Cyberslacking Are You on the Ball?
Summary
“The temptation for staff to spend an inordinate amount of time on sports sites during working hours is all the more alluring with this summer’s sport-fuelled schedule,” comments Bloxx Managing Director, Eamonn Doyle.By limiting such activity to lunchtime and breaks, workers gain a better work-life balance and the company can rest assured that their employees aren’t abusing the Internet facilities made available to them.” “It is well known that social Internet usage at work serves as a source of distraction for employees and misuse of the resource can lead to significant productivity losses as well as posing potential threats to network and information security,” explains Butler Group Senior Analyst, Andy Kellett.This method complements traditional web filtering techniques such as URL databases and keyword scanning, to ensure that organisations can more effectively manage and regulate Internet access.Bloxx reports that non-work related online activity in the office around high profile sporting events such as June’s Euro 2008, the Beijing Olympics and the ever-popular Wimbledon is likely to increase, could cost UK business up to £750[1] per employee in additional lost productivity this summer.Working on an average of just 100 employees spending an additional hour, surfing sporting themed sites during the working week and using the national average hourly wage of £12.50[2], Bloxx estimates that a business could stand to lose £75,000 during the summer period in lost productivity.Additional protection is provided via anti-virus, anti-spyware and anti-phishing functionality.About BloxxHeadquartered in the UK with sales offices in Holland, the USA and Australia, Bloxx offers appliance-based web filtering for medium and large organisations in both the business and public sectors.