BEST MONITORING, TRACKING AND BLOKING SOFTWARE PRO

An increasingly common term in modern-day business is “cyberloafing,” which describes the action that employees engage in when they spend time doing personal business on the Internet during work hours. In an effort to resolve the problem, many managers try to block sites or use software that acts as an Internet usage monitor. While either of these may help discourage workers in some small way, neither will completely resolve the problem.

Software designed to block sites often blocks entire categories of websites, which may make it impossible for your workers to access certain sites that they need to do their jobs. Monitoring software, while it may tell you which sites workers are visiting, is often considered very invasive. Some products are even referred to as “spyware.”

It’s an all-too-common problem in this day and age – employees spending too much time doing personal tasks on the Internet during work hours. If you’re a business owner or manager who’s trying to resolve this issue in your own workplace, trying employee Internet monitoring software is a tempting notion. After all, this type of tool would keep you informed of which websites your workers are visiting and how often. Although computer monitoring software may offer a partial solution, it doesn’t address the real problem, which is a lack of motivation on the part of your employees.

Consider this: if a worker isn’t motivated to do a good job and truly wants to waste time at work, he or she will find a way to do it one way or another. You’ll only be able to install monitoring software on your own company computers, and thanks to the advent of smart phone and notepad computer technology, most workers have access to the Internet 24/7 on their own personal devices. This means, of course, that they’ll be able to visit whatever websites they want to during the course of any work day, no matter how much you’ve invested in employee Internet monitoring software.

Considering the fact that just about everyone who works in an office – and many who spend their days working in other business environments as well – requires Internet access, it probably should be no surprise that “cyberloafing” (or wasting time on the Internet during work hours) has become such an overwhelming problem for businesses in virtually every industry. Business owners and managers have attempted to block websites in an effort to resolve the problem. Unfortunately, this approach when used on its own isn’t the answer for several reasons:

The method: If you’re wondering how to block a website, the answer is to use software specifically designed for this purpose. Unfortunately, these tools usually blocking entire categories of sites, some of which your workers may actually need in order to do their jobs.

Personal devices: No matter how much you try to block websites, you’ll never be able to do so on your employees’ smart phones and tablet PCs. Because the vast majority of workers carry their personal devices with them every day, it means they have access to any and all websites 24/7.

Lack of motivation: While you’re trying to figure out how to block a website, you may be missing the real issue, which is a lack of motivation on the part of your employees to do their jobs. Until you address this problem, you’ll never resolve the cyberloafing issue.

If your employees have Internet access, they may not be as productive as you’d like them to be. In fact, recent studies suggest that U.S. workers spend as much as 20% of each workday doing personal tasks on the Internet. Some employers have looked into how to block a Website or even considered employee computer monitoring to try to resolve the issue. But the real problem isn’t simply Internet access – it’s a lack of motivation on the part of the workers.

Even if you don’t have a huge budget, there are several creative ways that you can motivate your employees to work harder on the job:

Start an “employee of the month” program. Set goals for your workers, and reward the most productive employee at the end of each month. Hold a small office party, and present the winner with a framed “employee of the month” certificate.

Set productivity goals for your workers, and reward employees who meet those goals by allowing them to work a more flexible schedule. This is especially effective if you have employees with families.

If you have a small staff, meet with each person one-on-one to determine what nonmonetary motivator would be most effective for him or her. Whenever an individual achieves the goals you’ve set for a 30-day period, reward him or her with that nonmonetary award.

Establish a clear career path if you have employees who feel “stuck” in their jobs. If there are no chances for workers to advance their careers or be promoted in the future, expand their job descriptions to give them some variety in their daily tasks.

Do you suspect that your employees are spending too much time doing personal tasks online during work hours? If you do, you’re not alone! “Cyberloafing” has become an increasingly common problem for business owners and managers throughout the U.S. and around the world. Some employers have tried various products designed to block a Website or employee Internet monitoring software in an effort to resolve the situation.

Unfortunately, neither of these methods really works. When you stop to consider the fact that the vast majority of workers now carry either smart phones or notepad computers with them every working day, you’ll realize that your employees actually have access to any and all Websites through their own personal devices. So whatever tool you might decide to try simply won’t make any difference since you can only use them on workplace computers. Besides, if your workers are truly interested in wasting time on the job, they’ll find a way to do just that no matter what kind of Internet access they have or don’t have.

One of the greatest challenges faced by business owners and managers is “cyberloafing”– employees spending too much time doing personal tasks on the Internet during business hours. Some studies estimate that many workers spend at least 25% of their time each workday surfing the Web. If you believe your employees are cyberloafing, just imagine the amount of money it can be costing your business!

Many companies have attempted to resolve the issue by using computer monitoring software. While it’s true that this type of tool can be useful in disclosing which sites your workers are visiting and how often, it doesn’t completely resolve the problem. Computer tracking software, often referred to as “spyware” for obvious reasons, doesn’t address the real issue – which is a lack of motivation on the part of workers. Let’s face it, if your employees want to surf the Internet, they can easily do so on their own personal smart phones regardless of whether you use computer monitoring software or not.

Fortunately, there is one cutting-edge software tool that can solve the problem of cyberloafing once and for all. MySammy, a unique software product that measures workers’ productivity, is an innovative solution that allows you to help increase your workers’ productivity without the need for computer tracking software. MySammy enables employers to not only monitor what their workers are doing on their computers, it also helps you to set individual goals for each employee and even allows employees to monitor their own progress!

