Email Sucking On Productivity?
Email Sucking On Productivity?
March 5, 2007: 83 percent of Australians are actively using the Internet and email while at work. While most believe it is making them more productive in general, the explosion of time-wasting emails are the thorn in the side of online communications.
According to global recruitment agency, Kelly Services, online communications has extended to most of the Australian workforce. With 70,000 individuals surveyed, Australia came in as the 8th highest user of email and the Internet in the office.
While the survey finds that online communication technologies are widely accepted as improving the quality of work, 35 percent of respondents said they receive high levels of emails that are either unnecessary or a waste of time. For Australia, this figure was lower compared to the international scale, yet it does point out the increasing number emails clogging up the system with no direct purpose.
“There is little doubt that online technologies have transformed the way business operates,” says James Bowmer, Kelly Services country manager for Australia. “But there is still a big issue with the volume of email that is unnecessarily directed to people with no clear purpose.”
In terms of spam, the results appear to be positive, especially when compared to the more traditional security reports that emerge from security vendors. Spam appears to actually be less intrusive than the legitimate but time-wasting emails, with just 23 percent of respondents reported high levels of spam.
“This suggests that some Internet Service Providers are doing a better job at curtailing the international traffic in spam,” says Bowmer. “Filters employed by many organisations are also effective in blocking spam.”
Based on this research, Bowmer believes technology administrators still need to take the time to provide training and support to ensure staff are able to integrate online tools to reach their full potential in their working routines. “It is also vital that organisations develop policies to guide employees on the correct use of online communications,” he says.
“These should cover issues such as privacy, personal use, monitoring, downloading of content, access by third parties, and illegal use of the Internet.”
The research, undertaken as part of the Kelly Services Global Workforce Index, was achieved through 70,000 interviews in 28 countries, with 2.000 undertaken in Australia.