Spying on Employees

[Interpreneur]

I am part owner of a small firm with about 20 employees --- mostly administrative and data entry types -- where my brother is the hands-on person.

He is a little frustrated because he says that about half the time he walks by some people's cubicles, they are in the process of changing screens, and some don't even bother to switch screens any more, revealing that they are simply surfing the net during working hours.

Now he wants to purchase software to track the employee's internet surfing habits. All he wants to see is how much company time they are wasting online and which sites they are visiting to see if we need to come up with an "internet surfing policy".

We are pretty laid back, and we don't care if people take a break to surf news sites or even play video games on their breaks, but we don't want to get robbed either.

Has anybody tracked their employee's surfing habits? Did you get any positive results? Is it considered an invasion of privacy? Should we notify them we're doing this before installing the software?

Any thoughts are appreciated.

[silicon toad2000]

most servers should have data loggers, not sure about the software though.
In Australia, provided you make sure the employees know that their internet use will be monitored it's not an invasion of privacy. Reading/checking their emails is another matter.
My last workplace had a glut of server traffic between 4:45 and 5pm. The IT manager closed access to the IP addy's for Ebay and Google earth.
As a business owner I'd be wondering if I need all that overhead or if I can shave some of it off and either gain some margin or lower the price of my goods/services and gain a little market share.
Staff deserve to relax if they work hard but if you can cut overheads without affecting internal and external service levels...

[Zukin]

To answer your question, it looks like it's legal as long as the employees are aware of it and give their consent, acording to this article:
Employee Monitoring Facts Every CIO Should Know

More importantly, I understand your concern over your employees' web surfing since you are part-owner and this direclty affects your personal wealth, but couldn't this also indicate an underlying problem? Do the employees have any equity in the business and opportunities for advancement? Or, is their work primarily fear-based (e.g. they feel they have to work in order to feed their families and they aren't connected to any larger sort of mission). Does your organization follow the 12 Elements of Great Managing? I'm normally skeptical of lots of business books, but the 12 Elements seem very data-driven and accurate.

[Michelle]

Be careful about addressing the surfing directly. You aren't going to make your employees happier by tightening the leash.

If your employees are delivering the results you expect and surfing, where is the problem? Let them be or increase their workload. If they are not delivering results you are happy with then you need to address those results and not necessarily the surfing.

If you are concerned about criminal activity, then you can inform the employees that you will be checking the logs regularly and that things such as pornography will not be tolerated.

[Caveman Joe]

*shrugs* If all your targets are being achieved, then you don't have a problem.
Bring the Net surfing into the light, and make it clear that people can surf the Internet as much as they like - but only while there's no work for them to do.

[Gordon]

What you could instigate could be a policy....

Something like.....if a person has found to be surfing in company time...(after all they are paid to work, not play)....they will be subject to disciplicinary procedures.

Or give them certain times they can surf, such as lunchtimes.

If they fail to follow company procedures, then my old favourite with staff is to start public floggings....always a winner!!!

G