Everyone in all General Motors offices is banned from walking and talking or texting. This includes CEO Mary Barra. There’s no looking at a phone en route to a meeting, taking calls on the way to the bathroom nor checking email when getting coffee. Safety is one reason, but awareness is another.
Source: Fast Company, August 23, 2018. Link.
For GM, the smartphone concern is less about productivity in the traditional sense and more about distraction. When phones are away, “People just become much more aware of their surroundings,” says Jim Glynn, GM’s vice president of Global Workspace Safety. That makes the overall workplace safer.”
INSIGHTS: This practice is worth considering. Note near the end of the article how Glynn points out employees have altered their behavior to work more safely overall, plus help others. As he says, “It can’t be, ‘We want to be safe most of the time.’ You have to be consistent.”