Do You E-mail and Surf on Company Time?

Do you forward jokes to coworkers on company time? Surf the Web for non-job related info or a recipe for tonight’s dinner? Do you email friends and family members from work using your company email address? Oh, oh…

If you are honest, you’d admit you do. I mean, who doesn’t?

If everyone jumped off a bridge would you?

What kind of employee do you want to be viewed as?

Lots of questions in this post!

Company Time is Company Time

If you are guilty of this, you are part of a growing number of employees that risk their futures. You don’t want to find out the hard way that these type of “on the job” activities are not acceptable. But you know that already. You are at work after all. None of these activities are part of your job description.

When it comes to email activities while on the job, you should not be sending superfluous emails to friends or co-workers. Or dilly-dallying on websites. You know better than that!

How will your boss find out? Because you are probably being monitored. There should be no expectation of privacy at work. That’s your second mistake after thinking this type of behavior is okay. Their network, their resources, you are on company time. So, no privacy.

If you think about it, it only make sense for business owners to keep tabs on what their employees are up to while on company time. For productivity and legal reasons alike.

Cyberslacking at Work

• 30 to 40 percent of employee Internet activity is non-work-related, according to IDC Research.
• Workplace Internet misuse costs U.S. businesses $63 billion in lost productivity annually, according to Websense Inc.
• Charles Schwab reveals that 72 percent of its customers plan to buy or sell mutual funds over the next six months, and 92 percent of these plan to do so online during work hours.
• 70 percent of all Internet porn traffic occurs during the 9-to-5 workday, according to SexTracker. This means that one in five employees access cybersex at work.
• 28 percent of individuals making gift purchases do so from their offices or cubicles, according to Pew Internet and American Life Project.

Source SHRM

Wow! Add all that up and that’s called lost productivity. If you were an employer, how would you view your employees not using technology properly? Probably not so good.

How do you use your employer’s technology resources? Do you reflect the epitome of professionalism by using company assets properly? Or are you a cyberslacker?

Your email habits at work can enhance or hinder your career path. How you choose to use your employer’s technology resources speaks loudly to they type of employee you are — and your potential. Why not brush up on your Business E-mail Etiquette Basics?

All these questions require your honest answers.