Study suggests doing work at home on smart-devices may be counterproductive.
A new line of research suggests that using devices like smartphones at home for work purposes can have a nasty impact on job satisfaction and productivity
Dr. Wayne Crawford, the assistant professor of management at the University of Texas at Arlington joined up with four other authors on the study, recently published in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology.
The investigators conducted a survey of 344 married couples; all who worked full-time jobs and used some type of mobile device at home for work related activities (cell, tablet).
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“There is plenty of research on technology and how it affects employees,” Crawford observed. “We wanted to see if this technology use carried over to affect the spouse negatively at work.”
The results of the couples’ survey demonstrated that use of a mobile device during family time produced a lower job satisfaction and lower job performance among participants.
“It’s really no surprise that conflict was created when a spouse is using a mobile device at home,” Crawford stated.
“They’re sometimes engaging in work activities during family time. What that ultimately leads to, though, is trouble at work for both spouses.
So, whether companies care or don’t care about employees being plugged in, those firms need to know that the relationship tension created by their interaction with their employees during non-work hours ultimately leads to work-life trouble.”
The chair of the Department of Management at UTA, Dr. Abdul Rasheed, said Crawford’s work is informative for businesses.
“That extra time spent on mobile devices after hours might not be worth it if the grief it causes results in productivity losses once the conflict is carried back to work,” Rasheed said.
“Businesses have to think about accomplishing tasks more efficiently while people are at work.”
Source: Journal of Occupational Health Psychology
