Traditional Internet filters work by simply blocking or allowing access, but the latest EIM software solutions have emerged as the only alternative to achieving a balance between professional and personal employee Internet use in the workplace. With more demanding work schedules and tighter deadlines, workers appreciate the opportunity for non-work-related web use. As employees work longer and longer hours, they are finding it necessary to accomplish personal tasks online at the office, such as online banking and e-shopping. Workers are not just accessing inappropriate sites like pornography and gambling. Like all HR decisions, employee Internet access is not a black or white issue. And HR, more than any other department, is uniquely positioned to offer flexible options that both allow employees to access the Internet and prevent hostile workplace situations and productivity problems. After establishing a corporate policy, it is important for HR to implement a foolproof means of enforcing and managing the policy. While most HR professionals have played a proactive role in establishing Internet access policies (IAPs) within organizations, creating guidelines is only a fraction of the solution. The cost to business from Internet broadcasts of the October 1998 special prosecutor's report on President Clinton was in excess of $450 million, according to ZDNet. Napster music-swapping software was found on 20 percent of more than 15,000 work computers examined, according to. People with high-speed connections are more likely to consume streaming media content, according to Nielsen/NetRatings. For HR, this means employees are spending office hours downloading and viewing content using corporate resources. ![]() Accessing new technologies like streaming media takes a high-speed connection, such as a T-1 or T-3 line, found most frequently in corporate environments-where it is free to employees. According to recent research from Nielsen/NetRatings, fewer than 6 percent of Americans with Internet connections have high-speed access at home. Unfortunately, this problem shows no signs of abating, as new content and technologies, such as streaming video and MP3s, become available online. This means that one in five employees access cybersex at work.Ģ8 percent of individuals making gift purchases do so from their offices or cubicles, according to Pew Internet and American Life Project. ![]() businesses $63 billion in lost productivity annually, according to Websense Inc.Ĭharles Schwab reveals that 72 percent of its customers plan to buy or sell mutual funds over the next six months, and 92 percent of these plan to do so online during work hours.ħ0 percent of all Internet porn traffic occurs during the 9-to-5 workday, according to SexTracker. The trends are unsettling for HR executives nationwide:ģ0 to 40 percent of employee Internet activity is non-work-related, according to IDC Research. Entertainment, gaming and sports are just a few of the online temptations many workers have trouble resisting at the office. While Internet access has undoubtedly streamlined work processes, it also has opened the gateway to distraction at the click of a mouse. With proactive leadership from HR, companies can implement an EIM solution, achieving a balance between professional and personal employee Internet use in the workplace. This type of software, which has evolved from the simple porn-blocking products of the past, today can manage an organization's unique Internet needs flexibly and adaptively. One answer is employee Internet management (EIM) software. How can you achieve a balance between company and employee interests, especially when the Internet is considered an employee benefit these days? And as the shift continues, HR professionals will need to take a more educated, proactive role in managing employee Internet use at work. This means the management of employee Internet access is shifting from a strictly information technology (IT) matter to an HR issue. As a result, the web is fostering both lost productivity and more serious problems, among them hostile workplace lawsuits. However, while the Internet offers e-mail, e-commerce and research tools, it also opens more avenues for employee distraction, ranging from the innocent-entertainment and shopping-to the offensive, such as gambling and pornography. Rightly so-much of the last decade's productivity gains can be attributed to the Internet. ![]() ![]() Providing instant access to information and a vehicle for employee communication, the World Wide Web has been deemed a necessary productivity tool for most employees. Employee Internet access has become commonplace.
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