Smoking breaks are a common phenomena to most working people who smoke, be it men or women. Till sometime back the issue of smoking breaks affecting men and women’s productivity at work was common but with the rise in the amount of women who smoke, the issue is growing heavy on working women.
Take a look outside any organization. A batch of employees smoking every few minutes is a common sight. Are you seeing more woman gathering while a smoke? Human resources find this a hard battle to win as smokers can’t really work without smoking breaks.
The stereotype attached to women is that they gossip, which isn’t exactly wrong but may vary from the type of woman she is. A half hour break or an hour’s break at work is given by any organization for a meal. If you work around 12 hours, two meals are substituted in between. Addition to this, smokers make it a point to take a couple or more breaks to catch a fag.
The trend which really bothers organizations is that, a girlfriend going for a smoke can cajole her friend to come along or a girl group can make it a point to gather together, regardless of the work needing attention. A few minutes can stretch to an hour easily.
The same trend was seen is men but is now being even further stretched by women. So do smoking breaks affect women’s productivity at work? Definitely! Stress levels when it comes to women who smoke are high and to boost their morale or get a good gossip along with their cigarette, women seems to be milling together.
Another thing that makes smoking breaks an even bigger distraction from productivity is that women find it easier to talk than men. Hence, a small chat can go on to become a discussion what can be discussed outside office hours.
The point of this discussion is not to say women are bad at their jobs with smoking added to it but to instead understand why smoking breaks are bigger distraction from work for women than men.
Being a woman, you will surely understand that stress levels and emotional feelings of a woman tend to shared with friends at colleagues at work in between breaks. Hence, rather than pour it out at work, keep it for later in the evening.
The line between men and women at work gets drawn to who acts more professional and practical. While a smoking break can be tolerated, gossip and times spent chit chatting can really send a wrong message to the organization as well your client.
Make no mistake of chit chatting and letting a client wait or get your story over with and then attend to a mail. Keep your work a high priority and try to balance your personal life or social life on a low profile around your organization.
I would love to hear your experiences of smoking break and productivity loss. Please leave me a comment and let me know. Subscribe our RSS to receive latest
