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Is “Big Brother” watching you?

Posted by Full Circle Feed on Tue, Feb 02, 2010 @ 10:48 AM
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While listening to Fox News on satellite radio this weekend, I heard about a study done by a company in Florida that exposed a few of their employees spending 7 out of the 8 hours of their workday on social media sites conducting personal business.  Does your company have the same problem?  As the world revolutionizes into a "social media sphere" how much productivity are we really getting out of our employees?  How much time in a day are they spending on personal business and social media sites?

There are many different versions of software to monitor computer behavior and web traffic; however, I personally find it a little ridiculous that companies should even HAVE to invest in this type of software!  Why should we monitor the work of employees we are paying to work a full 8 hours a day?  I can definitely see the value.  In these tough economic times, it is essential for businesses to be getting the most out of their employee's time and effort during the workday.

I work in a company that focuses heavily on social media which sometimes brings up the excuse of..."well, I am on it for work reasons."  While I agree that sometimes we are on it for work purposes, is it truly necessary to be logged in 8 hours a day and posting all day?  I remember reading a story of a girl who posted on Facebook each day how bored she was at work.  One day her boss walked in and fired her on the spot because she apparently didn't have enough work to do.

So I pose the question to any employee at any company...do you think your company can see what you are doing?  If so, is it WHAT you want them to see?  Keep these questions in the back of your mind the next time you click on Internet Explorer or Firefox.  You never know who is watching... 

Kimberly Kelly, Director of Marketing
Unified360

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Comments

If an employee gives their company reason to believe that they are goofing off then yes they should be monitored.I've worked at at company were they had employees paying their bills,on Utube, emailing outsourcing companies chating.Big brother is always listening and watching it's the American way.
Posted @ Tuesday, February 02, 2010 3:36 PM by Crystal Fields
If you have to even think if "Big Brother" is watching you wouldn't it make you think twice before you navigate away from your work to "play" online.....
Posted @ Tuesday, February 02, 2010 3:46 PM by Melissa
I'm sure they monitor somewhat where I work but we have no restrictions. For our job and our environment we actually are more productive. However, for most bigger companies this is definitely a must. There are just too many employees to be able to govern what they are doing on a daily basis. The sad fact is that if you don't watch what you're employees are doing, they will most likely not work to their full potential.
Posted @ Tuesday, February 02, 2010 4:54 PM by Leah
You should always be cautious with what you do on company time and on a company computer. Right or Wrong…. Big brother is watching and exists!!!
Posted @ Tuesday, February 02, 2010 5:04 PM by Jessica
Hello everyone, Big Brother here...:) Just teasing of course - trying to add a little humor to the subject. Although this is a concern for all businesses (and particularly business owners), I believe monitoring is important in order to protect the workload of other employees but if we are having to truly "manage" this activity, we have problems. Either way, I am glad to say that we offer software that helps with this type of concern.
Posted @ Tuesday, February 02, 2010 7:26 PM by Jim Barker
Thanks for all of the great feedback! I know this is a controversial topic and was looking forward to the feedback from others. I think a lot of this has been debated from a national security standpoint but sometimes we don't think about it from a business standpoint. Being raised around business my entire life, I find it interesting how some employees can take advantage of relaxed environments and others work hard no matter what type of environment they are placed in. I think the best solution is to work hard as employees and don't give your employers anything to worry about!
Posted @ Tuesday, February 02, 2010 7:43 PM by Kimberly Kelly
This topic is very interesting. I feel that someone can take advantage their employer this way. On the flip side of that, there is a benefit as well. I am a proponent of taking breaks (not long ones) to rest the mind briefly. Taking a couple of quick minutes can be very beneficial over the course of a long work day. It can be connecting with friends, reading news, or your favorite blog. In the end it all comes back to who the person is at their core. Not everyone feels a conviction for wasting company time. That’s when big brother needs to step in I guess. Red Potatoes
Posted @ Tuesday, February 02, 2010 10:00 PM by Frank Chiuppi
Kim you know I agree.. I have a great idea.. Since our company model is cutting cost, increasing revenue and improve efficiency we should have the swamp dog boys load this into our UC package 
 
Posted @ Tuesday, February 02, 2010 11:05 PM by Brad Jones
Big Brother has been a topic of discussion heavily in the 21st century. Unfortuanately there are those that do in fact take advantage of certain situations in the work place. Although most people are aware that "Big Brother" is watching, so simply do not mind. I think for those that have a guilty concious may have a reason to feel guilty. In my opinion one should know whether or not they are taking advantage of the system. A little crazy story from today. I went to meet a prospect today and the IT Director was pulling records of sites a particular employee was visiting. As you may have guessed it they had been spending most of the time visting inappropiate websites...all the while knowing that everything is monitored. I think for some individuals the urge and temptation to get away from doing work is simply too much to handle. In the end "big brother" is always watching no matter what.
Posted @ Tuesday, February 02, 2010 11:11 PM by Andrew Espitia
I had an interesting article in my inbox this morning.  
 
"workers who engage in Workplace Internet Leisure Browsing" are more productive than those who don't. "People who surf the Internet for fun at work — within a reasonable limit of less than 20% of their total time in the office — are more productive by about 9% than those who don't," he says. " http://ow.ly/13o9s 
 
The article is called 
The Über-Connected Organization: A Mandate for 2010 by Jeanne C Meister and Karie Willyerd 
Posted @ Wednesday, February 03, 2010 8:40 AM by Frank Chiuppi
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