Managing internet surfing not plain sailing for employers

More than half of UK employers could be losing money to cyberspace by not monitoring employeesí use of the internet at work, reveals a new survey.

Fifteen percent of human resource professionals polled by Croner, one of the UKís leading providers of business information and advice, say they do not have an internet policy, while 38 percent who do have a policy say they donít strictly enforce it and merely trust employees to stick to its guidelines.

Only four in ten (42 percent) say they strictly monitor their internet policy and take disciplinary action against employees who break the rules, whilst only five percent do not currently have access to the internet.

Although the survey is good news for employees secretly surfing the internet when they should be working, itís bad news for bosses and their bottom line.

Richard Smith HR expert at Croner, is warning employers that by not having an internet policy, or simply trusting employees to stick to it, they are encouraging a culture of ísecret surfingí.

Richard says: Internet access is now commonplace in our workplaces and has become an essential part of the way we work. However, it offers a host of distractions, from internet banking and buying the weekly groceries, to catching up on gossip or planning a holiday - not to mention the temptation of popular sites such as Hotmail, eBay and Amazon.

Without a strictly enforced internet policy ísecret surfersí could be wasting working hours on the web, right under their bossís nose.

While the survey shows that most organisations have some sort of internet policy, if itís not enforced then it may as well not exist. Having a policy for the use of the internet is just as essential as guidelines for personal phone calls, and should be stated in the contract of employment.

Richard is advising employers to take a realistic approach to internet policies, rather than completely banning all websites unrelated to work.

He says: Using the internet to pay a bill at lunchtime or surfing over a sandwich is unlikely to impact on productivity. In fact, allocating employees time to complete chores or catch up on personal interests could even boost concentration and morale, helping them begin the afternoon focussed and refreshed.

Some employers allow access to certain restricted sites, such as banks and supermarkets, over a specified lunch period, while others choose to monitor employeesí surfing behaviour via their IT department which can report a problem which can be dealt with accordingly. Employers can stop employees viewing lewd or illegal websites through a filtering system which automatically denies access to certain websites.

Richard concludes: To control secret surfing, the internet policy should be clearly communicated to all employees. If an amount of free-surftime is allocated, this should be explained and the consequences of breaking the rules clearly stated. Then if an employee disregards the policy, the employer is justified in taking disciplinary action.

Secret surfing could be eliminated if employers permanently block access to all websites unrelated to work, or closely monitor and assess employeesí surftime. However this sort of íbig brotherí behaviour is impractical and time consuming and generally not necessary if a reasonable, common sense policy is in place which gives a degree of personal internet time so surfing doesnít have to be done in secret.