Multitasking is the ability of an employee or a manager to switch between two concurrent ongoing tasks. There is a controversy concerning multitasking and its effect on the performance of employees or the work of managers. Some researchers and business economists argue that multitasking is a skill in today’s business setting that benefits organizations in improving productivity and individual performance of employees. On the other hand, other economists argue that it is a bad idea and practice as it delays the time needed to complete tasks. Therefore, this paper strives to find out the effect of multitasking on individual employees’ performance.
Multitasking is one strategy that most employers employ to increase firm productivity. Employees are assigned more than two ongoing tasks with a predetermined time of completion. Hence it is upon the employee to budget the time allocated for the tasks and to produce results. According to Juneja (2021), multitasking increases employees’ performance by giving higher output with limited resources such as time. Moreover, multitasking gives employees no idling time, which further nurtures a hardworking spirit in achieving the set goals. Companies with employees that multitask save many resources by reducing the number of workforces needed for the tasks. In the long run, making huge profits (Xu et al., 2021). However, multitasking also adversely affects individual employees’ performance. According to Deeb (2021), multitasking could lead to a 40 percent decrease in productivity. She argues that it takes workers time to switch from one task to another. Jumping from an uncompleted task to another confuses employees about the assignment goals and strategies. Hence spending a lot of time re-strategizing and recalling the procedure for the new job. Moreover, multitasking also stresses employees because they know the organization demands a lot from them with little compensation.
In conclusion, multitasking is a new skill that needs to be incorporated into our day-to-day activities for better results. In the new era, companies are looking for workers with the ability to multitask to improve the productivity of their firms. However, multitasking is labor extensive, and sometimes employees become confused about the assignment’s goals and strategies. Moreover, shifting from one task to another also wastes time that could have been used in completing one task.
References
Deeb, C. (2021). Multitasking effects on a worker’s performance. Small business – Chron.com.
Juneja, P. (2021). Benefits of employee multitasking. Managementstudyguide.com.
Xu, S., Kee, K., & Mao, C. (2021). Multitasking and work-life balance: Explicating Multitasking when working from home. Journal of broadcasting & electronic media, 65(3), 397-425.