Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

Though it may seem counterintuitive, giving employees time to play around on their smartphones every day could actually benefit businesses, new research suggests.

Even though it might seem like smartphones would hamper workplace productivity — thanks to their ability to make telephone calls, surf the Internet and play games — they might not be the costly distraction companies think they are, according to a study by two members of theSociety for Industrial and Organizational Psychology.

...They found a positive relationship between using smartphones to take short breaks for things like texting friends and how employees felt at the end of the workday....