According to IDC Research, 30% to 40% of Internet use in the workplace is not related to business and The cost of employees surfing the web from their office PCs is estimated to cost US companies more than
$1 billion dollars a year (http://surveilstar.com/employee-internet-monitoring-research-resources.html).
Employees who are aware they are being watched are likely to spend more time working and considerably less time on personal matters. That would lead to an increase in productivity and considerable cost savings by increasing a company’s return on investment. Internet monitoring makes it clear to employees that certain behaviors and norms are expected in the workplace as part of the corporate culture. To make monitoring effective and fair enough to its employee, companies should written policies about Internet usage in terms of which sites employees should not be visiting during company time. Without a monitoring system in place, some employees may feel like they can do whatever they want. On the other hand if employees feel like they are being monitored, they may not go to certain sites in the first place.
Internet monitoring in the workplace is an important consideration for any enterprise to protect itself from the actions of employees who act in a fraudulent manner by misusing and abusing the Internet while at work. Monitoring must be for legitimate business reasons and conducted ethically after providing prior notice to the employees.
Internet monitoring in the workplace:
ReplyDeleteSome work places have very strict computer usage policies. Often times they don't use programs installed on the local computer but rather have a list of websites visited which are tied to the unique IP address of you computer. This way they can see what sites you've been to and know which computer accessed it and at what time. Tying it all back to you. Additionally, there are several monitoring programs/software that can be installed on the system that you will never see or even know they are running. These programs can record usernames and passwords, typed addresses, they can capture screen shots of what you were doing, they log websites and other programs you have running. I think that all of this is perfectly legal because you signed a paper agreeing to it when they hired you!
Right now, I am actually at work using the computer for personal reasons, such as Facebook and homework! I know if I was being monitored I would positvely not be on any kind of personal website! Although there is not much to do today, I would find other things to do. Facebook is not worth getting fired from my job or anyone elses, which I know has happened before numerous times in the workplace. Some businesses do not necessarily monitor people but they just go ahead and block sites, such as Facebook, from their system. On the other hand, I will probably continue doing the same thing until I am monitored or have work to do! Why not be productive when you have nothing else to do?
ReplyDeleteJean Pacome Anno, very good solution and that might help a lot. Unfortunately, there is another issue which is the emerge of smart phones and tablets. What if the employee brought his own devise and started to waste his time using them in hidden places.
ReplyDeletecgilbe21, very hones posting. Thank you for your comments. I hope you be more careful in the future for your own good. Good luck.