OPTED Magazine

If I had the solution to give to human resource managers to ensure maximum productivity from their company’s employees, I would be a millionaire several times over.

Statistics about productivity dominate articles about international competitiveness with the productivity of American workers compared to workers across the globe.  Businesses everywhere would love to get their hands on the magical solution to keeping workers productive, focused and dedicated to their work.

The reality is that numerous factors contribute to decreased productivity in the office.  Here at OPTED Magazine we’ve mentioned previous studies on why the boss may be to blame and also made suggestions for increasing productivity in situations like these, or these.

Just this week, several articles were published about the impact that Facebook, Twitter and other social networking platforms are having on productivity in the workplace.   These platforms are being blamed for $2.25 billion in losses from the decreased productivity, and companies everywhere are participating in surveys on social networking in the office and considering company policies to restrict use.

What do you think?

Should companies pass policies to restrict use of things like Twitter and Facebook in the office, or is it unenforceable with access to smartphones that can run apps to skirt the rules?  Is the problem any worse than a smoker taking frequent breaks, or the chatty receptionist that wastes time socializing in person?

Let’s hear about it in the comments section below!

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