If you’re a business owner or manager, you understand all too well how difficult it is to find and keep the right employees – in other words, workers who will stay with you for the long term and help you to grow your business. But what you may not realize is that the key to retaining happy, satisfied employees is the same thing that makes the difference between your company succeeding or failing, and it all hinges on productivity. It may not be intuitively obvious, but there’s no doubt that it’s a fact: productive employees are happy employees.

While it’s certainly true that some individuals may be more ambitious than others, the desire to be productive and accomplish goals is part of our human nature. Business owners or managers simply need to tap into that natural desire that employees have to be productive, and the easiest way to do that is to make your workers feel that they are an important part of your company and have a vested interest in seeing the business succeed.

The Internet Challenge

Although the Internet has greatly benefited modern companies in many ways, it has also had a devastating effect on workers’ productivity levels. The temptation to waste time on the Internet is costing companies all over the world huge amounts of money each and every day. However, even the temptation of the Internet can be overcome if your employees feel that they are an important part of their company and that when their company achieves success, they do as well. For this reason, business owners should avoid the temptation to use PC monitoring software to track their employees’ online activities. This type of tool, also referred to as “spyware,” will only erode your workers’ trust in you and the company, which will have a negative impact on their productivity.

Rather than resorting to PC monitoring software, a much better way to encourage increased productivity and maintain a trusting, positive relationship with your workers is to utilize employee productivity measurement. This method is a means of measuring how much productive time each employee spends during work hours, as opposed to taking the more negative approach of tracking how much time is wasted. Once you begin to use employee productivity measurement to understand how much productive time each individual is spending, you can meet one-on-one with that employee to help motivate him or her to improve performance. When it comes to the topic of employee productivity, it’s vital that every business owner and manager understands that it really is natural for workers to want to be productive. Your job is simply to make them feel that they are an important part of the company and to encourage them to continually improve their performance.

As hard as it may be for unemployed people to find jobs, it’s just as challenging for business owners and managers to find good employees. While the definition of a “good employee” will likely be much different depending on who you ask, there are a few basic traits that will fit almost anyone’s definition: hard-working, dependable, capable, honest individuals who will stay with a company for the long term. 

Whether you’re in the process of trying to locate and hire new staff members or simply attempting to retain the good employees you already have, it’s important to understand how job satisfaction plays a role in motivating employees to do a good job consistently, be as productive as possible and stay with an employer for a long period of time.

Just as the definition of “good employee” will differ depending on which employer you ask, the definition of “job satisfaction” will also vary depending on which employee is defining the term. Still, there are a few basic needs that usually must be met in order for an employee to be satisfied with his or her job:

A worker must be making a wage that provides for a descent lifestyle.

Working conditions must be comfortable.

The employee should be treated with respect.

The job should provide the worker with a certain level of satisfaction when it is performed well.

If an employee is not satisfied with his or her job, it’s entirely possible that the individual will not be motivated to perform well. Once a person loses motivation, he or she will likely be much less productive than in the past and less productive than other employees.

Unfortunately, Internet access only makes the problem worse. Wasting time on the Internet during working hours, also referred to as “cyberloafing,” is becoming an increasingly common problem for companies throughout the U.S. Some business owners have looked into how to block websites in an effort to resolve the issue, but finding a tool that will act as an Internet block doesn’t solve the real problem, which stems from a lack of job satisfaction on the part of the employee.

If you believe that your workers are wasting time on the Internet, don’t concern yourself with finding out how to block websites. Instead, address the true issue. Try to determine why your employees are interested in wasting time in the first place. Consider whether you’re providing some of the basic necessities for employees to experience job satisfaction. Take the time to meet with each of your workers and discuss how each person feels about his or her job. An Internet block may temporarily treat the symptom, which is cyberloafing, but it won’t address the root cause – a lack of employee job satisfaction.

Most business owners and managers would agree that, along with all its benefits, the Internet has presented some challenges when it comes to employee productivity. Whether it’s online shopping, reading national news reports or communicating with family and friends through social media, there is an almost endless variety of ways that employees can waste time on the Internet during the workday. In fact, this problem has become so common that a phrase has been coined to describe it: cyberloafing.

If you’re responsible for supervising workers and you suspect that they may be wasting time doing personal tasks on the Internet during working hours, you may be tempted to block websites in an effort to keep your employees from misusing their online access. Although it’s true that Internet blocking is useful in certain situations – for parents who may not want their young children visiting certain sites, for example – it has some downfalls in a business environment. Internet blocking often involves preventing access to whole categories of websites, some of which your workers may actually need to do their work.

Rather than trying to block websites, a better option would be to find a means to measure the amount of time your workers are engaged in work-related, productive tasks during the course of each workday. Once you are armed with that information, you can begin to establish goals for each employee and develop rewards for their accomplishments. That’s the only way to truly keep your workers honest with regard to how they use the Internet.

Are you concerned that your employees may be wasting too much time engaged in personal tasks on the Internet during work hours? If so, you’re not alone. Thousands and thousands of employers throughout the U.S. and around the world have the same concerns. Many have decided to block sites in an effort to resolve the problem, but Internet blocking isn’t the solution.

The only effective way to ensure that your employees are as productive as possible is to monitor their activities in an open and honest way, set goals for each individual and provide workers with the opportunity to monitor their own progress. MySammy software does all that and more! Designed to be an employment productivity management software, MySammy not only allows you to determine how each of your employees is spending time on the Internet, it also provides you with an effective tool for measuring your workers’ performance.