TORONTO - Employees working in small and medium businesses (SME) may be showing up earlier and staying later but they aren’t always being productive says a new survey conducted by Xerox Canada and the Environics Research Group. Of those surveyed 51 per cent spent over nine hours at work each day, however 65 per cent said that they were productive only half the time.

"Compared with research done with those working at large corporations, Canadians working with small and medium businesses are more likely to put in longer hours, given the challenges of staffing and overhead," says Jane Armstrong, senior vice president, Environics Research Group. "In contrast, while the survey results indicate that productivity levels have dropped, the majority of respondents still feel that they have a healthy balance between work and personal life."

The survey also found that:

• 68 per cent of employees are most productive in the morning.
• One-third of employees said their best ideas were found collaborating and working with co-workers in the office.
• Nearly four in ten employees said that money or higher profits would cause them to be more productive.
• Three-quarters of employees with SME’s think that they have a healthy balance between work and home.

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