Between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, 103 million Americans will shop online. And while most people don’t work on Black Friday, Cyber Monday falls on a workday. As a result, people who are hungry for those online deals often shop for them while at work in their cubicles.
We are requesting that employers give everyone two hours of shopping time on Cyber Monday so they don’t have to hide it anymore. To sign the petition, click here.
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Cyber Monday Petition – Why This Matters:
People do their Christmas shopping at work whether or not they have permission to do so. 50% of people shop online from their office during the holiday season. Of these people, 13% spend less than a half-hour each day, 16% spend 30 minutes to one hour per day, 15% spend one to two hours per day, 16% spend more than two hours a day, 28% don’t know how long they spend and 12% have web policies that restrict this.
However, not all professions are created equal when it comes to shopping at work. The professions in which employees are most likely to shop at work are sales (63%), financial services (62%), info tech (57%), health care (52%), transportation (50%), manufacturing (46%), leisure and hospitality (42%), and retail (39%).
Younger workers are also more likely to use company time for personal Internet surfing: 76% of those ages 18-24, 67% of ages 25-34, 60% of ages 34-44, 53% of ages 45-54, 44% of ages 55-64 and 19% of ages 65+.
On top of that, employee behaviors are shifting. With companies increasingly monitoring web traffic, employees are moving more and more toward using their personal devices for the task. Only 27% used personal devices in 2014 for online shopping at work, but this jumped to 42% in 2016.
28% of managers have even fired an employee for using the Internet for non-work-related activity. Unfortunately, each company lost time and money by needing to hire a new employee.
What we are asking:
Rather than have employers struggle to get employees to stay focused amidst an Internet full of distractions, it would be in everyone’s best interest to permit a two-hour work break for employees to seize their favorite deals during Cyber Monday.
Why we are asking:
Your employees are dedicated. They are going above and beyond the call of duty, engaging with work tasks outside of the office. 87% of people read business emails outside working hours. 80% check their email before they get into the office. 50% check their email during vacation. On average, this accumulates to about an extra 30 days of work time per year.
As the digital age shifts the boundaries between work time and personal time, a two-hour reprieve for employees is a small step toward compensating them for the time they spend managing incoming messages.
It would also be a gesture in the spirit of the season, a move that Scrooge would make *after* he’s been visited by the three ghosts.
What you get:
And if the warm, fuzzy feeling of generosity is not enough, here are some tangible benefits for granting this two-hour shopping break on Cyber Monday:
Creating a culture of transparency, including open communication about Internet behavior, affects your bottom line. Companies with a culture of open communication had 270% higher 10-year total shareholder returns, and 99% of professionals preferred a workplace based on honesty.
Employees need more than just money to make them feel valued. 69% of employees would work harder if they felt better appreciated, and 65% of workers would prefer a better boss over a pay raise.
When rewarding employees, the small stuff adds up. 90% of workers say a fun work environment is very motivating, and 70% of workers say meaningful recognition has no dollar value. Studies even show that rewards like free pizza rank higher than a cash bonus; a cash bonus resulted in a 4.9% increase in productivity while free pizza increased productivity by 6.7%.
Permitting a two-hour break for Cyber Monday shopping will boost the productivity and focus of your staff. Workers who take breaks are known to be more productive, and this would be a move toward monotasking, which promotes focus and higher cognitive performance.
Employees care about work-life balance, and nearly 40% of them wish their employer cared more about it. In fact, work-life balance is one of the highest-ranking factors in job satisfaction worldwide.
Happy employees outperform competitors by 20%. It’s that simple.
What now?
If you want your company to benefit in these important ways, sign the Cyber Monday petition here.
Sources:
http://fortune.com/2015/12/01/online-shopping-work-fired/
http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2015/11/shopping_online_at_work_this_h.html
http://fortune.com/2015/12/01/online-shopping-work-fired/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/check-work-email-hours-survey_us_55ddd168e4b0a40aa3ace672
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/samanage-survey-shows-employees…
https://www.bluesteps.com/blog/honesty-most-profitable-policy-executive-career.aspx
https://www.tinypulse.com/blog/sk-employee-recognition-stats
http://www.forbes.com/sites/tykiisel/2013/01/30/82-percent-of-people-dont-trust-the-boss-to-tell-the-truth/#c6628a64d6b4
http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/6084-employee-happiness-without-raise.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/09/01/free-pizza-more-motivational-than-cash-if-you-want-staff-to-work/
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/mind-the-manager/201306/new-employee-study-shows-recognition-matters-more-money
https://www.fastcompany.com/3027496/work-smart/8-reasons-why-you-should-definitely-take-that-lunch-break
http://blog.accessperks.com/employee-engagement-loyalty-statistics-the-ultimate-collection#satisfaction
http://www.snacknation.com/blog/employee-happiness/
https://www.ipswitch.com/about/news-and-events/ipswitch-news/ipswitch-network-management-division-survey-reveals-42-percent…
