No matter how well-prepared and well-trained your team is, managers know that much of the time available for business-critical activities is wasted on inappropriate internet access. Many employees end up losing productivity by accessing content irrelevant to the business , such as social media, personal emails, e-commerce sites, sports websites, and even pornography. This type of behavior makes it necessary to monitor employees' online behavior.
The internet is full of tools that help optimize our routines and make activities even more practical. However, it also contains several distractions that hinder the smooth running of a business . Because of its benefits and its large market presence, the internet is an indispensable resource.
According to a 2022 report by Raclaim.ai , only 12% of workers are fully productive at work. This data highlights the need for strategies and resources that increase focus on improving company productivity .
For this reason, many managers are looking for ways to continue using their tools in their environment, but without compromising employee productivity and business security. To this end, several tools have emerged aimed at monitoring and controlling internet access in companies , such as Lumiun's solutions.
But how can this control be carried out without creating friction with employees and causing any kind of discomfort in the work environment?
Bad behavior on the internet can be “fatal”
Since the internet's rise in popularity, we've been surrounded by threats and traps that can compromise the security of our devices and even lead to financial scams.
It's important to remember that the internet is a tool that must be used intelligently and assertively during working hours. This means that unauthorized access is dangerous and can cause significant losses for the company.
To better illustrate this situation, let's cite a popular cyber scam today: the phishing scam . Through phishing, cybercriminals disguise themselves as trusted senders such as stores, financial institutions, and other companies (in some cases even known senders from their contact list) to deceive the victim. With this scam, the criminal disguises traps as attachments and links.
These attachments can contain malware that impairs the proper functioning of devices and creates vulnerabilities in company machines. Through these breaches, cybercriminals can access stored information, steal data, and carry out even more damaging scams, such as extortion attempts and ransomware.
These emails may also contain links that redirect to fake pages created specifically for malicious purposes . These websites are designed to look very similar, or even identical, to the pages of well-known and trusted companies. This allows the scammer to mislead victims into providing confidential information , personal data, credit card details, and more.
In the corporate world, this type of behavior can cause countless losses, ranging from the leaking of confidential information, such as customer, supplier, and partner data, to extortion through scams like ransomware. Understand how this cyber threat works:
Internet Access vs. Productivity
Depending on the company's activities, the internet can be essential for business continuity. This means it's impossible to completely block employees' internet access to prevent productivity losses. But what is the internet's relationship with employee productivity?
Within a company, employees have a set amount of time to complete all the tasks necessary for business continuity. These employees are hired based on the number of tasks to be performed, taking into account the workday, whether 4, 6, or 8 hours.
However, when an employee stops fulfilling their task to access unnecessary content on the company's internet, these tasks remain pending , which can overload other employees and even lead to delays in delivery.
If just one employee who exhibits this behavior in the workplace can cause this kind of harm, imagine if all employees spend hours of their day on entertainment sites, online stores, social networks, and other tools.
Many of the resources used to perform tasks are located online, and it's important for the company to establish an access control protocol that helps employees stay focused on what's truly important to the business strategy.
Internet access control helps bring smarter management of resources and workforce available for company tasks . Furthermore, it can also bring several benefits to the company, such as:
Providing access reports
Through an efficient internet access control tool, managers can access comprehensive reports on the company's internet usage scenario. These reports can reveal what type of access is being made and how much time is being wasted on non-business-related activities.
Calculate team time wastage
With these reports, managers can determine their employees' online behavior and, based on this, gain a better understanding of how much time is wasted within the company . By understanding the causes of this waste, managers can implement more targeted and optimized access management that meets the company's needs.
Identify contaminated devices
As we saw earlier, unauthorized access can cause a variety of losses for a company, including digital security risks. Having an access control tool will also help managers identify devices infected with malicious applications or files and prevent this type of infection from occurring.
Better network performance
Since resources are being directed only to tasks related to the company's operations , network performance will be optimized. Inappropriate access, besides harming employee productivity, also uses business resources for unnecessary tasks. Some viruses and malware are designed solely to impair machine performance, often turning them into zombie computers (machines that are remotely controlled to carry out cyberattacks).
Tips to help improve results
For a company to achieve its expected success and growth, it needs to be productive and deliver increasingly better results. To increase productivity in the workplace , it's important to adopt certain measures and strategies that help employees achieve the performance expected by the organization.
To that end, we've brought you some tips that can help you increase productivity within your company and deliver increasingly better results:
Establish a time management protocol
Time management is essential for employees to be able to organize themselves and deliver the expected performance. With so many tasks to perform daily, it's crucial to have measures that help improve organization and optimize the time available for work . Time management is essential for those looking to organize their routine and work smarter.
Invest in the work environment
In addition to providing all the necessary infrastructure for employees to perform their tasks, the company also needs to focus on the organizational climate. Keeping employees out of trouble and motivated involves much more than simply imposing rules and behavior protocols: the company must listen to its employees and know how to handle everyday situations to prevent small issues from becoming major challenges, hindering productivity during work hours.
Value employee training
A company's workforce is its most important asset. Investing in your employees is investing in your business and the results you want to achieve. A training process helps these employees develop and add even more value and quality to the tasks they perform daily. The better prepared your team is, the better their productivity and, consequently, the better their results.
Have an Internet Usage Policy
An Internet Usage Policy will establish rules and good habits for your company's employees' online behavior. With this document, managers can educate their team on the risks and security rules they must follow to avoid the main threats in the digital world. Lumiun has a comprehensive template for creating an Internet Usage Policy .
Avoid Internet Traps
While essential, the internet is full of traps and threats that can affect employee productivity. To avoid these types of problems, you need an access control system that helps your managers block threats and improve efficiency.
Internet access control is simpler than it seems
Internet access control is a very intelligent and efficient strategy that allows the company to monitor the online behavior of employees and, through more assertive management, increase its profitability and team productivity .
Performing this control manually can be a real challenge, as in addition to having to block resources on each device, managers are unable to determine which sites and resources are undermining their productivity .
For this reason, it's essential to have an intelligent access control system, such as Lumiun's solutions. With our products, you can monitor your employees' online behavior and more effectively control internet usage within the company . In addition to having an internet usage policy, using this type of tool can bring many benefits to companies looking to improve their results and market positioning.
Are you familiar with Lumiun's solutions? Get in touch and discover everything our tools can do for your business's productivity!
Until later!
