Many executives and managers are strongly opposed to their employees searching their Facebook pages during work. Some have even gone to the extent of taking legal action against those who violate company policies on social networking.

Unfortunately for those who oppose these sites sites at work, new research suggests when employees are exposed to occasional breaks where they can surf the net and check social feeds, they perform better and get more psychologically engaged on subsequent tasks.

Apparently there are also health benefits to staying social connected during work hours. People who belong to or are connected with large social networks are more likely to join online health forums and experience the synergistic effects of happiness and laughter. These are some interesting facts about people as social creatures in general.

It’s amazing how many people either don’t get regular breaks at work or don’t take advantage of them. What’s really called for in that case is an environment that encourages breaks and values them as essential tools for facilitating creativity, engagement, and collaboration in the workplace.

This next inforgraphic come to us from Keas.Com and makes the case for Facebook in the workplace. If you’re an office manager, or CEO than you need to review this data and adjust your policies accordingly. If this sounds counterintuitive to you, you need to brush up on the vast research in the field of creativity and flow in the workplace. Breaks are essential to both healthy mental functioning and a positive work attitude.