MENUMENU
  • FREE RESOURCES
  • PREMIUM CONTENT
        • SEE MORE
          PREMIUM RESOURCES
  • HR DEEP DIVES
        • Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resources for HR Professionals
          Employment Law
          Labor Law Posting Requirements: Everything You Need to Know
          Recruiting
          businesswoman selecting future employees on digital interfaces
          Recruiting Resources for HR & Hiring Managers
          Performance Management
          vector image of young female making star rating
          Performance Review Resources
          Employment Law
          Understanding Equal Employment Opportunity and the EEOC
          Recruiting
          Onboarding Resources for HR & Hiring Managers
  • CORONAVIRUS & HR

  • LOGIN
  • SIGN UP FREE

HR Morning

MENUMENU
  • FREE RESOURCES
  • PREMIUM CONTENT
        • SEE MORE
          PREMIUM RESOURCES
  • HR DEEP DIVES
        • Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resources for HR Professionals
          Employment Law
          Labor Law Posting Requirements: Everything You Need to Know
          Recruiting
          businesswoman selecting future employees on digital interfaces
          Recruiting Resources for HR & Hiring Managers
          Performance Management
          vector image of young female making star rating
          Performance Review Resources
          Employment Law
          Understanding Equal Employment Opportunity and the EEOC
          Recruiting
          Onboarding Resources for HR & Hiring Managers
  • CORONAVIRUS & HR
  • Employment Law
  • Benefits
  • Recruiting
  • Talent Management
  • Performance Management
  • HR Technology
  • More
    • Leadership & Strategy
    • Compensation
    • Staff Administration
    • Policy & Procedures
    • Wellness
    • Staff Departure
    • Employee Services
    • Work Location
    • HR Career & Self-Care
    • Health Care
    • Retirement Plans

You won't believe where employees are taking conference calls

Christian Schappel
by Christian Schappel
December 5, 2014
2 minute read
  • SHARE ON

Conference calls are a necessary part of managing an increasingly remote and mobile workforce. But how much of employees’ attention do you really have on these calls? This news isn’t going to sit well with you.

It’s hard enough to keep people’s attention when they’re sitting at their desks. But it’s going to be nearly impossible getting them to sit up and pay attention when they’re fielding your calls from these locations:

  • A truck stop bathroom
  • A McDonald’s Playplace
  • The closet of a friend’s house during a party
  • The beach
  • Behind a church during a wedding rehearsal
  • The racetrack
  • The street while chasing a dog that got loose
  • Disney World, and
  • A dressing room while trying on clothes.

Who would accept a conference call from any of those locations? Your employees, that’s who. Real employees admitted as much during a survey by InterCall, a conferencing solutions provider.
The survey of 500 U.S. professionals was designed to gauge employees’ conference call experiences and habits, and in it employees fessed up to taking calls in those locations. Pretty scary, huh?

Top things people do on the call

As if that wasn’t enough, the bad news doesn’t end there.
The survey also revealed that employees are busy multitasking — and not necessarily in productive ways — while taking conference calls.
Here are the top 10 things employees admitted to doing whilst listening (or at least attempting to listen) to what’s happening on the call:

  1. Doing other work — 65%
  2. Sending emails — 63%
  3. Eating or making food — 55%
  4. Going to the restroom — 47%
  5. Texting — 44%
  6. Checking social media — 43%
  7. Playing video games — 25%
  8. Shopping online — 21%
  9. Exercising — 9%
  10. Taking another phone call — 6%

Still, you’d rather employees do those things than what these employees admitted to:

  • Dropping off a call without announcing it — 39%
  • Falling asleep during a call — 27%
  • Having a friend take a call in my place — 5%

What’s the solution?

You likely already had some idea that it was more difficult for employees to focus during conference calls than during face-to-face meetings, but you probably didn’t imagine things were this bad.
What’s the solution, you ask? InterCall used the results of the survey as an opportunity to plug their United Meeting software, which incorporate audio, Web and video features into one conferencing tool.
Part of the problem with conference calling, according to a blog post by InterCall’s Jill Huselton, is that most of the time it’s a 100% audio experience.
In other words, there’s less going on to keep employees’ attention during audio-only calls and, without being able to see employees, it’s harder to keep tabs on them. Thus, video conferencing may very well be a solution.
Info: See the infographic below for additional stats from the survey (click to view full-size image).
InterCall-Mobile_Conferencing-FINALSource: InterCall

Get the latest from HRMorning in your inbox PLUS immediately access 10 FREE HR guides.

I WANT MY FREE GUIDES

Keep Up To Date with the Latest HR News

With HRMorning arriving in your inbox, you will never miss critical stories on labor laws, benefits, retention and onboarding strategies.

Sign up for a free HRMorning membership and get our newsletter!
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
HR Morning Logo
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Linked In
  • ABOUT HRMORNING
  • ADVERTISE WITH US
  • WRITE FOR US
  • CONTACT
  • Employment Law
  • Benefits
  • Recruiting
  • Talent Management
  • HR Technology
  • Performance Management
  • Leadership & Strategy
  • Compensation & Payroll
  • Policy & Culture
  • Staff Administration
  • Wellness & Safety
  • Staff Departure
  • Employee Services
  • Work Location
  • HR Career & Self-Care

HRMorning, part of the SuccessFuel Network, provides the latest HR and employment law news for HR professionals in the trenches of small-to-medium-sized businesses. Rather than simply regurgitating the day’s headlines, HRMorning delivers actionable insights, helping HR execs understand what HR trends mean to their business.

Privacy Policy Terms of Service
Copyright © 2021 SuccessFuel

WELCOME BACK!

Enter your username and password below to log in

Forget Your Username or Password?

Reset Password

Lost your password? Please enter your username or email address. You will receive a link to create a new password via email.

Log In

During your free trial, you can cancel at any time with a single click on your “Account” page.  It’s that easy.

Why do we need your credit card for a free trial?

We ask for your credit card to allow your subscription to continue should you decide to keep your membership beyond the free trial period.  This prevents any interruption of content access.

Your card will not be charged at any point during your 21 day free trial
and you may cancel at any time during your free trial.

preloader