Internet Access Management at the Workplace - Report Example

Internet Access Management at Workplace This paper discusses a very important issue from any company’s management’s perspective, that is, how should internet usage be managed at workplace so that precious time is made best use of and high productivity is ensured along with guaranteeing fruitful online activities and collaboration among the employees. Effects of unrelated internet usage at work have been discussed. Statistics have been presented. Effective solutions and recommendations have also been given to counter the problem. Introduction The growing use of technology and, especially, internet in our everyday lives has made things easier on one hand but on the other, has given fuel to a number of health and mental problems in the users. One feels it very hard to carry out his daily activities without spending a couple of hours in front of the internet for chatting, surfing, browsing, sharing pictures, downloading videos, so on and so forth. One cannot, in the modern times, afford to feel the “loss, frustration and disconnectedness” (Calhoun, 2005) from the outside or online world or, in other words, one cannot afford to have a problematic internet connection. It is sad to state that researchers have found that this obsession with internet usage has given rise to depression, anxiety and isolation. People have started preferring online chat rooms and social networks to meeting others in person which has led to severe mental health issues. Internet addiction has not stayed limited to homes. It has targeted workplaces too. Internet usage at the workplace increased by 17 percent in August 2002 and nearly 46 million American employees use internet in their official activities (Nielsen//Netratings, 2002). People, during office hours, stick to their computer systems visiting social networking websites and chat rooms and doing addictive surfing. Internet has proved to be a commanding apparatus for business, but if its access and usage is not managed properly, then the company is liable to face bad consequences. This has given rise to concerns for the managers and officials about the productivity and output. They have started thinking about allowing, partially allowing or banning the unnecessary use of internet at workplace but they have not reached to the solution as yet because, according to some employees, the use of internet or the social networks and chat rooms during office hours helps in better collaborating with the co-employees especially in a distributed environment; whereas, many say that it is a complete wastage of time as internet has this special ability in itself to get the user addicted to it, willingly or unwillingly. Also, it may give rise to employee sabotage, that is, employees stealing and selling off the company’s information over to the competitors via the World Wide Web. Bogue (2003) states that “sometimes those who are gaining access to a system are not cyberterrorists; theyre just curious employees who want to learn more about the systems or perhaps play with some settings to see if they can allow themselves a greater ability to control their PCs”. Health impacts are also worth considering. If internet usage is not managed properly, the whole organization is at stake even if there is only one employee misusing the Internet. Thus, the magnitude of risk associated with improper internet access at workplace does not depend upon the number of employees illegally using the internet sources; instead, it is the level of inappropriateness that poses threat to the sustainability of the organization. Hence, it becomes important for the management to seriously consider the issue of internet access management at the workplace. What Management should Look For? Internet is undoubtedly a great productivity tool for the organization using which employees can collaborate and perform useful research; however, it has also played its part in distracting employees toward games, online shopping and internet gambling during office hours (Fox, Phillips & Vaidyanathan, 2003). “In providing workers with a desktop computer and Internet access, businesses have placed at the fingertips of their employees the unlimited ability to engage in an ever-increasing range of online activities during normal business hours” (Fair et al., 2005, p. 1). Thus, it is not an issue of IT department anymore; instead, it has started involving the Human Resource (HR) department of an organization all the same. An organization can be held responsible for improper activities of employees regarding internet such as employees viewing pornographic websites; accessing illegal data and misusing or selling that data; sexually harassing their co-workers via web; and, accessing information that promotes discrimination and hatred within the organization. Fair et al. (2005) have given a list of sites comprising of all possible unlawful internet based activities that engage employees. These include entertainment sites, sports sites, stock trading sites, financial sites, auction sites, news sites, weather sites, music sites, and job search sites. There can be many other examples which can make other employees file lawsuits against the organization thus posing great risk to its viability. Statistics 70% of employees admit that they view and send adult e-mail during office hours (NFO Worldwide, as cited in N2H2, 2009). Workers spend more than eighteen hours per week web-surfing during office hours and three hours per day using internet for personal purposes (Fair et al., 2005). More than 30% of companies have dismissed employees who have been terminated because of misbalanced and improper use of Internet (The Center for Internet Studies, as cited in N2H2, 2009). The Web@Work Survey found 25% of employees being involved in internet addiction, and when asked what kind of activities they were involved in, 24% responded they carried out online shopping, 23% visited