Cyber-loafing: The act of hanging out on the internet, doing things unrelated to work during work hours.

Unless your job is digging trenches, most employees have access to the Internet, and with it, access to countless distractions; Facebook, Twitter, Google+, googling yourself, googling breeds of dogs, googling elgoog then trying to read things backwards, Gchating, Skype chatting, Facebook chatting and so on ad infinitum.

Here are some facts about employee use of computers in the workplace*:

•    90.3% of employees use their work computer for personal web browsing.
•    37.1% state that they surf the web constantly.
•    23% of workers have searched for jobs online while at work.
•    Cyber-loafing accounts to 30-40% of lost worker productivity.

The problem with cyber-loafing is that the culprit appears to be busy. It only takes one funny video to be forwarded to one other staff member to start the vicious cycle of sharing and searching for further distraction, until the entire office is distracted.

Common practice is to block specific websites, however the problem is just which websites do you block?  There are many clever ways to bypass blocked sites, such as using foreign portals. So what do you do?

One answer is to monitor your staff using specialised software, and make them aware of it. This software is undetectable and impossible to remove, and can often pinpoint exact keystrokes. This software can be programmed to alert you if certain words are typed. Not only does it allow you to identify any cyber-loafing but also gives you insight into any disloyal activity performed by staff, such as posting derogatory statements on blog sites or divulging secret business strategies.

By monitoring your staff’s internet activity and making them aware of it, not only do you eliminate the distraction of cyber-loafing but ultimately increase staff productivity.
Note: Try to approach this method in a professional way; the idea is not to make your employees feel like criminals but to make them aware of the restrictions in place professionally.

How do you deal with your staff and cyber-loafing? Is this idea punitive or necessary? Give us your thoughts.

*Sources include International Data Corp, Vault.com, Businessweek, American Management Association and the PEW Internet Project Survey.

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