Nearly one third of organisations sack staff for internet abuse

HR Software Show 2003, 25-26 June, Olympia, London

The most authoritative survey into internet and e-mail abuse from people management experts, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), shows that nearly one third of UK organisations dismiss staff for excessive or inappropriate use of e-mail or the internet. Private sector employees are more likely to be dismissed (45%) than public sector staff (36%).

The survey, to be launched at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development''s (CIPD) Human Resource Software Show (HRSS) on 26 June, also suggests that organisations are struggling to get to grips with new information technologies and systems. Only one third of organisations report that their system meets most of their needs, with a significant minority of systems not delivered on time (34%) or budget (23%). The use of systems is hampered by a lack of training in many organisations.
Richard Goff, the survey''s author comments, E-mail and internet abuse remains a real concern for most organisations, particularly the legal ramifications over misuse. It is encouraging therefore to see such a high proportion with e-mail and internet policies in place.
On the flip side however, excessive monitoring on the part of the employer can stifle creativity and more importantly trust, an essential ingredient of the relationship between employers and staff. Internet and e-mail have become essential communication tools and there are times when using them for matters unrelated to work is necessary.
Goff believes that there are other lessons to draw from the survey for HR practitioners and providers, IT providers and HR practitioners need to communicate more effectively to improve the relatively low levels of satisfaction with information systems.
The study also suggests that more resources need to be ploughed into project management and training staff to use the systems. Goff concludes, IT systems are too often seen as the panacea alone when in fact they rely solely upon HR practitioners'' knowledge and familiarity with the systems. This will become a more important priority as systems become increasingly sophisticated.
Key findings:
94% of UK organisations have an e-mail or internet policy.
60% of organisations have problems with e-mail or internet misuse, of which forty two per cent have dismissed staff and 27% have suspended staff.
Recording absence levels is the most common reason for using Human Information Resource systems (HRISs), used by three quarters of organisations, followed by training and development (64%) and reward (37%).
Improved internal communications is the most commonly reported benefits of using HRISs.