Cyberslacking or aka Cyberloafing

Have you noticed something lately that just kind of snuck up on you without really noticing it happening to you more often that you may realize? Are you becoming an active member of an elite group called cyberloafers and slacking on the job while on the internet or just web browsing at work or even at home-base jobs that is really starting to take up more of your time than before.

The act of web browsing and using your personal email inboxes has already been perceived to be an abuse and misuse of company time and resources. Even when you get your boss’s permission there are still very few that view this behavior productive and necessary in the workplace. The fact is that because it is so addictive and consumes more time than you may realize you might be loafing or slacking on the job and playing with fire as management frowns on such conduct.

The terms cyberslacking and cyberloafing have been used to describe voluntary acts of employees using their companies’ Internet access for nonwork-related purposes during working hours.

In a research study by Websense.com in 2006 they found that employees spend approximately 24 percent of their work time on computers and slacking in doing their jobs. Translated into costs and loss of productivity that is a significant worry for managers and cost awareness or mindful companies. On the other hand, there are some positives from a behavioral study that revealed that cyberloafing can “actually serve as a palliative coping strategy against negative workplace experiences.”

Their research shows that although personal type of behaviors such as personal e-mailing can, in fact, be detrimental to employee affect, Internet browsing may actually be a positive activity.

There were specific findings that bring out some important points for managers to consider when allowing person emails and web browsing on the clock. They are;

·        Improved work attitudes with positive work related outcomes

·        Better job satisfaction, organizational citizenship behaviors and

·        Browsing the Web gives employees a temporal escape from work stress.

 

·        This temporal escape allows employees to recharge, and in the recharging process they experienced positive affect.

Therefore, although there may be limited drawbacks on cyberslacking there is sufficient evidence from recent studies that show this is a complex phenomenon and offers no simplistic explanation except that it works for some and not so well for other companies The real paradox is that although browsing the web is surprisingly pleasant to experience but that it can lead to disruptions at work and loss of productivity. When formulating internet policies companies should not prohibit all forms of personal web usage as it will likely lead to retaliation and stifled web usage thus it is recommended that personal emails should be discouraged but web browsing is permitted as it has shown to increase productivity and better attitudes at work.

 

Source:

 

http://www.siop.org/Media/News/loafing.aspx