“With one out of three workers misusing the Internet and social media, employers are just beginning to realize the huge costs they are already paying in terms of lost productivity,” said Jakub Mahdal, CEO of Safetica Technologies. “In addition, many company efforts to restrict Internet use swing between being an extreme overkill and simply ineffective.”
Internet and social media use are a known productivity issue in the workplace. And while use of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media is growing, organizations are unsure whether they should completely block employee access to suspect sites, issue an Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) for their employees, or find some other method to moderate their employees’ online activities.
In the Philippines, the largest share of personal computing time is actually spent on social networking, according to the Southeast Asia Digitial Future in Focus 2013 report by internet analytics company comScore. Specifically, 41.5% of the total minutes users spent online on social networks. comScore likewise credits the Philippines with having the second highest Facebook penetration rate in the world at 92.2%. It just only shows that internet and social media usage definitely became part of everyday living, whenever whatever and wherever you are, because of its easy access. Thus when it comes on effective productivity on work it definitely affects it. However it is still the users’ responsibility and intention of the usage.
Mr. Jun B. Santos, President of Valueline Systems and Solutions Corporation, the distributor of Safetica in the Philippines said “I believe that fun at work drives employee’s motivation to greater productivity.”
Use of a monitoring tool such as Safetica 5.0 must be used in accordance to the Philippine Data Privacy Act of 2012 which governs the individual rights to privacy. “This Act essentially tells companies that they must explain to employees why they are using the software and get their signed assent – two logical steps in implementing a viable and enforceable AUP,” said Mr. Mahdal. “It’s important to remember that respecting the individual employees rights – and involving them in establishing the boundaries for Internet and social media use – is a critical part of the process.”
