For the India pharma sector, which relies heavily on technology, the use of social media during office hours seems to have both positives and negatives. While industry experts say staying connected on social media is part of everyone’s life, a survey reveals that the platform impacts staff productivity.
The big benefit of social media is perpetual connectivity at the press of a button to the virtual network covering WhatsApp, Messenger, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin, Skype and Facebook.
According to the TeamLease World of Work Report, around 32 per cent of the total time spent on social media during working hours is used for personal work, indicating a huge loss of official resources and productivity. In fact, 13 per cent of the total productivity is lost owing to social media indulgence alone. The consequences led to loss of confidential information, defamation, misinformation and employee solicitation. Facebook is the most visited social media platform. Of the 62 per cent employees who accessed social media at work, nearly 83 per cent browsed Facebook.
“The benefits of technology come with risks. We are dealing with the millennial generation for whom being connected online is almost a fundamental right. The use and misuse of social media at the workplace needs to be dealt with carefully by the HR and the production line managers. While total restriction may not be a solution , a more controlled use will need to be encouraged,” said Sunil Attavar, president, Karnataka Drugs and Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (KDPMA).
Himalaya Drug Company’s human resources director, Umesh KG says, “Staying connected on social media is part and parcel of everyone’s life. We encourage our employees to access websites that are necessary for their work and trust that they are mature enough to not misuse this privilege. However, a few websites which could be misused, are restricted.”
The field staff are seen to benefit from social media and many companies do encourage it. However, there is a need to restrict office staff and production personnel to stay away from such distractions, noted Attavar.
Considering the challenging and demanding regulatory environment in the pharma sector, it is not possible to spend time on social media while at work across research, manufacture and administration departments among others. Most pharma companies restrict cell phone use during office hours. This is because if social media sites have restricted access on computers, employees could still be surfing on mobiles, said Kaushik, general secretary, Indian Pharmaceutical Association.
Calling for restrictions on social media in the regulatory sector, Dr. BR Jagashetty, former National Adviser (Drugs Control) to MoHFW, government of India and Karnataka drugs controller said it will have little benefit in drugs control departments across the country. Though there are certain advantages where the law enforcement agencies can use social networking sites to nab criminals, there are some drawbacks too. For instance, dissemination of confidential information could be disastrous. It increases the risk of hacking, exposes people to online scams, resulting in data or identity theft. It enables the spread of unreliable information and results in waste of time. “It encourages armchair advice and self-diagnosis which can lead to life-threatening results,” said Dr. Jagashetty.
Commenting on the report, Kunal Sen, senior vice president, TeamLease Services said, “Indulgence in social media and the resultant slacking is a testimony of pastimes getting more interesting than work. Hence, rather than blindly instituting rules, organizations should get to the root cause of the misuse and devise policies that make work more challenging and the work culture more aspirational.”