Does Your Boss "Phub" You? She May Lose Her Connection With You

I know you've had one.  The boss who can't get off her smart phone even after you're called into her office?

Well, a new study is now saying that bosses who "phone snub" their employees may risk losing, well, their connection to them, according to newswise.com.

Supervisors who cannot tear themselves away from their smartphones while meeting with employees risk losing their employees’ trust and, ultimately, their engagement, according to a new research from Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business.  

This study examines “boss phubbing” (boss phone snubbing), which the researchers define as “an employee’s perception that his or her supervisor is distracted by his or her smartphone when they are talking or in close proximity to each other” and how that activity affects the supervisor-employee relationship.

“Our research reveals how a behavior as simple as using a cellphone in the workplace can ultimately undermine an employee’s success,” the researchers write. “We present evidence that boss phubbing lowers employees’ trust in their supervisors and ultimately leads to lower employee engagement.”

The research is composed of three studies that surveyed both supervisors and employees who responded to statements that assessed the nature of their work, levels of trust and engagement. 

Examples of survey statements included: “My boss places his/her cellphone where I can see it when we are together,” “When my boss’ cellphone rings or beeps, he/she pulls it out even if we are in the middle of a conversation” and “I can rely on my supervisor to keep the promises he/she makes.”

The study found:

• 76 percent of those surveyed showed a lack of trust in a supervisor who phubbed them

• 75 percent showed decreases in psychological meaningfulness, psychological availability and psychological safety

• The lack of trust and decreases in those key areas led to a 5 percent decrease in employee engagement

“Employees who experience boss phubbing and have lower levels of trust for their supervisor are less likely to feel that their work is valuable or conducive to their own professional growth, and employees who work under the supervision of an untrusted, phubbing supervisor tend to have lower confidence in their own ability to carry out their job,” researchers add. “Both of those things negatively impact engagement.”

This study offers significant managerial implications, the web site maintains.

“Phubbing is a harmful behavior,” James A. Roberts, Ph.D., professor of marketing, says. “It undermines any corporate culture based on respect for others. Thus, it is crucial that corporations create a culture embodied by care for one another.”

Adds Meredith David, Ph.D., assistant professor of marketing, employees and supervisors alike cannot be fully present in face-to-face interactions when distracted by their smartphones.

“Developing the self-control to put away your smartphone in favor of meaningful, distraction-free interactions with your supervisor and other coworkers will yield benefits that far outweigh that text message, unread email or social media post,” she concludes.