûckin empty headed chimp for five minutes.... what was so critical and important that you HAD to take it again ?

I worked with one girl who wore it like an ‘ I can’t help if I’m popular ‘ badge of honor... our work list increasing , hers the same but unfinished and then has the cheek.. “ sorry I’m a little behind , can anybody take the PM statistical report from me ? “. Rest of us ... ‘NO’..

I’m not for your personal property being locked away, I’m though for management, heaven forbid, ‘managing’ employees...

If you have a ‘no personal calls and phones on silent’ policy.. fücking enforce it, penalize the piss takers, discipline them, the fûck are you getting my phone though, the labour court would be interesting for that.

twowheelsonly

MrMusician18 wrote: »

These kind of policies just lead to reduced morale and higher staff turnover.

That's fine, is that's the aim.

Doing your work whilst you look at the ape next to you whiling away his day on the phone doesn't do much for morale either if management do nothing to clamp down on it.

myNewName

So if my child has a fall- a bump to the head and needs to go to the hospital, the call comes to reception, receptionist has to come find me to relay the message but they never asked what happened and I don’t know how serious the situation is, i call the school to find out what happened but they’re en route to hospital already so I then call the teacher who’s travelling with them but they don’t answer as they’re attending to my child/in conversation with paramedics/etc, I call my partner to let him know and decide which of us rushes straight to hospital, I get the receptionist in his job and wait for them to go find him, eventually that message is relayed and he calls me back while I’ve been waiting at the receptionist desk at my job for his receptionist to find him...

twowheelsonly

myNewName wrote: »

So if my child has a fall- a bump to the head and needs to go to the hospital, the call comes to reception, receptionist has to come find me to relay the message but they never asked what happened and I don’t know how serious the situation is, i call the school to find out what happened but they’re en route to hospital already so I then call the teacher who’s travelling with them but they don’t answer as they’re attending to my child/in conversation with paramedics/etc, I call my partner to let him know and decide which of us rushes straight to hospital, I get the receptionist in his job and wait for them to go find him, eventually that message is relayed and he calls me back while I’ve been waiting at the receptionist desk at my job for his receptionist to find him...

In my limited worldly experience the school phones and asks for Mrs Newname to ring Teacher X back urgently if she's not instantly available. Teacher X will have the information that you need.
Mr and Mrs NewName are very organised so it's already decided in advance which one of them will respond to a family emergency, usually depending on whichever one of them can get off work easiest. It's really not that complicated but the chances of your scenario playing out as you've outlined are absolutely miniscule to begin with.

greenspurs

kippy wrote: »

What type of workplace is this?
What was the rationale for putting this in place?

As i explained, flagrant blatant use of phones throughout the working day while on a production line/ working with machinery/ driving forklifts.

Also, going to the toilet for 10-15mins watching youtube/ on facebook etc.

greenspurs

Niner leprauchan wrote: »

They always do.

Is there a policy however and a union?

The policy has been worked on over the last few weeks.

No union .

greenspurs

antimatterx wrote: »

This is pathetic. These aren't children.

If my workplace did this I'd walk tbh, and so would most of the staff.

Well , they are behaving like children.
Blatant use of phone on social media also...

greenspurs

bee06 wrote: »

Is it one of those places with productivity targets etc?

Wouldn’t happen in my office. They want the work to get done and we’re all grown ups. If it’s a quiet day and someone is on their phone for a while it’s now a big deal. We’re all working from home at the moment and I could spend half the day reading a book as long as everything gets done during the other half.

Production lines + forklift driving , and working machinery.

greenspurs

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Those aren't emergencies, and can wait for your break. Message would just be "call Janet on 1234567", no need to say what it's about.

Careful now !!!


You are being too intelligent !

If theres an emergency, they are told that they will have to ring reception, the receptionist will put them in touch with foreman, they tell the worker, and if they need to they can get their phone to make to follow up call..


quite simple really.

greenspurs

Princess Calla wrote: »

A child running a temperature is an emergency, children can deteriorate very quickly.

And those that dont have children?

What would be your excuse/reason for them to be trawling facebook while they should be working?

greenspurs

myNewName wrote: »

So if my child has a fall- a bump to the head and needs to go to the hospital, the call comes to reception, receptionist has to come find me to relay the message but they never asked what happened and I don’t know how serious the situation is, i call the school to find out what happened but they’re en route to hospital already so I then call the teacher who’s travelling with them but they don’t answer as they’re attending to my child/in conversation with paramedics/etc, I call my partner to let him know and decide which of us rushes straight to hospital, I get the receptionist in his job and wait for them to go find him, eventually that message is relayed and he calls me back while I’ve been waiting at the receptionist desk at my job for his receptionist to find him...

Slight bit of an over exaggeration there, with a slice of mega drama.

People are addicted to their phones, but cant admit it.

Were you up in arms when smoking was banned in workplaces, pubs etc ?

bucketybuck

We had problems with lads using their phones on our workshop floor. Not so much the phone calls, more the social media rubbish with lads hiding down the back or in the toilets on their phones, or even just scrolling on their phones when they were supposed to be working.

We banned them from the floor and came down hard on anybody we caught using them. And since it tended to be the lazy ****ers that were the worst offenders, we quietly moved them on at the first opportunity.

What we didn't do is confiscate their personal property, because that would have been moronic.

Princess Calla

greenspurs wrote: »

Careful now !!!


You are being too intelligent !

If theres an emergency, they are told that they will have to ring reception, the receptionist will put them in touch with foreman, they tell the worker, and if they need to they can get their phone to make to follow up call..


quite simple really.

It's only simple if it suits the organization.

We've one receptionist, there's about 500 of us in the building, if they had to field personal calls the company would need to hire an extra 2 or 3 receptionists.

You're also relying on all information of who reports to who is kept 100% up to date.

Dyr

twowheelsonly wrote: »

In my limited worldly experience the school phones and asks for Mrs Newname to ring Teacher X back urgently if she's not instantly available. Teacher X will have the information that you need.
Mr and Mrs NewName are very organised so it's already decided in advance which one of them will respond to a family emergency, usually depending on whichever one of them can get off work easiest. It's really not that complicated but the chances of your scenario playing out as you've outlined are absolutely miniscule to begin with.

Its fascinating to see parents who think prior to the invention of mobile phones all children wound up dead or grieviously injured due to the lack of constant parental supervision

You see concerts using these phone lock up methods and people freaking out that their kids will be dead in a ditch unless they as parents have access to their mobiles for the duration of the concert.

It's a form of mental illness at this stage

Dial Hard

Fann Linn wrote: »

Same here. I get provided with a work phone and tablet, pay BIK on same, a few newspaper apps, Sky Go on it. So long as the jobs are done the boss is happy.

You shouldn't be paying BIK on either if they're used primarily for work.