How To Track Internet Usage Of EmployeesOwning a company puts a great responsibility on your part. As the manager or the chief executive, you are tasked to ensure the company’s progress and security. One of things that have raised an alarming concern among businesses is how to track internet usage of their employees. More and more companies are finding solutions and means to track internet usage of their employees. According to the New York-based American Management Association, in a survey done in April 2000, about 73 of US businesses monitor the usage of all their employees. Monitoring and tracking the personal internet usage of your workers is essential. First of all, the amount of time employees spent on using the internet for personal reasons robs your company of precious working hours that are supposed to be used up doing tasks for the company. Employees use the internet for various reasons such as sending and checking e-mails, joining chat rooms, watching videos, listening to music, playing online games and other activities that give way for their personal pleasure. Unlimited online access can encourage employees to abuse this given privilege and can lead to uncontrollable and improper use of the internet. If you want to track the internet usage of your workers, you can choose from different monitoring options like using filtering software or an Internet access management software and web blocking software. These programs are installed in the computer network of your company’s main frame computer so that all computers connected to the network are controlled by these applications. For example, a filtering software allows you to see when your employees are using the internet and which websites they visit. Another type of Internet access management software is a program that not only gives details but also take actual photo shots or screenshots of the websites that are visited by your employees. With this type of monitoring system, you can even monitor the chat rooms that your employees visit and you can actually read everything they type on the chat window. Using this monitoring software can be a little offensive on your employee’s privacy. The point is that they shouldn’t even be using the internet for offensive or inappropriate purposes in the first place like visiting pornographic sites or using profane language in chat rooms. You may also prefer to use Web-blocking software which allows you to set limits on the websites that your employees are allowed to access. Some employers would feel that it is an invasion of privacy if you would be implementing these monitoring systems without advance warning to all your employees. It is important that your employees are aware that you’re going to use such tools to track internet usage of everyone in the workplace. Before purchasing a tracking application or a monitoring program, request for a free trial version from the manufacturer. This lets you have an actual testing of the product and test its efficiency. Once everything is set, don’t forget to give out each of your employees a memo or an e-mail discussing the details of your Internet usage policy and the type of monitoring program that you intend to impose. Clearly state the penalties and the consequences that may result for those who will be found committing violations of the policy. However, there must be certain degrees of consequences for different violations. |