There will be decrease in productivity because of non work related Internet surfing. According to IT Research Firm Gartner, 40 percent of the productivity is lost each year in American businesses because of non work related surfing.
During working hours, many of the employees go for instant messaging, online gaming, social networks and video websites which is decreasing the productivity. Unrestricted Internet access will encourage employees to download illegal or copyrighted content from peer to peer networks. They can also abuse the company e-mail system. They will just waste the valuable time in surfing useless websites.
Around 70 to 80 percent of employees commit computer crimes against their employers. Employees commit financial fraud or intellectual property theft.
It is important for the small businesses to keep a check on their employees than getting into potential pitfalls. There are a very wide range of employee monitoring options available. They are Internet monitoring and filtering, e-mail and instant messaging logging, centralized real time monitoring, screenshot and keystroke logging. They all vary in cost and complexity. On installing them, it will be very easy to monitor employees. It will be very easy to keep an eye on new employees or who are potentially problematic. It is also necessary to check ongoing performances of the employees. It will increase effectiveness of the employee and productivity. By applying few steps, it will be easy to eliminate the non work related Internet activity and legal liability. Overall, it will enhance the productivity of the employee which results in increased productivity of the company.