Internet Blocking: Not The Answer To Increasing Employee Productivity

By Author: thomas galvin
Total Articles: 612
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It’s a matter of fact in today’s business world: Businesses need the Internet to function and be competitive, and employees need the Internet to do their jobs. Of course, the amount of Internet access required depends on the job the employee is asked to do. If your company employs accountants, for example, they will probably need access to banking sites. If you have an office manager on your staff, you will probably want him or her to be able to order office supplies online. Your salespeople will probably want to periodically check out new products being sold by competitors. And you will most likely ask your secretary to make your travel arrangements online.

For all the business-related tasks that employees use the Internet for, many of them also use it for personal reasons during business hours. A few minutes here and there won’t impact the business, but when employees begin spending excessive time doing personal activities online during work hours, it can seriously impact their productivity. It’s not surprising that the productivity issue is becoming more and more of a problem for employers.

Many business ...
... owners and managers are choosing to use Internet blocking software in an attempt to improve their employees’ productivity. If you’re wondering how to block a website, there are several different products that accomplish it in different ways. Some are hardware, while others are software solutions. Some work on individual PCs, while others work at the firewall level. Whichever option you try, your question shouldn’t be how to block a website, but instead, do these products really work?

While Blocking Websites may be a practical solution in some cases – when, for example, you’re trying to prevent your child from visiting inappropriate websites on your home computer – they aren’t effective tools for increasing employee productivity. In fact, they often have just the opposite effect.

Many of these products block whole categories of websites, and, as we mentioned before, your employees need access to different types of sites depending on their jobs. Blocking software may end up blocking sites that actually have a legitimate business use. Since most young U.S. workers now carry smart phones with them, they have unlimited Internet access through their phones regardless of how you restrict their business PCs. And, finally, blocking websites doesn’t address the real issue of improving employee productivity because if employees want to waste time at work, they will find a way to do it, whether or not their Internet use is restricted.

If you want to improve productivity, the only real solution is to work with your employees on an individual level. Measure their productivity, then motivate them to improve!

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