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.