Looking around at work I see 99% of fellow employees on cell phones. One is a big proponent of marijuana and side hustles CBD, one loves hating on politics, one is obsessed with missing kids and dogs, one always checking hunting gear...and on and on. What creative methods do you use to keep off your phone. I start work in 10mns and keep my phone in my locker. Check it on brake and I am super rare. Maybe ask for a raise
My opinion on what to do would depend on circumstance. Pre cell phones, we had newspapers, magazines, transistor, radios, and little TV sets. I had a guy who worked under me whose shop area was across an aisle that led to the cafeteria, he had his own little section of a large department. The guy was running six spindle Acme-Gridleys, running small short simple brass parts, the work orders were for millions of parts. We had the old break bell system, the only breaks that alternated was the 30 minute break. About the only thing he did pretty much day in and out was load the machines, rough count his parts on an old school counting scale and stack them on a table in huge bins. I told him I did not care what he did to pass the time, I told him he could stand on his head all night
as long as his numbers were acceptable. I did tell him to stay out of sight of that aisle as the plant manager would walk by from time to time. I did not want to have to explain that I told a guy he could stand on his head in the corner.
So fast forward, if the guy running a couple auto loaders has great efficiency numbers and never makes scrap I am going to let him be, if he uses his phone excessively. If a guy with excessive phone use works in the deburr department and his main job is hand deburring parts we are going to have a problem.
It is all about how it effects the company bottom line. The problem is sometimes an owner won't even reward his best employees if slackers cause him to not be making an acceptable bottom line.
