Signs of Employee Internet Addiction

 Everyone does a little online chatting or shopping at work here and there, so it doesn't strike as much of a problem to some. However, as I mentioned before, employee internet misuse costs a great amount of money in lost productivity every year. So how can you predict if an employee may be misusing the internet while on the job? Well, an Internet addicted employee will also be an Internet abusing employee. Here are a few questions to ask that may alert you to Internet addiction among your co-workers, employees, or even yourself:

Do you or your employees lose track of time when online?

Do you log on to the Internet with every intention of doing work-related research, only to find yourself still surfing hours later, but now for personal material? Does the amount of time you spend online worry you? Or, are you concerned that your employees are losing track of time when they’re online? Granted, everyone may lose track of time once in a while when conducting intensive research; however, if it’s a common occurrence and you can’t recall the information you’ve been viewing online, there may be an Internet addiction problem.

Do you routinely have more personal than work-related e-mail in your e-mail box every day?

Everyone likes to socialize, and e-mail offers the perfect way for employees to socialize without leaving their desks. Unfortunately, it’s easy to let the messages get out of hand. One online poll conducted by vault.com revealed that 51% of employees admit to receiving 1-5 non-work related emails per day, and 17% receive 6-10. Additionally, 7% admit to sending over 20 personal e-mails per day. If you monitor your company’s e-mail activity, you may want to occasionally check who sends what and to where. Those employees who send and receive an unusual amount of personal e-mails may have a problem.

Are you or any of your employees preoccupied with the Internet?

Are you constantly thinking about your most recent online adventure, or do you sit at your desk anxious to log on again? Do you notice employees who continually obsess over the Internet, as if they can’t wait to get online again? Or do you have employees whose conversation topics routinely focus around the Internet and something they saw online?

Do you or your employees become irritated when it’s time to log off or when the Internet is down for the day?

Have you tried to stop your Internet surfing, only to become depressed or angry for no reason? Do you become frustrated when you have to dial up for an Internet connection and can’t get through? If your network is down for a few hours or the entire day, do you or any of your employees become hostile? When an Internet addicted employee can’t get his or her “fix,” it’s very common for emotions such as anger and frustration to surface.

Source:
Be Alert to the Signs of Employee Internet Addiction by Mike Foster

Top 10 blacklisted Websites at Work

Employers are blacklisting or blocking websites to prevent employees from getting on them at work. People are finding ways around blocked websites by using their mobile phones, or setting them up as a wifi hotspot thus bypassing any security measures taken by employers. Due to the use of smartphones, employees are able to access all the want, the wasteful websites without having to worry about punishment from superiors.

Below is a list of 2010’s top 10 blocked websites. It is not shocking that Facebook was the number one at 14.2%. 

But with all these restrictions being put on Internet, do you think employees would be more enticed to use websites such as facebook just because they aren’t allowed?   




http://www.michaelhartzell.com/Blog/bid/58842/The-Top-Ten-Blacklisted-Websites-in-Business-Facebook-1

Twitter at Work

If you're an avid user of twitter while at work and think you're getting away with it, think again. Many of us may think that just clicking the 'x' in the right hand corner of our browsers and clearing the browsing history will have us in the clear from getting caught. Well there's bad news: it doesn't. Anything done on the internet is recorded somewhere in a database that can be retrieved if needed.

Since, 2009 Twitter Inc. has gained over 200 million followers. Twitter is an online social network where users can write out text of up to 140 characters and express themselves over the web. These texts are known as "tweets". On Twitter, you are able to have a public or private account. A public account allows your tweets to be viewed by any and everyone that knows your twitter name. A private account only allows people that follow you to view your tweets. This is when tweeting at work can cause trouble. If you have a public twitter account, you boss can and probably will see your account.

The YouTube video below is of a former employee at California Pizza Kitchen that shared his opinion on the restaurants uniform change publicly. He stated that "black button ups are the lamest sh*t ever!!!" Because of this tweet he was later fired.

Moral of the story: If you're going to misuse the internet at work and get on Twitter, at least make your profile private. :)


Video source:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_TJ-V8wI7Sk#! 

