Using Technology as an Employee Monitor

Years ago, it was relatively simple for a supervisor to determine if an employee was working hard. Often, there was quite literally a paper trail of accomplishments – memos, reports, miscellaneous paperwork neatly tucked away in file folders, etc. If employees were wasting time during the workday chatting with friends or family, it was obvious since that communication had to be done over the telephone, often within earshot of a supervisor or manager. But, as well all know, today’s workplace is a far cry from the way things were years ago.

Today, it’s possible for employees to be wasting a tremendous amount of time during the workday without his or her supervisor ever knowing it at all. “Cyberloafing,” or spending time on the Internet doing personal tasks at work, has become a widespread problem in the modern office. In fact, some studies suggest that workers spend as much as 25% or more of each day at work engaged in cyberloafing. Just imagine what this is costing your company!

If you’re a business owner or manager looking for a solution to this problem, why not use technology itself to resolve it? Avoid any product that claims to block websites, since these are usually ineffective in business. It’s a waste of time trying to block websites since you can very easily block sites that your employees need to do their jobs. Software that acts as an employee monitor is perfect – as long as you are honest with your employees and make sure they know you’re using this type of product. Be sure to choose software that monitors which sites are visited by employees and measures the time they spend in productive activities. That way, you can develop ways to motivate your workers to increase their productivity over time.

Holiday Shopping and the Internet Mean Decreased Productivity

Although “cyberloafing” (or wasting time on the Internet during work hours) has become an increasingly difficult problem for many businesses, it’s particularly a challenge during the holidays. Given the hectic nature of our everyday lives in this day and age, it’s not surprising to find out that more and more people are doing much of their shopping – especially during the holiday season – online. If they were engaged in this activity on their lunch hours or in the evenings after work, it wouldn’t be an issue. But, unfortunately, all too many people spend an inordinate amount of time shopping online during the workday.

As a means of resolving the problem, many business owners and managers have tried using Internet filters to control their workers’ access. While web filters may be effective in some circumstances – such as parents who want to limit their children’s access to undesirable websites at home – it rarely works in an office environment for a couple of reasons:

• Internet filters may actually make it difficult for your employees to do their jobs, particularly if the web filters prevent them from accessing certain sites that they need for work purposes.
  
  
• The vast majority of your workers have access to any and all websites 24/7 anyway thanks to smart phones and tablet computers.

If you worry that your employees are spending too much time engaged in online shopping during the holidays – or any other time – be open and honest with regard to how much it negatively impacts the company. Remind them that shopping online during breaks and their lunch hours is okay, but the rest of the workday needs to be spent focused on business-related tasks.

How the Cloud Makes Telework Easier

Employees who are wasting time on the Internet in the office is a huge problem. Many managers have turned to PC monitoring software that they use for employee computer monitoring to resolve the issue. Unfortunately, that seldom works. But, believe it or not, you can fix the problem once and for all by allowing more of your employees to telecommute.    

There was a time, not too long ago, when the notion of allowing an employee to work at home struck fear into the hearts of business owners and managers. But that doesn’t have to be the case now. Just look at what you and your teleworkers can do with cloud-based tools:

• Get training: Through tools like TeamViewer and others, telecommuting employees can share control of their desktops with their bosses, who can then provide them with the training they need to get their jobs done.
• Attend meetings: Through tools such as Skype, employees can “virtually” attend any meeting that they would normally if they were in the office. All that’s needed is a subscription to the service and updated computers on each end.
• Work with the team: Tools such as Dropbox allow workers to share documents with other team members and even work on the documents together in a shared place in the cloud.
• Have their productivity measured: Cloud-based software like MySammy accurately measures how productive teleworkers are during the course of a workday and even generates reports based on the data collected.

Allowing your employees to telecommute and utilizing these cloud-based tools eliminates the need for PC monitoring software or employee computer monitoring “spyware.” If you’re not taking advantage of the cloud technology already, what are you waiting for?

Controlling Internet Access: Does It Hurt or Help?

Business owners and managers in companies throughout the U.S. and around the world face a similar problem: employees spending too much time doing personal tasks on their computers during work hours. “Cyberloafing” has become an increasingly difficult issue for businesses. Some have chosen to use Internet blocking in an effort to restrict their employees’ access to certain websites. While there’s no doubt that web filters are effective in certain situations, they don’t provide a complete resolution to the problem.

Consider, for a moment, how most Internet blocking products work. Many of them block entire categories of websites. Some managers have found that along with blocking undesirable sites, web filters also block websites that employees actually need in order to do their jobs. As it turns out, blocking sites is only a partial answer.

The rest of the solution lies in an innovative software product designed to monitor employee activity in an honest and open manner, help establish individual performance goals for each employee, and even allows employees to monitor their own progress. MySammy, an innovative, state-of-the-art productivity measurement software, provides the ultimate answer to the problem of cyberloafing. 

 

Used either as a stand-alone resolution or in conjunction with your current blocking software, MySammy allows employers to approach the problem from a positive standpoint. You’ll be measuring your employees’ productivity rather than simply blocking their access to certain sites. Once you understand which of your workers needs help in order to improve their performance, MySammy provides the tools that will allow you to work together to increase productivity. And that’s good news for you, your employees and your business!

