Applying modern technology to the workplace allows companies to soar and to achieve their goals. However, it’s definitely possible to have too much technology at work. If you’re asking employees to link their phones to their work email accounts, you should consider the reasons to take back this request.
Resting from Work
Chances are that you know how important it is to keep a balance between work and life even if you don’t do so yourself. By asking your employees to link their phones and work emails, you are essentially asking them to surrender the life part of their existences. People need time to recharge from work. When your employees are on-call at all times, they aren’t going to get the necessary rest to energize for the next day.
Burning Employees out
Working too much isn’t good for people as they don’t have time to address other areas of life. When your employees are constantly receiving work emails, they are likely to experience burnout. In an attempt to run your business more efficiently, you have just done the opposite because your employees will be too tired to work productively. Psych Central further explains, “[Employees] should feel refreshed and rejuvenated after being away from work for a couple of days or longer. After having that unplugged time, [they’re] more likely to come back with new ideas and perspectives.” If you’ve already implemented this cell-phone plan, you may have already noticed that employees are more tired at their desks.
Creating Anxiety
If employees know that a work email could come through at virtually any moment, they might feel constant anxiety. Anxiety can be bad for both the body and the mind. Your employees might find that they are starting to experience symptoms of depression, or they may notice that their blood pressure is rising every time they go to the doctor. Asking your employees to link their phones to their work emails can have serious consequences. Instead, consider ways to get employee morale up during stressful periods at the company.
Reading and Responding While Driving
When you ask employees to link their cell phones to their work emails, you are letting them know that you consider all business matters to be extremely urgent. Thus, your team members might feel compelled to check their phones as soon as they hear an email come through. This could be especially problematic if your employees feel the need to check their email while driving, distracting them and potentially causing a collision. According to Emmanuel Sheppard and Condon, “collisions are caused by a number of reasons, but [among] the most common [is] Distracted Driving” Therefore, asking this request of your employees could lead to serious or fatal injuries on the road. Even if you explain the dangers to your employees, they may still feel pressured to answer right away, especially when they have other tasks to attend to when they get home.
For a multitude of reasons, this request is a bad idea. If you need constant business support through email, consider hiring more staff members to fill these after-hours shifts.
