“Social Networking: The Bad” is the second installment of a three part series which looks at how social networking websites (Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, etc) are affecting businesses today.
Downtime comes in all shapes and sizes, from computer hardware failures to company-wide network/Internet outages to employees abusing their Internet privileges. According to MacWorld, Internet abuse is now the leading reason for employee disciplinary action. Social networking web sites (MySpace, FaceBook, etc) have gained in popularity to a ridiculous degree over the past two years and are generally the most visited, non-work related web sites.
Most business owners and office managers I speak with want to trust their employees and don’t want to look over their shoulders all the time. Obviously you want a healthy, trusting relationship with the people working for you, but you have to protect your bottom line at the same time.
First and foremost, an Internet acceptable usage policy should be implemented- just as you would an employee handbook or a non-compete agreement. Most companies don’t mind employees using the Internet for personal reasons during lunch or breaks- but there has to be a policy in place so the message is clear about what is acceptable and what isn’t.
Next I suggest an Internet Web Filter (like our Frontline) for every office we service. You can block the most offensive sites (pornography, gambling, etc) but you can also run reports on Internet usage- and generally most managers are shocked at the amount of time their employees spend surfing the Internet.
The Internet is evolving towards a more social gathering place, where it used to be slanted toward research and shopping, employers would be foolish to let this take a stranglehold on their business.