Trust Your Employees and They’ll Trust You

Wasting time on the Internet during work hours, also referred to as “cyberloafing,” is an all-too-common problem in businesses throughout the U.S. and around the world. Many managers have resorted to computer tracking software in an effort to make their employees more productive. Unfortunately, this doesn’t resolve the problem. In fact, Internet monitoring software often makes things even worse.

If you believe that your employees are using their online access for personal reasons during work hours, it’s important to carefully consider the ramifications of computer tracking software before you try it. Often referred to as “spyware” for good reason, this method is extremely invasive from the point of view of your employees. Once they realize you’re using Internet monitoring software, they’ll immediately assume – rightly so – that you don’t trust them. And once your workers believe that you don’t trust them to do their jobs, they’ll lose their lack of trust in you as well. In a business environment where a manager and employees don’t trust each other, productivity is certain to suffer. If you thought you had a problem to begin with, using spyware will only make matters worse.

The only effective means of combating cyberloafing is to approach the issue from a positive point of view. Find an effective way to measure how much time workers are engaged in productive tasks, rather than how much time they’re wasting. Then develop goals and rewards for employees to encourage them to improve their performance. Not only will you retain your workers’ trust, you’ll also increase their productivity.

Hire Productive Employees to Get Space in the Market

If you’re a business owner or manager, you understand all too well how difficult it is to find and keep the right employees – in other words, workers who will stay with you for the long term and help you to grow your business. But what you may not realize is that the key to retaining happy, satisfied employees is the same thing that makes the difference between your company succeeding or failing, and it all hinges on productivity. It may not be intuitively obvious, but there’s no doubt that it’s a fact: productive employees are happy employees.

While it’s certainly true that some individuals may be more ambitious than others, the desire to be productive and accomplish goals is part of our human nature. Business owners or managers simply need to tap into that natural desire that employees have to be productive, and the easiest way to do that is to make your workers feel that they are an important part of your company and have a vested interest in seeing the business succeed.

The Internet Challenge

Although the Internet has greatly benefited modern companies in many ways, it has also had a devastating effect on workers’ productivity levels. The temptation to waste time on the Internet is costing companies all over the world huge amounts of money each and every day. However, even the temptation of the Internet can be overcome if your employees feel that they are an important part of their company and that when their company achieves success, they do as well. For this reason, business owners should avoid the temptation to use PC monitoring software to track their employees’ online activities. This type of tool, also referred to as “spyware,” will only erode your workers’ trust in you and the company, which will have a negative impact on their productivity.

Rather than resorting to PC monitoring software, a much better way to encourage increased productivity and maintain a trusting, positive relationship with your workers is to utilize employee productivity measurement. This method is a means of measuring how much productive time each employee spends during work hours, as opposed to taking the more negative approach of tracking how much time is wasted. Once you begin to use employee productivity measurement to understand how much productive time each individual is spending, you can meet one-on-one with that employee to help motivate him or her to improve performance.

When it comes to the topic of employee productivity, it’s vital that every business owner and manager understands that it really is natural for workers to want to be productive. Your job is simply to make them feel that they are an important part of the company and to encourage them to continually improve their performance.

Mysammy is an expert writer who provides useful information about How to Block Websites and improve Employee Productivity

Make Sure Your Workers Have Job Satisfaction

As hard as it may be for unemployed people to find jobs, it’s just as challenging for business owners and managers to find good employees. While the definition of a “good employee” will likely be much different depending on who you ask, there are a few basic traits that will fit almost anyone’s definition: hard-working, dependable, capable, honest individuals who will stay with a company for the long term. 

Whether you’re in the process of trying to locate and hire new staff members or simply attempting to retain the good employees you already have, it’s important to understand how job satisfaction plays a role in motivating employees to do a good job consistently, be as productive as possible and stay with an employer for a long period of time.

Just as the definition of “good employee” will differ depending on which employer you ask, the definition of “job satisfaction” will also vary depending on which employee is defining the term. Still, there are a few basic needs that usually must be met in order for an employee to be satisfied with his or her job:

• A worker must be making a wage that provides for a descent lifestyle.
• Working conditions must be comfortable.
• The employee should be treated with respect.
• The job should provide the worker with a certain level of satisfaction when it is performed well.

If an employee is not satisfied with his or her job, it’s entirely possible that the individual will not be motivated to perform well. Once a person loses motivation, he or she will likely be much less productive than in the past and less productive than other employees.

Unfortunately, Internet access only makes the problem worse. Wasting time on the Internet during working hours, also referred to as “cyberloafing,” is becoming an increasingly common problem for companies throughout the U.S. Some business owners have looked into how to block websites in an effort to resolve the issue, but finding a tool that will act as an Internet block doesn’t solve the real problem, which stems from a lack of job satisfaction on the part of the employee.

If you believe that your workers are wasting time on the Internet, don’t concern yourself with finding out how to block websites. Instead, address the true issue. Try to determine why your employees are interested in wasting time in the first place. Consider whether you’re providing some of the basic necessities for employees to experience job satisfaction. Take the time to meet with each of your workers and discuss how each person feels about his or her job. An Internet block may temporarily treat the symptom, which is cyberloafing, but it won’t address the root cause – a lack of employee job satisfaction.

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