Introduction
Cyber slacking is an issue that is prevalent across varying industries. Many managers and organizations attempt to control or eliminate the amount of cyber slacking that occurs, however; it still remains an issue in most work places. After interviewing three managers from three different industries, we are able to identify effective approaches to minimizing cyber slacking. As well, the issue itself may be beneficial to productivity, despite common assumptions. By examining the reasoning behind why employees engage in cyber slacking, managers will be able to address the issue to a greater extent.
Literature Review – Academic Perspective
According to Block (2001), cyber slacking involves visiting pornographic sites, news sites,
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Upon further examination, it is apparent that all three managers rest on different parts of the spectrum when it comes to addressing cyber slacking as an issue. Ranging from strict to lenient, the interviewees elaborate on how much of an impact cyber slacking has on their organizations and how they specifically address the situation. Skechers Canada retail manager Chris McAulay-Gilbart defines cyber slacking as an employee’s use of a technological device for any reason that does not relate to the operations of his store (personal communication, 2014). While he does not believe that cyber slacking is prevalent amongst the 45 employees at his store, he does believe it to be a major problem in other many of the company’s other stores and across the retail …show more content…
While Tolley shares the same basic definition of cyber slacking with both McAulay-Gilbart and Johnson, it is apparent that how the issue is addressed differs to a degree. Tolley (2014) admits that he views cyber slacking to be within the same category as coffee or smoke breaks. In his office, there is “no specific amount of time limit” for these kinds of breaks” (Tolley, 2014). Because of the immeasurable nature of these types of breaks, Tolley (2014) believes that it would be unfair to punish one unproductive activity more than another. Instead, he deals with cyber slacking on a case-by-case basis by focusing on productivity levels and output of employees. Tolley explains that this approach is the most effective within the company. He argues that a case-by-case basis is required due to the nature of the company’s line of work as well as the different positions within the organization such as reception. If an employee’s productivity decreases, the first avenue Tolley takes is to meet with the employee to discuss the recent changes in order to diagnose the problem. The only reason why Tolley will investigate the possibility of cyber slacking is if he believes that to be the cause of a disruption in an employee’s productivity. Through the IT department, he can access the internet history of all of the
In the previous study, the authors stated that there are various studies about the telecommuting include references to corporate attitudes toward telecommuting, motivation, productivity, supervision and employee satisfaction.
In Catherine Rampell’s article, “A Generation of Slackers? Not So Much,” the idea of the younger generation, known as Generation Y or Millennials thought of as lackadaisical and indolent by older generations has been quashed by Rampell’s explanations of the differing behaviors and ideas held by these two generations, causing a misunderstanding and misinterpretation of productivity. The era of computers has especially been a major cause of such a rift, specifically the dependence on technology of which has contributed to the growth of synergistic and collaborative dispositions amongst the younger generations- behaviors once thought of as ineffectual in the workplace.
An employee’s position at CyberTech is considered to be of primary importance over any outside employment. Furthermore, employees are expected to devote their full attention and energy to CyberTech while on the job.
This article makes you want to reflect on your own choices, and do better. Carr's writing makes us think about how dependent we are on the internet, and how much we really use it more which can be sad, but definitely eye opening. We evaluate the choices we have made thus far, and figure out a way to less dependent on our technology and Google. While reading this, you think: How long can the average person can go without the internet? How long can I go without the internet? How will I do better? Testing it out on yourself is quite surprising, you might last longer than you thought or crack right away. While using computers, we are vulnerable.
When you ask most people what it means to steal from their company, you 're likely to get answers about making copies at the office, taking home pens or other office supplies, or maybe even padding your expense report. Generally, people are not likely to mention a type of theft that has become more widespread in this age of the Internet and social media, time theft. Younger workers may not even recognize this as theft; they’ve grown up with constant access to the web and view it as normal, if not even an entitlement. But surfing the web on company time is indeed theft, as is anything else that takes an employee 's time or attention away from the work they are being paid to do. With the internet on almost everyone’s phone it is also hard to
With new technological changes, managers are attempting to contend with the ethics of regulating the use of technology. They should realize the new ethical issues, as well as laws that sway how those issues are handled. These are localities of growing anxiety in the workplace, especially with the appearance of the Internet.
