Have You Got A Web-Use Policy At Work? And If You Do, How Is It Enforced?

06/04/2010

Web-use policies are not a new measure in the workplace - they've been applied since staff first started to access the web at work - however, they are often paper-based and almost impossible to enforce. Today, changes to how people are using the Internet, spurred on by the wealth of new Web 2.0 applications, means that businesses shouldn't undervalue a corporate Web-use policy. An automated and flexible policy that can be actively enforced is both an effective way of protecting an organisation from web security attacks, as well as delivering productivity benefits.

Many businesses are still only paying...

...lip service to a static, paper-based policy printed in a company handbook which is quickly forgotten after an employee's induction. Test this out for yourself by asking the next five colleagues you meet by the coffee machine if they know what the company Web-use guidelines are? They probably won't.

Today's employees can watch TV, listen to the radio, play games, buy and sell, or chat with friends, all from the comfort of their office chair. The very alluring nature of the Internet means that personal surfing is not just consigned to lunch breaks anymore and experience shows that there is no value in taking a draconian approach to who can use it and when. Many companies and analysts now say that locking down internet access means you risk losing employees altogether! Plus, employees, frustrated with limited internet access at work, are trying to find their own workarounds which cause further problems.

Unmanaged web access can cost a company a lot of money in terms of lost productivity. Here's a simple bit of maths based on the current minimum wage (£5.8/hour): if everyone in a 30-employee company takes 30 minutes out of their working day (outside... continued on page two >

 

 

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