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Running head: SMARTPHONE EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY

The role of Smartphone in Supporting Employee Productivity in the Work Place

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SMARTPHONE EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY

Introduction
In the world today, most people have been able to access Smartphones. As a matter of
fact, statistics has it that more than two billion people have had access to Smartphones and the
more than 2.5 million apps available in the app markets of these phones (Bozeman, 2011). Their
impact in the world today is far reaching. They have revolutionized the world greatly. Despite
being small and lighter than a roll of quarters and occupying less space than a paperback book,
Smartphones have also made an immeasurable impact in shaping human interactions.
They have made professional life easier as professionals can be able to access a wealth of
information just at the touch of the screen or press of a button. Irrespective of the field of the
profession the art of having to carry heavy gadgets such as laptops so as to access the internet
with ease has been substituted with carrying light Smartphones. Survey shows that 60% of
internet clogging today is from Smartphones (Pitichat, 2013). Gone are the days when access to
the internet was only done through desktops. Student life has also been made easy since they can
also access information with ease. In addition to this, traditionally people had to crowd around
televisions so as to keep up with what is trending in the world. They had to have weighty
newspapers around them. However, today this is no longer necessary since one can comfortably
access all the information he/she requires. Everything is online. There are millions of
applications (apps) to do all these tasks.
These do it all gadgets have also changed the way people communicate. Earlier on people
used to rely on making calls, but this has been changed. People now rely on sending text
messages. There is a variety of software that has purposely been designed for this specific role.
Most employers and employees have access to Smartphones, and this have affected the way the

SMARTPHONE EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY

daily routine is adhered to. These devices have affected employee yield both positively or
negatively. Employers and employees keep in touch.
Positive impacts of Smartphones on employees productivity
The world of professionalism is changing dynamically, and there is therefore a need for
information literacy. There are some jobs that require a wide range of information as one
continues to practice his professionalism irrespective of whether he/she is an employee or an
employer. There are some jobs whose productivity relies entirely on how much information one
has regarding a certain subject matter. Smartphones have eased the access of information a great
deal. The development of wireless communications technology and third-generation (3G)
wireless broadband services ensure that these devices can access information from the internet
with ease and faster anytime and anywhere. Professionals are therefore able to access the
information they need and prepare all the documents they require. They are able to do this in and
out of the office. They can as well be able to access information in their offices, edit ad sends to
their clients or staffs. This improves their productivity since they do not have to be glued to the
office for them to work.
One of the factors that make an organization to succeed is having a system where there is
free flow of information between the employees (horizontal communication) and between the
employees and the management (upward/downward communication). With the availability of
Smartphones, workers can be able to exchange information between them conveniently through
emailing or other social networks. Alternatively and probably more advanced than the use of
emailing, there are service providers like cloud computing who offer information storage and
safety services for corporations. This site can be accessed with ease by authorized users
(workers) of that information. The information is uploaded to a site where all users can access it

SMARTPHONE EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY

and where from; they can make changes depending on each persons responsibility. However, the
access to such information depends on the level of confidentiality. In addition to this, there also
exist Google docs that use the same principle as above. They can be able to prepare spreadsheets,
PowerPoint slides or any other document of their need. (Lin & Brown, 2007).
Employees can also keep themselves updated with the current trends in the organization
by following social sharing sites like Facebook pages for their organization instead of having
posters all around for issues that would have otherwise been posted there. Such services enable
them to collaborate and, therefore, each worker is able to do his or her part conveniently.
Smartphone have also had a hand in reducing paperwork since information can be sent between
them at a click. In addition to this general employee, movement is reduced to a great extent since
one does not have to move from his/her desk so as to deliver information. Eventually, the system
becomes faster and thus the level of productivity is enhanced.
Decision making depends heavily on the information that is available at hand. In
addition, the accuracy of the decision made is dependent on the exposure or the variety of
information available. Smartphones have enabled employees to search for all the available
options before making any decision. They are able to exploit the wealth of knowledge available
online using search engines such as Google (Carayannis & Clark, 2011). Several decades ago,
the Internet traffic was dominantly from desktops and laptops. However, today 60% of this
traffic is from Smartphones (Gill, Kamath & Gill, 2012). This clearly demonstrates their level of
reliability. They are more convenient than desktops since one can surf the internet from
anywhere. This allows a certain form of flexibility since workers do not have to be glued to their
desktops for long hours to get all the necessary details they need before making a decision.
Furthermore, they are able to access the information faster thus enabling the employee to have it

