Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Employee Monitoring Software - recommendations?

Yeah, we can confront her. She's not even savvy enough to clear her browser history or cookies, so we shouldn't have to even get to the server level.

This is sounding more and more like a soap opera.

"Will medic8r confront Megan the insurance specialist?"

"Will she change her thieving ways?"

Tune in next week on "As the Sitting Couch Turns" ...

Make sure you grab her ass mouse when you confront her.

When I was 18, my dad got me a summer job working on the line at the Ford plant he worked at. We had cars coming down the line every 55 seconds. In the time I had to install the right front door window. Now the first week, I could hardly keep up, but after awhile I got good at it, really good at it, to the point where I could get the job done in under 40 seconds. So I would bring a book, news paper, walkman, etc, and entertain myself between cars. The line supervisor didn't care, as long as every car that went down the line had a window properly installed.

I realize you don't operate an assembly line; however the premise is still the same. You say this is a good employee, so my first question is; does he or she get all the expected work finished in a given day. Before you, can answer that, you need to know what that amount of work is. If the answer is yes to both questions, then I don't understand the problem. You pay this person an agreed amount of money to do an agreed amount of work in a specific amount of time. If they get his work done in less time without it affecting work quality, you should be happy. However, to expect an employee to do more work in a given day than you have previously agreed upon with out added compensation, is not fair, and may even be unethical. Now if the employee chooses to do more work on their on accord, without the expectation for extra compensation that is even better for you, and probably the employee in the long run. You can hope for his scenario, but should never expect it. And when employees do go beyond the call of duty, you should reward them, especially if you would like this to behavior to happen again in the future.

However, if this person is not completing the required amount of work in a given time, then a conversation about this needs to happen. The conversation should only be about work quantity, quality, and time management. It should not involve discussions about personal activities on business time including internet usage (unless the internet sights are offensive to others or are breaking the law). Your goal should be to ensure this person is a productive employee.

I am a Solution Consultant for Monster.ca and I deal with HR departments everyday and help them deal with these kinds of issues.

Installing“big brother” software will only reduce overall moral. And this is something we try to instill in our clients as a huge taboo!

I hope this helps

Oh yeah, that changes things a bit.

You could also check with your ISP. I've been involved with a couple of issues at work where our ISP has helped us out with things like this. At the very least, they ought to be able to suggest software that they've used or know of that works.

You said you are happy overall with your employees performance. That being said if she shows up on time everday, completes her duties and treats other employees with respect then is there really an issue? A little internet surfing seems trivial to me (just my opinion). If her web browsing starts affecting her job and completing tasks in the requested time, well that is a whole different story.

Many progressive software companies, such as Autodesk, and Monster don't have these silly internet usage rules. They are counter productive and bad for employee moral. These companies try hire the best and most talented people they can find, but even more importantly to their business, is to keep the best people they can find.

I was going to make the same point about whether or not it's affecting her work. I realize you're paying her, so you can decide how she can spend her time at work. If you'd rather she only read print material or simply stare blankly into space, that's fine, but I see nothing wrong with internet surfing unless, as mentioned, the sites are questionable, or if she's hogging bandwidth.

Worfzara, I agree with what you say, and it's certainly a positive way to look at the situation.

The IT dept where I work functions much the same way, we're task-oriented. We don't punch the clock. If I want to post on Axiom about helping Medic8r with his problem, they don't care so long as tasks/projects are on schedule. Of course, in my case it works both ways as we're expected to put in whatever extra time is needed during critical projects. We can and we do, and it works well.

But at the same time, there are other companies (that both myself and my wife have worked for) that view every second as 'on the clock'. Where breaks were strictly structured and any time not doing one's job was viewed as stealing company time. If you were paid for 40 hours of work, you were expected to give the company 40 hours of production even if it meant you had to do something other than your actual job description.

But ultimately it's Medic8r's business. If the employee's surfing is bothering he and his associates, he's certainly within his right to clamp down on that. And actually, there may be good reason to do just that. Since he's obviously involved with medicine, there may be a very good reason for restricting internet access. What if that employee inadvertently downloaded a keylogger virus that started sending patient info somewhere? I'm sure his business has an AV solution, but you never know. HIPAA can be a harsh mistress.

Sorry Tom, I vote for the former. It makes for a better soap opera.

Wolfzara makes some good points, but its a complicated issue.

Doc., just consider that you can't laugh out loud at our outrageous posts when you're surfing at the office any more.