Article Evaluation-What do Human Resources Managers Think about Employees Internet

Usage?

The central purpose of this article was to find out companies HR Managers perspectives
on internet usage. The main questions the researchers wanted to solve were based on whether
internet usage for non-work related items would be seen as a potential problem for organizations
and what disadvantages would a company have by limiting or not limiting employees internet
use during the workday. The researchers were trying to determine if the managers felt that the
employees misuse the internet for non-work related purposes. They asked whether they felt that
non-work related internet usage affected an employees work performance. They wanted to know
if non-work related internet usage affected organizational performance and if it affected internal
communication. They also wanted to see if the HR Mangers felt that non-work related internet
usage affected an employees motivation (Ciftcioglu & Sarac, 2014).

According to the article, following behind employee absences, cyber slacking (non-work
related internet usage by employees) internet usage among employees in the workplace has
become a prevalent problem for companies. Some companies are finding that their employees
using the internet during working hours are starting to affect productivity and employee
performance (Ciftcioglu & Sarac, 2014). In the UK, it is estimated that the average employee
spends 57 minutes during to workday surfing the internet for non-work related information. This
contributes to 30-40% of lost productivity. It is estimated that the US loses about $54 billion
each year due to employee internet usage during the workday (Ciftcioglu & Sarac, 2014). Other
factors that are affected from employee internet usage are increased internet costs, strains on the

network resources, employees becoming addicted to the internet, security issues due to
vulnerability from the internet, and even legal issues that may arise from internet usage. Most
employees connected to the internet for social media (65%), email, online news (58.8%),
information about goods and services (57.7%), and listening to music (Ciftcioglu & Sarac,
2014). It was also found that many employees played games on the internet, downloaded music
and books, gambled, and visited illegal sites which in turn could wreak havoc on a corporations
computer security software and present legal issues because of copyrights and possible illegal
activity. Research found that more often it was men (35.7%) that surfed the internet than women
(24.8%) (Ciftcioglu & Sarac, 2014).

Sarac and Ciftcioglu states (2014) that the researchers focused on personal factors for
internet usage and organizational/situational factors. The personal factors for the internet usage
are addiction, personal habits, education, and gender. Some organizational/situational factors
included accessibility to the internet social influences, long work days, and how employees felt
about their employers.

Based on the research, there were two outlooks given about how non-work related
internet usage affected a company. Some HR managers felt that allowing internet usage would
create more productive and happier employees. It would help employees to be able to balance
their home life and work life since a great part of their day is spent at work. Time management
and reduced stress would be positive aspects of allowing employees to use the internet during
working hours (Ciftcioglu & Sarac, 2014). Overall, employees would feel better about their jobs
and become more steadfast and perform better in their positions.

On a contrasting side, some HR managers felt that allowing employees to access the
internet would hinder them from performing the tasks they were assigned to do. The quality of
work would decrease and customers needs may not be met. This would affect a companys
image and also financial resources (Ciftcioglu & Sarac, 2014).

The researchers evaluated the ways companies were using to try to regulate or limit their
employees internet usages. Some companies monitored their employees usage and some used
filters to block which sites employees would be able to access. They found that majority of the
companies blocked internet sites, gambling sites, and illegal sites. Companies had established
policies that were provides to employees about internet usage and possible disciplinary actions if
found to be in violation of these policies. The monitoring and filtering aided in determining
which employees abused the policies.

In conclusion of the research, most HR managers agreed that cyber slacking affected their
productivity. Many had policies in place to monitor the internet usage of their employees. Out of
all companies surveyed, 77.6% used monitoring software and based the monitoring on the
employees career level, type of job, and hours worked (Ciftcioglu & Sarac, 2014). They could
not state how much internet usage affected productivity but they still imposed limits on the
usage. Another concern was brought up about employees using their smartphones to access the
internet. Some companies have policies in place about using personal electronics for internet
usage and some have not determined ways to control it since they often times issues phones to
their employees.

I selected this article because it focuses on a common issue in the workplace. At my place
of employment, we have problems with employees abusing the internet. It is presenting a major
problem with the security of our networks. This article represents interdisciplinary research using
quantitative data. The data was collected by telephone interviews from companies willing to
participate. Disciplines used for this research were sociology (HR managers views about
employee internet usage) and business (Human Resources, ethics). The articles provided viewed
feelings from a HR Managers perspective and also from other previous researchers
perspectives. This article address how interdisciplinary research has helped with theoretical
understandings of the causes and costs of the increased internet usage among employees for nonwork related internet usage.

References
Ciftcioglu, A., & Sarac, M. (2014). What do human resources managers think about the
employees internet usage?. Anadolu University Journal Of Social Sciences, 14(2), 1-12.