I have always had an inkling that checking my bank account balance and attempting to access Facebook or Pandora was a no-no, but after researching this topic I realized how much it really costs business owners. It's usually the printing and copying that you hear about, "a little can add up to a lot" for employers, but the costs associated with cyberslacking is astounding. For example, say you have a non-exempt worker web surfing for about an hour a day and not completing tasks during work hours. In order to complete the assignments the employee must work late or come in early resulting in overtime pay. So, as a business owner, not only have you paid that employee their regular time but now you are forced to pay time and a half to that employee that should have had ample time to complete the assigned task during business hours.
At this point is when action must be taken. Whether in the form of monitoring employees' use or blocking web sites. At my company we have a policy in our employee manual laying out the ground rules, we must acknowledge with a signature that we have read and understood the entire manual. On top of that our company utilizes software that blocks access to certain social networking sites, sites such as Pandora that if used will suck up a load of bandwidth, as well as many blogs or untrusted websites that could cause viruses to be downloaded onto our network. At my company, however, I believe this is much more a security precaution rather than a misuse issue that has brought it about.
Personally I roll with the punches, if I can't access a site or personal email I have my phone if I need the immediate access, but usually it can wait...and I should be working anyway.
What do you think about cyberslacking? We know it is a necessity in this day and age to be innovative and competitive, but if you were a business owner, knowing the few issues I brought up here and more you will learn at my team's presentation Friday, what would you do? And would you be very concerned with what your employees were viewing during work hours?
My company blocks a lot of sites from accessibility too. The majority of the sites blocked are websites I would never visit. I’ve also worked for a company that wouldn’t allow any cyberslacking. You were only allowed to visit the company’s website. It was a very boring atmosphere and you literally worked all day. Having experienced both ends of the spectrum, I must admit that I enjoy my current company’s policy. For individual’s like myself that work 8-5pm and the only way to pay a bill [that you completely forgot about] is to go online, take time from work and drive across town, or waste minutes on your cell phone, it is very convenient to be able to log in from a big monitor and pay that bill. I can probably try to do it on my smartphone but there are certain websites that an iPhone does not function the way a regular computer would. My take is as long as the employee is not on bad websites and cyberslacking only during break time or lunch break, then I would not have an issue with it.
ReplyDeleteI guess it is my "hard-nose" style of visualizing what workers should be doing during work, "working!" I believe that the internet should be banned from the work environment, except for the intranet utilized for daily business use. If you work for a company in which you find it boring and need a relief by using the internet, than the company should look into how to improve your job satisfaction as an employee and how to improve the business by creating greater efficiency rather than having employees with extra time to "goof-off!" Providing the internet at work to employees is like telling them it is okay to slack-off. I believe the best system is to not give employees access, but authorize access when appropriate. For example; if you have children and are waiting for an important email concerning your child's school registration, you can advance your boss an email about the electronic contact you are expecting. Your boss can send the authorization to IT and let them know of your intent for a certain school website and email use. This format will limit internet use, but at the same time allow for better control of appropriate usage by employees.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kim, when you are at work you should be working! Not going online and goofing off; however, sometimes when there is not much going on around a store (speaking of a retail environment because I've been doing sales since I was 17) I do not see why an employee should not be able to access the internet. I believe the company should restrict certain sites from being accessed on their server. At Best Buy certain restrictions were enforced depending on your title, sales employee, warehouse employee, supervisor, manager and so on. That was a very good way, in my opinion, of the company to prevent internet misuse in the workplace. If we use the internet to do research on products than it is helpful and it allows for a better customer experience in the store since the employees are knowledgable about the products. It is obivious that social networks should be blocked at work. Allowing access to banking sites like, WellsFargo.com or BankofAmerica.com isn't to harmful for companies because how long would an employee really be online staring at their bank account.
ReplyDeletePlus small breaks here and there to me is not a big deal only because small breaks lets employees refreash in a scene. That's my personal experience, but everyone is different. That is why if I was the big shot I would monitor individual internet use and restricts sites accordingly.
I think checking social networks seems to be a huge waste of valuable time especially at work. I am assuming people need at least 5-10 minutes to look on Facebook updates, then check for new posts on tweeter, look for new ideas on Pinteres. And I am sure people do it not only once a day. It's definitely reduce productivity. I think employers should monitor online activities of their employees to prevent cyberslaking.
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