Companies Still Battling Internet Procrastination
Companies Still Battling Internet Procrastination
November 30, 2007: According to new research from content security specialist Clearswift, half of HR managers have been forced to discipline staff for wasting time on the internet, while only 20 percent are allowing access to Facebook.
225 HR decision makers in Australia and over 1200 globally were polled, with the data showing that while Aussie workers are struggling to stay focussed at work, many HR decision makers are also unfamiliar with Web 2.0 technology such as Wikipedia, keeping them in the dark about the benefits these new technologies can provide an organisation.
Overall, 42 percent of HR decision makers are unfamiliar with Web 2.0 tech according to Clearswift, and 79 percent say their organisations are blocking access to social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace.
“The Internet, especially Web 2.0 sites and services, have created a difficult, and often unfamiliar battlefield for human resources professionals,” said Peter Croft, Managing Director at Clearswift Asia Pacific.
“Web 2.0 is an exciting development in collaboration and information sharing services for companies. HR professionals need to be educated to empower them to effectively manage Internet use and the new Web 2.0 technologies.”
”In today’s competitive environment, businesses cannot simply lock down access to Web 2.0 services; rather they must embrace them and harness sophisticated content security solutions to protect themselves while allowing the business to enjoy the benefits these new technologies can provide,” added Croft.
Beyond Web 2.0, Clearswift also found that an unseemly 60 percent of HR managers have had to discipline staff for accessing pornographic sites in the workplace.
“While 95% of the people we surveyed reported that their organisations have a written Internet use policy, only 63 percent of their companies actually have a technology solution in place to enforce the policy – 22 percent of the respondents didn’t know if they have a solution in place,” said Croft.
The firm claims that its research indicates that HR professionals have their hands full already, so when it comes to technology issues related to policy enforcement and monitoring, everything gets deferred to the IT department. 68 percent of those surveyed leave monitoring to the IT department, prompting Clearswift to ask: “Should IT managers be developing policies and enforcing them, making decisions on what they see as a breach of employee Internet usage policy?”
“In cases where a breach is less obvious, IT may not recognise what HR would see as a violation. The survey results make it clear that HR and IT need to work closely to develop and enforce Internet usage policies, and IT need to educate HR and the business as to the benefits and risks of new technologies,” said Croft.
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