news channels, 18% viewed pornography, and 8% responded that gambling was the fifth most addictive activity at the workplace (Fox, Phillips & Vaidyanathan, 2003). Employees admit that they spend twice the time online at workplace than at home (Snapshot Spy, as cited in Fair et al., 2005) How to Manage Internet Access? What measures the management should take to strike a perfect balance between allowing workers to access the internet and keeping them on the right track, is going to be discussed here. Baldwin (2000) asserts that businesses should focus on their productivity and project requirements more than they should be concerned about controlling internet, and cites Stephan Loh, database administrator for Houston-based Metamor.com, stating that “strict control of Internet use only produces unhappy employees…This, in turn, reduces productivity and increases turnover rate”. He further states that the worst situation the management should become serious about is when the employees get caught viewing pornography or stealing and disclosing confidential business information. One important measure the management should take is to hire hardworking professionals at the first place who know how to work according to the policies and how to discipline themselves. Non-serious employees always find ways and techniques to waste their precious time, and find rules and regulations disturbing. The employees should be given a couple of short breaks from work in which they should be allowed to surf and browse the web as they want, so that they do not do so in company time (Mack, as cited in Baldwin, 2000). A wise suggestion for the management would be to have their employees sign an internet access policy or Acceptable Use Policy (N2H2, 2009; Anandarajan & Simmers, 2003, p. 283) at the time of hiring them so that they should come to terms with the company’s policies about work ethics and their internet privileges regarding internet usage for unrelated purposes (Mason, 2003). The strictness would vary firm to firm. If it is bank or an insurance company, then the internet access should be tightly controlled; however, in a technology based firm, there should be some leniency. This means that since every firm has its own organizational culture, the internet access policy must be adjusted accordingly and this involves strategic planning on the management’s part (Bidgoli, 2006, p. 909). After formulating policies, employees’ education and training is a must. This way, they would know that they have to follow the access policy and manage their web usage themselves or else they would have to face penalties. Just designing a policy and adding it to the set of other regular policies will only have the employees ignore it. So, sessions must be arranged to educate them. Improper internet access can be best managed through creating awareness among employees and motivating them to commit themselves to maintain a self-check. They should be motivated to stick to the ethical values the company holds. “Instead of surreptitiously monitoring employees, an open engagement between employees and management and equipping both with tools that promote voluntary behavioral change is a more appropriate solution” (Fair et al., 2005, p. 4). Preventive measures also include blocking porn and other such websites from the company’s server so that no one gets a chance to access unrelated websites, and for this purpose, internet management technology involving specific filtering softwares can be installed in the system. Conclusion An old saying says that nothing is good or bad, but its usage makes it so. It is up to the user how and for what purpose he uses the internet especially when he is at work. The responsibility lies much on the shoulders of a company’s management to take such measures that should maintain balanced and healthy internet usage at the workplace without giving rise to frustration among the employees and ensuring good online collaboration at the same time. References Anandarajan, M. & Simmers, C. Aligning internet usage through internet policy management. Managing Web Usage in the Workplace: A Social, Ethical and Legal Perspective. USA: Idea Group Inc (IGI). Baldwin, P. (2000). TechRepublic members sound off on Internet use in the workplace. TechRepublic. Retrieved August 27, 2010 from http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10878_11-1061528.html Bidgoli, H. (2006). Scope of e-mail and internet use policies. Handbook of Information Security, Volume 3. USA: John Wiley and Sons. Bogue, R. (2003). What is physical security? Lock IT Down: Dont Overlook Physical Security On Your Network. Retrieved August 26, 2010 from http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10878_11-5054057.html?tag=regPop;closeBtn# Calhoun, R. (2005). Caught in the web: internet addiction costs add up in workplace. On the Job. Retrieved August 26, 2010 from http://sanantonio.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/stories/2005/02/14/focus6.html Fair, D., Zimmerman, D., Eberhardt, M. & Hobbs, A. (2005). The internet: indispensable and sometimes unlawful. Internet Abuse Continues to Steal Workplace Productivity Despite the Use of Filters. Retrieved August 27, 2010 from http://www.minitrax.com/bw/whitepapers/AIWhitePaper.pdf Fox, M., Phillips, L. & Vaidyanathan, G. (2003). Managing Internet Gambling in the Workplace. Retrieved August 27, 2010 from http://131.193.153.231/www/issues/issue8_4/fox/ N2H2. (2009). Internet Usage and Legal Liability. Retrieved August 27, 2010 from http://www.opsec.com/solutions/partners/downloads/n2h2_liability_whitepaper.pdf Mason, D. (2003). Managing web usage in the workplace: A social, ethical and legal perspective. Online Information Review, 27(6), pp. 455-456. Nielsen//Netratings. (2002). Online Usage at Work Jumps 17 Percent Year-Over-Year, Driven by Female Office Workers. Retrieved August 27, 2010 from http://www.nielsen-online.com/pr/pr_020912.pdf Read More