SMARTPHONE EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY

and analyze it in time. The general decision making is therefore greatly improved since it is
faster and accurate.
Time management is a key issue for any organization or any person. Time lost cannot be
recovered, therefore, there is a need to take into account every second. Traditionally, people used
to prepare manually schedules of work to stick to as an attempt to manage time properly. At the
time, it would be an issue of forgetting that a certain task was supposed to be done at a certain
moment. It is irrefutable that human mind is subject to forgetting. However with the availability
of Smartphones such problems are solved. One is able to monitor every second of the day to
ensure that what was supposed to be done is done or is being done. Using apps such as Plan2go,
OneNote, and others one can prepare multiple schedules including all the activities and time that
one think should be done. Issues such as forgetting are solved since one can access the schedule
anytime and anywhere. Therefore, what is left is just to prepare an accurate schedule.
Additionally, the schedule keeps one on toes since there is no allowance for time wastage. One
can do things quickly in preparation for the next activity. In a work setting, a worker is able to
work faster as he/ she prepares for the next activity. This, therefore, reduces the chances of idling
around.
Finally, Smartphones has increased the general efficiency of service delivery. They have
enabled professionals and other workers to perform simple tasks which would have otherwise
appeared to be big issues without the help of such devices. This ranges from education services
to complicated issues such as drug inquiries. It is possible to use the full functionality of
Smartphones by accessing the internet and all the information one would require one continue
with daily endeavors to make self better. Social networking with others who are like-minded

SMARTPHONE EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY

improves one ability and exposure to issues that trend in one's field of profession. Thus the
quality of skills that one possesses increase, and so does the quality of employees.
People are able to communicate with their doctors for medical, drug, fitness inquiries.
These services have reduced the need for them to keep often visiting and thus saving some cash
and time. That is, visits are only made when the service or the information needed cannot be
done online. Since the technology in this line is still developing, and more apps are still being
invented, the level of efficiency is likely to develop further.
Negative impacts of Smartphones on employees productivity
Although the use of Smartphones by workers and people, in general, appear to be such a
fortune, it has got some limitations. As information literacy level increases, people are able to
know where and how to get information. They will, therefore, lay much attention to know where
and how to as opposed to having the information themselves. For example, Smartphones are able
to perform some tasks such as giving directions to specific places using applications such as
Google and Here maps. Therefore, most people (whether they are driving or just walking) with
Smartphones will not mind knowing the direction themselves. In a circumstances where they
find themselves without such gadgets, they may end up being lost. (Hildebrand, 2011)
Employees will not mind knowing the information and have it with them always as far as they
know where they can access it at the hour of need. This leads to poor quality employees since if
they find themselves in a situation where they cannot access such a device, and they are needed
to make a decision or provide certain information, chances are that the information or decision
they are likely to make is wrong.
Secondly, Smartphones are addictive. Using them more often makes people used to them
and shift most if not all of their attention to them. They treat them as they would treat their pets.

SMARTPHONE EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY

They lay most of their attention there as they try to figure out how they can make them better
(Bozeman, 2011). This can be a risky behavior for the employees since they are likely to shift all
their time to operate them and do other staffs instead of creatively doing their job (Pitichat,
2013). This may negatively impact their level of productivity. In a situation where public issues
and upcoming events in an organization are posted in social media like Facebook, an
unscrupulous employee will pretend to be checking such news and end up wasting a lot of time
in such places.
Smartphone are had reportedly impacted negatively on people lives. They have cost
people their lives while in other cases they have made others take other peoples lives
unknowingly. They offer their users good services such that users end up forgetting their primary
purpose or duty and concentrate on them. For example, there are cases that are reported where a
person is driving, and he/she receives a text message on his/her Smartphone. The person gets
distracted by the text and finally ends up causing an accident. In a hospital setting, even the
smallest mistake in the treatment or laboratory process may impact negatively on the health of
the patient or even lead to death. For example, there are several instances that are reported where
a doctor offering some medication prescription to a patient is distracted by a text message on a
Smartphone and unintentionally makes a mistake in the prescription thus an erroneous treatment
is administered to a patient or a case where a person working in a hospital laboratory is
performing a blood test to a blood sample from a patient and a text message or a call is made on
his/her Smartphone and the person forgets that he/she had timed himself to perform that test and
concentrated on the phone. Such mistakes are minor, but they may have negative and at times
results that are way far from our expectations (Gill, Kamath, & Gill, 2012). Workers should be
serious in their workplaces and avoid being attached so much to their Smartphones to level

SMARTPHONE EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY

whereby they can completely distract them at work. More applications are being developed in
health care areas that are important both to the patient and to the doctor.
Smartphones impact the health of the users. Most people get so attached to them such that
at night they are into social media or chatting, and they push late into the night. They end up
being tired after having sleepless nights or having an inadequate sleep. Consequently, they are
unable to work properly the following day they get to work. Research has it that those people
who spend long hours on Smartphones, that is, those who work using their phones, get so much
exhausted than those who entirely do physical work (Deal, 2015). There is, therefore, need for
workers to realize that it is their responsibility to ensure that they get themselves ready for work
the following day.
Eventually, though they are good because they can allow a person to work from
anywhere and at any time, having a Smartphone may make one accessible to work anytime even
when one is supposed to concentrate on other things in life. Being always at work can lead to
stress (Fitzsimons, 2015). That is a situation where one is unable to distinguish between
personal life and working life. This may negatively affect those who are around him/her since
he/she thinks work always as opposed to other social activities.
Conclusion
Extensive use of Smartphones has transformed the modern world to a large extent. First of all,
Smartphones has made it easier to access professional information from any part in the world.
Communication has also been made easier as people can communicate globally using various
media of text messages that are provided by Smartphones. Besides enhancing the lives of
individuals, Smartphones play a central role in the success of many business because they enable
the management to access updated information that is necessary for decision making.

SMARTPHONE EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY

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