3 January 2008
Australians don't use social networking sites for work
More claims of lost productivity, says latest survey.
A new survey from jobsite Linkme.com.au suggests that Australian workers – who spend an average of 2 hours a week on social networking sites such as Facebook – are giving out the wrong message to employers.
Almost half the 2,800 Facebook users surveyed admitted to logging on to the social networking website when they should be working, despite a number of employers being against the practice.
Lost productivity due to online access
Of those surveyed, 20% owned up to using Facebook for more than 2 hours a week, while 3% admitted logging on for more than 4 hours a week.
Most employees will not risk their jobs to engage online in non-work-related activities.
According to Paul Tyrrell, development manager at Linkme.com.au, this time is costing organizations more than AU$2700 each in lost productivity every year as employees “chat to mates and play games online.”
However, such calculations of lost productivity have been roundly dismissed by some industry experts.
Communications and technology consultant, Shel Holtz, recently launched the “Stop Blocking” campaign urging employers to give wide open internet access to workers. Writing the opening gambit for the campaign, Holtz says companies should monitor and manage employees on an individual basis.
Employees can be trustworthy
“Supervisors should be trained to identify individual employee abuse and then deal with it,” he says. “Most employees will not risk their jobs to engage online in non-work-related activities. If they spend an hour reading entertainment-focused blogs, they will either stay an hour late (or come in early) to ensure their work is done, or they will do the work at home,” says Holtz.
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The Facebook Friday revolution
Facebook faces ban in even more organizations
Have your say
Do you think Facebook has a detrimental or positive effect on the working environment? Tell us about your organization's internet access policy on the Internal Comms Hub members' group on the Communicators' Network.
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