Watching TV While We Work (Feature)

THESE days and times when the world is experiencing an economic downturn, many individuals, including those who hitherto did not take their businesses seriously, have changed their attitude in order to break even.
Like the ordinary Ghanaian would say, “times are hard” and for that reason all available resources are being harnessed to achieve maximum results if one is serious about surviving.
Governments and private individuals are cutting down cost and those who refuse to do that but choose to live extravagant lifestyles are either suspected of having some easy money elsewhere or might be oblivious of the global economic conditions.
Workers everywhere are being asked to put in their best if they want to keep their jobs with their respective organisations, and those who might find it difficult to follow such simple instructions, are sure to find themselves without jobs. In fact, we are in a period where laziness and laxity cannot be tolerated.
Is it therefore not strange that some workers in Ghana, especially those in the public sector, have not yet come to terms with this global situation and continue to do business as usual? I mean those who are fortunate enough to have the government as their direct employer. They are fortunate because they do not seem to have a problem with salaries since they continue to receive them month by month without necessarily justifying why they should be paid. Their situation is not like those in the private sector where one is paid based on performance — people get sacked when they are found to be “non-performing”.
Beside their well known attitude of taking things for granted at the workplace, a new trend seems to be taking precedence over all other activities at most public offices and that is the act of watching television (TV) during working hours!
TV is a widely used telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images, either black and white or other colours, usually accompanied by sound. It is important to state that since it involves pictures, television is mostly watched so it is difficult how one could watch pictures on a screen and at the same time do any paper work or work on a computer.
I had to write this article because about six months ago a senior official at one of the ministries in Accra told me that almost every office in his outfit had a TV set. That ministry is one of the biggest in the country, with more than 50 rooms.
For six months I have taken a look around and come to the conclusion that what the officer told me was nothing but the truth. Ghanaians have adopted the habit of watching TV at the time that they are expected to produce, an act they dare not try when they travel for greener pastures elsewhere.
Be they health facilities, financial institutions, accounts offices, secretariats, customer care centres, public relations units and what have you, one is likely to find workers abandoning their work to watch TV programmes.
During one of my rounds in Accra, I came across this young secretary in one of the ministries who had the effrontery to signal a senior colleague who had approached her for an information to remain silent as she listened to a statement being made on TV. It was not a news item she wanted to listen to but a statement being made by an actress in an African movie which she did not want to miss. I smiled to myself when the colleague flared up and quickly switched off the set.
One would understand if a few TV sets are placed in receptions, outpatient departments (OPDs) or similar locations where clients could watch as they await their turn, but not in an office where officials are supposed to concentrate on what they are paid to do.
Being a reporter, I often visit ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) in Accra in search of information, and can therefore state for a fact that the issue of workers watching TV during working hours is becoming a major problem which needs to be checked.
In many offices television sets are placed in one corner or the other, not for visitors but for the comfort of staff. This is sometimes in addition to a radio set. Some even go to the extent of bringing in compact discs (CDs) from home to watch films on their computers.
Personnel in media houses and those who have the responsibility to monitor television stations for information can be excused but not an accounting staff who works with figures and needs to have full concentration to get things right. How can a secretary key in the right letters, and on time, when he or she has to stop at every minute to watch a scene on TV?
A set or two in a common room where staff could watch during break or on special occasions such as budget hearing and State of the Nation Address is appropriate but not the situation where every office has a set and workers instead of working spend time to watch and sometime argue over story lines of movies.
The question is: how do we produce enough in order to move this country forward if we continue to behave the way we do? How many of us would abandon our household chores or personal income generating activities to watch television?
Some would argue that those workers do not spend a whole period watching TV but if one may ask, why do they switch them on if they would not stop work to watch?
Another important aspect is that apart from the time spent in watching, there is the need for us to a take into consideration, the amount of energy in terms of electricity wasted while tens of televisions sets are switched on in all the MDAs throughout the country each working day.
We have reached a stage in our country where any little thing which could send us back should be checked. To some of us, the attitude where people who are engaged to produce specific goods and services decide to abandon their core duty and indulge in other activities should to be discouraged as we make efforts go move ahead. Watching TV at the time when we are supposed to work is one of the little things which many of us seem to ignore.