In a time when everything and everyone is shifting online, Internet use has become an integral part of our daily lives. We’ve pretty much gotten used to the idea of spending copious amounts of time on the Internet, exploring different forms of entertainment through games, music, movies, and social media. For many people, this also includes the time when they’re supposed to be working.
Not only does the misuse of the Internet interfere with the person’s ability to perform their job and maintain focus, but it’s also detrimental to the overall office productivity and employee morale. What’s even more concerning is when employees surf the Web to find inappropriate content or websites that go against the policy of their office or organization. In this article, we’ll be looking at the effects of employee Internet abuse and different ways employers can deal with it.
It leads to loss of productivity and lower employee morale
There’s no denying the negative impact Internet misuse can have on employee productivity and morale. The instant access to the Internet has made it easier and very much common for employees to use it to visit personal sites. Whether it means checking their social media feed, viewing new stories, or opening emails, these distractions adversely affect the employees’ ability to fully focus on the tasks at hand.
And it’s not just social media and email that are frequently visited. One study shows that many employees tend to use company-provided Internet for everything from shopping for the upcoming holiday season to keeping track of online stocks. Sometimes, the employees will also misuse the Internet to visit adult sites and access inappropriate content. One of the ways to prevent Internet abuse in the workplace is to block access to certain sites by installing a firewall.
It often results in bandwidth waste
These days, company computers are equipped with high-speed Internet to meet the growing demand for solid Internet connection. Even so, the companies are often met with difficulties when performing their routine office procedures. Whether they’re uploading website content on a server or backing up their data and files, companies need strong office connections, but this is often made more challenging due to the amount of nonwork-related use of company Internet.
In a moment when each one of the bits-per-second matter, the last thing you want is employees interfering with these necessary and regular operations through Internet misuse. Not only does this result in bandwidth waste that ultimately results in higher business expenses, but it also negatively impacts these entire processes. This is why it’s important to take steps to reduce bandwidth waste by setting access restrictions, identifying and resolving bandwidth hogs, and implementing monitoring tools.
It can bring about various security threats
Aside from the obvious decline in overall performance and interference with regular office operations and workflow, employee Internet abuse and misuse can also result in some serious security threats. By visiting inappropriate and other nonwork-related websites, employees can accidentally end up downloading malware. This can pose danger to the company’s network and even result in company data theft. The truth is, there are various security threats that can ensue from employees’ misuse and abuse of company-provided Internet.
According to companies such as Global Security Group, protecting sensitive corporate information along with IP is vital for preventing financial losses. The reality is, there’s a large number of U.S. businesses that are affected by commercial espionage. By providing corporate security training to your employees and implementing measures such as installing Internet monitoring software packages, you can discourage users from accessing non-work websites as well as protect information infrastructure.
It can result in legal action being taken against the company
When talking about the consequences of employee internet abuse and misuse, it’s important to mention the impact employees’ actions can have on the company in terms of laws. Illegal online behavior doesn’t only have the ability to land an individual in trouble, but their actions can also negatively affect the company they work for. These actions ofteninclude copyright infringement, violation of privacy laws, employee sexual harassment by email, and criminal behavior, and they can lead to legal action being taken against the company in question.
Aside from ensuring there’s a clear policy on the use of the Internet for your employees, it’s also vital that you take other additional measures to prevent them from landing the company in legal trouble. These include electronic monitoring of employee Internet and email use, employee and management training on proper usage of company resources, making use of anti-spam solutions to prevent email abuse, and coming up with acceptable Internet and email use policies.
Taking steps to ensure acceptable Internet use among the employees
In an age of constant connection and wide Internet availability, Internet use has become more widespread, and the workplace is no exception. While there are many examples of Internet use being a valuable tool for increasing productivity and gaining knowledge, the problem arises when employees perform web searches that are not work-related.
By emphasizing the importance of acceptable Internet usage policy and taking certain preventative steps, companies can avoid the detrimental effects of employee Internet abuse and ensure that the company-provided Internet is truly used for work-related purposes