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The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Employee Hacks and Habits
The American workplace is increasingly creeping into every facet of employee’s lives, which makes it nearly impossible to decompress everyday. Because of the increased demands on time, employees become distracted and have turned to using hacks to cope with stress.
Bridge by Instructure conducted a survey of more than 1,000 office employees across the country to assess their habits in the workplace.
Distracted Working Can Be Costly
- Employees spend up to 77 minutes per day watching non-work-related TV or online videos while at work.
- This results in companies losing more than $8,800 per year per employee.
- This could cost a company with 5,000 employees as much as $44 million per year.
Vicious Cycle: Many Companies Create a Culture of Busyness and Burnout
Though employees are distracted at work, their company culture often doesn’t encourage an adequate work-life balance to help them unwind.
- Only ⅓ of respondents are encouraged by their employer to take PTO.
- Only 11% are encouraged to take mental health days.
- 78% said working more was an important factor in being promoted.
- ½ stated that socializing outside of work was also a factor in being promoted.
- 53% said that engaging in workplace politics was a moderately important factor in being promoted.
Employee Engagement Is a Problem
Today’s employees are overworked, overstressed, and under-rested. Many experience an element of burnout or disengagement with their work as a result. Our results unveil an opportunity for companies to improve career paths and identify areas for growth.
- 45% are somewhat satisfied with their current role.
- 44% are somewhat satisfied with their current job in comparison to opportunities available at their company.
- 25% have 1:1 meetings with their manager bi-annually or less.
Employees Develop Bad Habits to Deal with Stress
Employees may turn to substances as part of the way they manage stressors in the office.
- 34% of respondents said their job has increased reliance on caffeine.
- 9% said they increased their sugar intake.
- 7% stated they rely on anti-anxiety medication.
Good Coping Mechanisms
Many employees have adopted healthier alternatives to deal with work-related stress.
- 30% use yoga, excercise, or meditation to relieve stress.
- 44% leave their computers at work during non-work hours.
- 21% leave their work device in another room.
How Can We Help Employees?
Companies can help their employees become less distracted and more productive, less reliant on unhealthy substances, and more able to disconnect by creating a culture that encourages a work-life balance.
As a company, you can improve communication by having frequent 1:1 meetings with employees to help them map out their career aspirations, which will improve employee satisfaction and engagement. Creating a culture where your people aren’t dealing with excessive stress and have opportunities to unplug will improve employee well-being, and eliminate potential revenue losses by ensuring employees are ready to focus when it’s time to work.
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2 Birds, 1 Tool: Performance Management and Talent Development with Bridge
Say hello to Bridge.
The results-centric human capital management (HCM) solution is designed to ramp up your organization’s talent development and performance management. Use Bridge to drive employee engagement and productivity
Here’s how you can use Bridge to drive engagement and productivity:
#1: Ensure 1:1s are well done

With the 1:1 tool, it’s easier than ever to set up recurring monthly or even weekly check-ins with your team. And both managers and employees can add to the meeting agenda, so there are no surprises and everyone gets a voice.

Boost engagement with monthly check-ins.
Workers who receive regular feedback are 3 times more likely to be engaged.
Turn the tables on turnover with continuous communication.
Managers influence 75% of voluntary turnover.
#2: Map a clear path to success

Bridge Perform’s Employee Timeline makes it easy to set and track worker progress against individual and company goals.

Workers need goals in order to crush them
Only 13% of workers feel their managers help them set performance goals.
Everyone wins when employees can quickly see theirs.
69% of employees say they would work harder if they felt their efforts were better recognized.
#3: Let data drive smarter decisions
From peer assessments to performance metrics, Bridge’s insights have the power to drive decisions that can make or break the bottom line.




Combat skills gaps through assessments and training.
Peer assessments can help identify skills gaps, which 89% of executives think can be filled with worker training
Leaders need real insights to make impact.
58% of executives believe their current performance process does not drive employee success.
Bridge the gap between your employees' talent development to your performance management for a happier, more productive workforce.
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