Office Workers Spend 1 Hour 20 Minutes a Day 'Distracted'... Half of Companies "Don't Specifically Manage It"

Work Engagement Score 82.7 Excluding Smoking and Going Out
"Companies with Performance Management Systems Have Higher Engagement"

Human resources managers at major domestic companies perceive that workers use about 17% of their working hours for private activities such as smoking or going out, according to a survey.

The Korea Employers Federation (KEF) on the 10th released the results of the "Employee Work Engagement Status Survey" conducted among HR managers of the top 100 companies by sales (with actual responses from 50 companies).

According to the survey, HR managers rated the work engagement of their office workers at an average of 82.7 points out of 100. In other words, assuming an average daily working time of 8 hours, it means that workers are thought to spend about 1 hour and 20 minutes, or 17%, on private activities.

Regarding the management of private activities during working hours, 38% answered that they "manage only noticeable aspects such as frequent absences from their seats." This was followed by 26% who said they "actively manage through PC checks, etc.," 16% who said they "hardly manage due to employee resistance," and 14% who said "there is no need due to a well-established performance management system."

KEF explained, "Work engagement refers to the time spent solely on work without smoking, internet surfing, or private outings." However, it added that this does not imply qualitative concentration.

KEF pointed out that "more than half of companies either manage private activities during working hours only when noticeable or hardly manage them at all," emphasizing the need to strengthen proactive HR management. In fact, 93.9% of HR managers believed that improving systems could enhance employees' work engagement.

KEF also stressed the importance of establishing a performance management system. Companies that responded that they have a well-established performance management system and therefore do not require separate management had the highest work engagement score of 89.4 points, while companies that hardly manage due to employee resistance had the lowest score of 74.4 points.

Additionally, 70% of HR managers thought that "office workers currently find their working hours appropriate and have little dissatisfaction."

Ha Sang-woo, head of the KEF Economic Research Division, commented on the survey results, saying, "It was confirmed that it is urgent to improve labor productivity through active HR management, such as refraining from private activities during working hours, efficient use of working time, and establishing a performance management system."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.