Lost Web

Pete Chase, CEO of Liberty Lake-based Purcell Systems, says on Thursdays he sees some of his workers at their computers, selecting fantasy football league players. Not a big deal, he says.

Chase just makes a mental note and reminds himself he’s not one of those bosses who lay down rules against personal computer use.

But he’s not ignoring it either. “If it ever gets to the point where people are not hitting our objectives, then we start asking more questions about that practice,” Chase says.

Purcell Systems, like many small- to medium-size companies, tries to steer a middle ground between hard-and-fast rules about personal use of computers and office equipment, and hoping workers know what’s best.

With major league baseball playoffs in full swing, companies nationwide are reviewing worker time-use practices. With growing interest in online social networks, holiday shopping and fantasy sports leagues, “cyber-slacking” has raised serious workplace concerns.

The other side of the argument, as stated in an August 2007 TechDirt blog, is that allowing workers time for cyber-slacking actually boosts production.

That position, supported by some human resource managers, argues that personal use of computers, just like company phones, helps workers stay in their offices longer, saving them the need to dash off during breaks or after work to manage tasks.

According to a February 2007 survey by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, a Washington, D.C.-based research firm, 83 percent of online users report searching the Web for personal interests; 72 percent read news updates; 35 percent play online games; and 24 percent shop while at work.

These numbers translate into hours of lost productivity.

Salary.com, an on-demand software company in Waltham, Mass., found that as many as 60 percent of U.S. workers acknowledged they waste time at work. Thirty-four percent said the Internet was the leading factor. With the average employee spending more than 75 minutes per day surfing for nonbusiness related information, there is an estimated 40 percent loss in productivity.

In a Web@Work 2006 study by Websense Inc., 93 percent of workers surveyed said they access the Internet at work, saying they spend just over three hours per week for personal use.

What options do companies have to address cyber-slacking?

At the most restrictive level, company managers can take the block-all-personal-Internet-access approach. This would mean only corporate IT staff could install software on an employee’s computer. Many workplace observers say this approach typically erodes office morale and leads to efforts by workers to subvert network controls.

A second, more moderate approach offers workers limited private-use-only. This option provides workers with a way to access the Internet during their lunch or break time. Computers would have an Internet content filtering system so that offensive Web sites are blocked from public online viewing.

A system might also set up full-access computers in lunch rooms, so workers can go there and do personal Web browsing there during breaks or lunch hours.

Finally, there’s the do-nothing approach. Chase, at Purcell Systems, generally adopts this rule. “I’ve found that making rules is the wrong way to create an entrepreneurial culture inside your company.”

But Chase doesn’t say company managers should keep their heads in the sand.

“Ultimately you look at the individual and see what’s happening …,” he said, noting that if a worker’s performance is lacking, then a manager can rightly ask whether online cyber-slacking could be contributing to the problem.