July 12, 2012 SHRM Survey Findings: Technology and Its Impact on Employees During Nonworking Hours.

July 12, 2012

SHRM Survey Findings: Technology and Its Impact on Employees During Nonworking Hours

Technology and Its Impact on Employees During Nonworking Hours ©SHRM 2012 2

Definition

Wireless communication devices: For the purposes of this survey, wireless communication devices include cell phones, smart phones (e.g., Blackberry, iPhone, Android), tablets (e.g., iPad, Archos, PlayBook) and similar communication devices.


Key Findings

Do organizations limit employees’ use of wireless communication devices during nonworking hours for work purposes? Approximately one-fifth of organizations (21%) have a formal policy that regulates wireless communication device use during nonworking hours. In some cases, these limits may be put in place in order to be in compliance with Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requirements for nonexempt staff. Of those organizations, 27% mention work/life balance issues within their policy. Roughly one-quarter of organizations (26%) have an informal policy.

How are informal policies about wireless communication device use communicated? Of those

organizations that have informal wireless communication device usage policies in place, a majority express their limitations of wireless communication device use to employees directly through supervisors or managers (81%). Other methods of communicating these informal policies are by general word of mouth (37%) and at the department or unit level (37%).

How do organizations without formal or informal policies limiting employees’ use of wireless communication devices during nonworking hours address the use of these devices? Of the organizations that do not have a formal or informal policy on wireless communicate device usage, the majority (87%) allow their employees to set their own limits on the use of wireless communication devices for work purposes during nonworking hours.


Organizations with Formal Policies on Wireless Communication Device Usage During Nonworking Hours


Does your organization have a formal policy that limits employees’ use of wireless communication devices during nonworking hours (for work purposes)?

No

Yes

79%

21%

Note: n = 323. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.


Does the policy only apply to company-provided/reimbursed wireless communication devices?

No

Yes

47%

53%

Note: n = 66. Only respondents whose organizations have a formal policy limiting employees’ use of wireless communication devices during nonworking hours were asked this question.


Does the policy mention an organizational concern for work/life balance issues (e.g., limiting the amount of time employees are connected to work during nonworking hours)?

Note: n =67. Only respondents whose organizations have a formal policy limiting employees’ use of wireless communication devices during nonworking hours were asked this question.

No

Yes

73%

27%


Organizations with Informal Policies on Wireless Communication Device Usage During Nonworking Hours


Does your organization have informal policies (i.e., managerial practices) that encourage employees to limit their use of wireless communication devices for work purposes during nonworking hours?

Note: n = 255. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. Only organizations that do not have a formal policy limiting employees’ use of wireless communication devices during nonworking hours were asked this question. Percentages do not equal 100% due to rounding.

No

Yes

73%

26%


How are informal policies communicated to encourage employees to limit their use of wireless communication devices for work purposes during nonworking hours?

Note: n = 68. Only respondents whose organizations have informal policies that limit employees’ nonworking hours were asked this question. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options. An asterisk (*) indicates that this response option was developed from open-ended responses.

Other

HR communications*

At the department or unit level

General word of mouth

Directly from supervisor/manager

5%

7%

37%

37%

81%


Do informal policies apply to company-provided/reimbursed or personal wireless communication devices for work?

Note: n = 65. Only respondents whose organizations have informal policies that limit employees’ nonworking hours were asked this question.

No

Yes

31%

69%

51%

49%

Company-provided/reimbursed Personal


Organizations Without Formal or Informal Policies on Wireless Communication Device Usage During Nonworking Hours


Does your organization encourage employees to limit their use of wireless communication devices to check work e-mails and do other work during nonworking hours?

Note: n = 119. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. Only respondents whose organizations did not have a formal or informal work/life policy were asked this question.

No, the decision to limit the use of wireless communication devices during nonworking hours for work purposes is left to employees.

Yes, the organization communicates to employees to limit the use of wireless communication devices during nonworking hours for work purposes.

87%

13%


Within the next 1 to 3 years, how likely is your organization to adopt a formal or informal policy to encourage employees to limit their use of wireless communication devices to check e-mails and do other work during nonworking hours?

Note: n = 106. Only respondents whose organizations do not have a formal or informal work/life policy and allow their employees to limit their wireless communication device use were asked this question. Percentages do not equal 100% due to rounding.

Very likely

Somewhat likely

Not likely

9%

28%

62%

Technology and Its Impact on Employees During Nonworking Hours ©SHRM 2012

Demographics: Organization Industry

15

Note: n = 332. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options.

Percentage

Manufacturing 17%

Finance and insurance 17%

Health care and social assistance 12%

Professional, scientific and technical services 10%

Other service except public administration 9%

Educational services 6%

Public administration 5%

Retail trade 4%

Construction 3%

Information, publishing industries 3%

Religious, grant-making, civic professional and similar organizations 3%

Transportation and warehousing 2%


Demographics: Organization Industry (continued)

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Note: n = 332. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options. An asterisk (*) indicates < 1%.

Percentage

Wholesale trade 2%

Utilities 2%

Accommodation and food services 2%

Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services 2%

Real estate, rental and leasing 2%

Arts, entertainment and recreation 1%

Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting 1%

Mining 1%

Repair and maintenance 1%

Management of companies and enterprises 1%

Personal and laundry services *


Demographics: Organization Sector

Other

Government sector

Nonprofit organization

Publicly owned for-profit organization

Privately owned for-profit organization

3%

7%

19%

22%

49%

17

n = 332


Demographics: Organization Staff Size

25,000 or more employees

2,500 to 24,999 employees

500 to 2,499 employees

100 to 499 employees

1 to 99 employees

5%

22%

16%

31%

26%

18

n = 330


Demographics: Other

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Does your organization have U.S.-based operations (business units) only, or does it operate multinationally?U.S.-based operations only 74%Multinational operations 26%n = 329

Is your organization a single-unit organization or a multi-unit organization?Single-unit organization: An organization in which the location and the organization are one and the same.

33%

Multi-unit organization: An organization that has more than one location.

67%

n = 331

For multi-unit organizations, are HR policies and practices determined by the multi-unit headquarters, by each work location or by both?

Multi-unit headquarters determines HR policies and practices. 52%

Each work location determines HR policies and practices. 3%

A combination of both the work location and the multi-unit headquarters determines HR policies and practices.

45%

n = 230

What is the HR department/function for which you responded throughout this survey?Corporate (companywide) 70%Business unit/division 14%Facility/location 16%n = 230


Response rate = 12%

Sample composed of 332 randomly selected HR professionals from SHRM’s membership

Margin of error +/-5%

Survey fielded June 9 – June 27, 2011

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Methodology

For more poll findings, visit www.shrm.org/surveys

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SHRM Survey Findings: Technology and Its Impact on Employees During Nonworking Hours

Project leader:Robert Boyd, survey research analyst, SHRM ResearchProject contributors:Mark Schmit, Ph.D., SPHR, vice president, SHRM ResearchEvren Esen, manager, SHRM ResearchChristina Lee, SHRM ResearchCopy Editor:Katya Scanlan, SHRM Knowledge Center

http://www.shrm.org/surveys

http://twitter.com/SHRM_Research

July 12, 2012 SHRM Survey Findings: Technology and Its Impact on Employees During Nonworking Hours.

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