Employers Must Give Working Staff Online Breaks: Study

Surfing the web in between working hours helps improve employee's work productivity, finds a study.

Online messaging and internet access is known to interfere and distract people at work. Experts at the University of Cincinnati suggest employers to allow working staff to refresh their minds by surfing the internet at regular intervals to boost efficiency and work quality. Past researches have found that giving employees some time-off like weekend vacation or 'traditional offline' breaks benefits their work life. In the current trial, researchers investigated the effectiveness of 'online breaks' by interviewing 33    people employed in different jobs from various industries like banking, media, education and healthcare. On an average, the participants had almost 8.6 years of work experience.

Their analysis revealed most people who were emotionally and physically drained by daily routine and monotony needed online breaks to recharge themselves. Individuals whose professions demanded them to spend too many hours in front of the computer craved for offline breaks having actual inter-personal communication and contact and physical activity to recuperate from everyday stress.

Employees in organizations that restricted internet usage in between work reportedly felt the need to rejuvenate from cumbersome day-to-day work duties. In addition, the research also saw that older employees were less welcoming towards the idea of receiving an online break saying their employers 'paid them to work' and not just relax.

The study also evaluated the impacts of online breaks on workers' momentary recovery, learning and satisfaction. Allowing access to social media and internet helped employees achieve work satisfaction, manage personal and professional chores like paying bills, checking on children, reading interesting articles.

"There's little research about whether workers take online or offline breaks in distinct ways, therefore, this exploratory study fills an important gap in that research by providing evidence into what motivates online or offline work breaks," said Sung Doo Kim, study author and researcher at the University of Cincinnati's Carl H. Lindner College of Business in a news release.

The authors believe organizations must introduce policies to provide limited internet access and freedom to browse to employees to achieve goals and boost work productivity.

The research was presented at the annual meet of the Academy of Management in Philadelphia.