Pac-Man 30th Anniversary Causes Lost Productivity

During our group presentation, I showed a video from CBS News about internet misuse in the workplace, or better known as cyberslacking. Google turned its homepage into a Pac-Man arcade to honor the 30th anniversary of the video game.

Unfortunately, because the game was available during the workday, 5 million work hours were lost resulting in $120,000,000 of lost productivity.

Over the Thanksgiving break, I got to see family and talked about this topic. Some family members who are good workers at their companies and are very productive in my opinion, even admitted to playing Pac-Man when they saw this on the internet.

To my suprise, I learned that Internet Misuse in the Workplace does not just affect those that are lazy and unproductive. Sometimes, there can be content on the internet that will affect the best and most productive workers that I would consider anything but lazy.

Setting Policies for Workplace Internet Use

Guidelines and rules need to be formulated to protect employees from being subjected to material that may be inappropriate at work. It is imperative that rules be established before they can be enforced. Therefore, a company should formulate a plan prior to taking disclipinary action. These policies should educate it's users about web-bourne threats and how irresponsible browsing can result in malicious packages being downladed onto a computer and affecting the whole network. A clear distinction between work and personal use should be made while explaining that excessive personal use leads to cyberslacking.  This includes, shuning one's work responsibilities because of excessive internet browsing. The policy should then state that action will be taken against any employee that continuously ignores it. Some companies like the one discussed in the following video, have decided to enforce their policy through the use of an automated web-monitoring software. Actions are then taken based upon the reports provided by the software. They're not implemented to spy on the employees, but to verify their trust. While some aren't in favor of the monitoring, which is facilitated by the company IT director, it has proven to boost productivity by 30%. After watching the video clip, how would you feel if your internet use was being monitored on the job?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wLhNwY-enY

Could internet monitoring hurt the employee of the company?

Internet monitoring consider the best solution for companies to prevent misbehaving employees as long as the monitoring has been for legitimate business reasons such as, cost reduction, safeguarding company information, maintaining a professional and comfortable workplace, upholding a company’s ethical values, and reduce liability.

On the other hand internet monitoring done for the following reasons, is considered unethical and typically rejected as reason for monitoring for example, targeting a specific employee solely for the purpose of termination, viewing personal data of the employee not relevant to work, application of personal rather than business moral and ethical standard, and for personal gain.

Why is internet misuse such a big deal?

Most people would say that in 2011, the internet is such a common thing that it is impossible to completely prevent employees from surfing the internet while at work. While this is true, employees should have enough common sense to make sure they complete their tasks at work before surfing the web aimlessly.

In order for companies to protect them selves from this epic internet misuse in a world where everything if electronic, employers should implement a policy regarding their rules and limitations for their workplace. Employers can implement a monitoring system or even block certain websites from being accessed through the network. All of this is costing employers nationwide, thousands and sometimes millions of dollars.

In my opinion,  your employer is not your babysitter. You should know right from wrong and what is acceptable and not acceptable during the hours of 9 to 5. (Or whenever your workday consists of) If you are questionable as to whether or not you're doing the right thing, don't do it. It's costing employers a tremendous amount of money and could ultimately cost you your job.

Tips for not becoming an employee who abuses the Internet

1. Review your company’s handbook: every company has a set of policies that outline what is expected from employees 
2. Don’t use company e-mail for private messages: It's common sense, your there to work not chat about your personal life
3. Always assume your messages work be shared with others: I would say that this is the most important tip I can give you. At work most the things you do will be shared with others. 
4. Keep your passwords private
5. Stay off sensitive Web sites while at work: A lot of companies have a monitored tha
6. Turn off your computer 
7. Pay your bills at home
8. Report to work on time: this should be a given, don't make yourself look bad because then employers are just looking for a reason to get you in trouble 
9. Don’t use company issued credit card for personal purchases

Use these 9 tips and you shouldn't become one the statistics 

source: CNN.com 

The Need for a Company Policy on Internet Use

As business owners and employees, it's apparent that there will be down time from time to time. However, how are we to manage that one might say? Some might head for a cigarette or coffee break, take a looong lunch or handle personal matters on the company computers. Honestly, occasional use of the company's pc for personal matters should be allowed, but should be limited and maybe even monitored. I think employees should be allowed to work independently unless a problem arises. Once a problem arises, there are a series of steps the company should then take. Devise a policy in writing-for both computer and Internet use would be the first. Once a policy is in place the employees should respect it and not want to risk being caught. Should you still suspect it, I encourage installing software or spyware or firewalls that make it difficult for the suspect to continue. How do we then handle those matters when someone is caught? Watch this clip of what happened to this young lady who updated her facebook status while at work about her job. How would you handle this situation?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bP4clzrDgy0&list=FLuG5tvxqBPwFyQEDcPA0gSA&index=3&feature=plpp_video

So How Do Companies Keep Employees from Misusing the Internet?

So during this semester everyone has discussed what the definition of misusing the internet at work is, with facts and figures showing how much is lost in terms of dollars and work hours.

But in the end, how do companies keep employees from misusing the internet? I don't know if one can actually keep someone from using the internet for personal use at all, but here are some guidelines.

-The company should have some guidelines in place for what is appropriate and what is not.
-The company should block access to inappropriate sites.
-The company should just make sure that all employees are productive.
-The company should have monitoring software in place and red flag when someone is constantly on a website not appropriate for work.

There is software out there for employers to purchase that can monitor employess and send notices for unusual internet activity.