Cyber loafing is using personal internet during working hours (Liberman, Seidman, Mckenna & Buffardi 2011, pp. 2192). Cyber loafing is one of the issues that employees need to deal with at work. Websen (cited in Vitak et.al 2011, p. 1751) claims that there is a huge loses in work productivity in the US that cost the companies milli...
Kharpal, A 2013, Cyber-crime is ‘greatest threat’ to companies survival: EY, CNBC, accessed 12 November 2013, http://www.cnbc.com/id/101155856
Excessive time spent on non-work related websites is why over 60 percent of companies sur...
Yet now, the Internet has become an integral part of our daily lives. Many Americans cannot imagine life without a personal computer at home, much less at work. The Internet has led some people to become addicted to surfing the World Wide Web. These "Internet junkies" shun their outside lives in favor of sitting in front of a computer screen ten or twenty hours a day. While these people are the exception, rather than the rule, a large number of people cannot go through a day without checking their e-mail inbox at least a couple of times.
While seeing your employee on CNN’s website reading the news, or on Amazon’s website doing online shopping can be frustrating, it is when the employee is using their time toward “not safe for work” (or NSFW) online activities, when surveillance can be quite useful. An example of workplace surveillance from over twenty years ago shows that inappropriate use of the internet while at work has been around for a long time. In this case, computer logs of both the employees of IBM and Apple Inc. showed that they had visited Penthouse Magazine’s website over 13,000 in a single month (Cox and Goette and Young, 2005). Legal action did not occur, but this shows that inappropriate misuse of time in the office has been around since computers have been placed in a work environment over two decades
In the era of technology, the use of computers in the workplace has gained huge popularity. Accordingly, computer monitoring becomes more and more common to ensure high performance in the workplace. Based on an American Management Association survey in 2005, more than 80 percent of companies supervise employees by monitoring their website connections (Riedy and Wen 2). In 2007, another electronic monitoring and surveillance survey indicates that more than 40 percent of U.S. employers monitor employees’ use of email (Sipior and Ward 2). Employers may hold the belief that productivity can be ensured with the help of the monitoring software in the workplace. When an employee connect to the Internet in the workplace, the software can take screenshots at certain intervals to help employers check the website and emails on the employee’s computer (Riedy and Wen 2). However, there is an
As much as computers make the life of humans significantly easy and efficient, there are however a group of people has become addicted to computers in that they cannot spend hours or days without logging into their computers. Normally, computer users are estimated based on the internet usage. In 2012, it was estimated that over 2 billion people around the globe use the internet and thus it is assumed that each has access to a computer (World Internet Users Statistics and 2015 World Population Stats). While the benefits of using computers are wide ranging, the negative effects are also significant. Overdependence on computers is an issue that many people have no idea about or even understand the consequences of doing so. According to (World Internet Users Statistics and 2015 W...
According to Cameron and Webster (2005), IM allows users to see their friend lists which indicate that whether their friends are online, offline or busy. Furthermore, users could adjust their presence information, including automatically log in or log off their IM systems as well as control the amount of idle time. Due to its convenience, the population of IM users has increased significantly in recent years; however there are a great number of potential negative effects of IM that should be noticed at workplace.
We invest more in talking online than talking face to face. Overuse of machines has numerous negative impacts, for example, creating physical/behavioral sicknesses, harming family connections and diminishing scholarly study. Above all else, when a computer turns into the essential issue of an individual's life, they experience a conversion in behavior; they feel that they cannot live without a computer. The normal thing to see with youngsters who have been permitted to invest an excess of time on the computer, optically watching TV, or playing video games and when it is to stop, they have temper tantrums. But it is not only a matter of behavioral progressions when individuals can’t tear themselves away from the screen long enough to join in with whatever possible action, it can take a toll on their comfort and health.