Internet Misuse Come with Large Price tag

As stated earlier, internet misuse in the workplace is becoming more and more of a problem in the workplace. "Employees are using the Web more and more for personal reasons and that is setting U.S. companies back $178 billion annually, a cost of $5,000 per employee, said a study released Tuesday by Websense, Inc." (Peter Saalfield, IDGNS) The company also reported that nearly 50% of all participants of their survey admitted to internet misuse while a the workplace. The survey attributes these growing numbers to fact that internet is not just growing in the workplace, but in our everyday lives as well. 
It is hard to avoid the internet on a daily basis in today's world. This is simply a fact. Not only do more employees get on the internet at work to "kill time", there are also more reasons to go on the internet in general. More and more of people's everyday tasks are being incorporated into the world wide web. "Among workers who reported using the Web for personal reasons the most popular activities were reading the news, checking personal e-mail, online banking, travel and shopping." I personally can testify to this statement. I do so much of my shopping online. I also will be the first to admit how tempting it is when I am at work and some extra time presents itself to surf the internet. There is a tremendous amount of access when it comes to online shopping. 
Surveyed IT managers on average estimated that each employee is using the Internet for personal use for 5.9 hours a week, the survey said. After multiplying these numbers by the average American hourly salary, Websense came up with the figure of $178 billion. It is easy to imagine how this number is reached so easily. Although it is no excuse to abuse the internet while at work, the ease with which one can find whatever they so desire on the internet leads to a vast world of limitless queries and finds, a time-consuming endeavor. However, these numbers don't only affect those companies the employees work for. These numbers must ultimately trickle down to the consumers or clients that seeks goods or services from them. This is something that employees should keep in mind the next time they decide to abuse internet policies.



Works Cited: http://www.infoworld.com/t/applications/internet-misuse-costs-businesses-178-billion-annually-996
Image: http://curiosity-media.discovery.com/mediaItems/4/d/b/4db5cb33e0244/computer-softwareqa2-600x400.jpg.jpg?v=1303759669

Preventing Internet Misuse in the Workplace

According to recent studies, the average employee spends between one and two hours a day using the Internet for personal reasons. So how do you monitor your employees’ Internet and e-mail behavior and curb excessive or inappropriate use? And do the same rules apply to contracted workers? 

 Louise Wood (woman to the right), managing director of Prodrill Energy Resource Solutions, said: “We allow employees to use the company e-mail systems and access the Internet for personal use during their working day if need be, but we are vigilant and they must not abuse this. Internet and e-mail access at work is a privilege, not a right.

Louise’s top tips on curbing employees’ Internet use:

Internet access control programs: They offer complete web security, web monitoring and Internet access control across your company network. Various programmes also allow employers to block downloads and streaming in real-time, enabling them to stop bandwidth hogging.

Contract clause: The majority of employers in this day and age have a clause written into employees’ contracts detailing exactly what type of Internet use is acceptable. Employees cannot say that they are not aware of company policy if they have signed their contract. 

Warnings: Excessive Internet use should be met with a verbal or written warning. If the use has been deemed inappropriate, suspension or even dismissal can be an option.

Educate your staff: A survey has shown that 28% of office workers did not know their company’s Internet policy. This shows that many businesses are not educating their staff or setting clear boundaries on acceptable use. Companies should consider holding internal meetings and issuing regular updates to all staff to reiterate company policy. Staff can then sign this to say they are aware of the rules. 

Legal liabilities: Employee Internet misuse can seriously damage an employer’s reputation. Legal liability can arise from issues including harassment and defamation, and transmission of trade secrets, viruses and confidential information. 

Contractors beware: Contracted staff may think that as they are not a permanent member of staff, a company’s policies do not apply to them. However, this is not the case. It is common practice for a contractor to comply with a company’s policies, including those on Internet misuse. 

 Source:
http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/2022971?UserKey=

Your employers could be monitoring you...

Due to society’s growing dependence on the Internet, companies are having a larger issue with keeping their employees focused on their daily tasks. While not all companies have a problem with Internet misuse, it is becoming a hindrance for productive work. Most employees have the right to monitor computers without the employee’s knowledge. Be wary of what you do on the Internet because an employer has the right to check your Facebook to see what you are posting while at work. According to an article by Read Write Web, employers use Facebook and Twitter along with other social networking sites to "make sure that employees don't leak sensitive information on social networks or engage in any behavior that could damage a company's reputation."

Here is an example of an employee abusing internet rights in the workplace and the consequences he faced.

Source

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/social_sentry_track_employees_across_the_web.php