Will Employee Shopping on Cyber Monday Slow or Boost Workplace Productivity?

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Tools, such as Bloxx’s real-time Web content filtering solution, let organizations set comprehensive, yet flexible security and Web access policies.

During the holidays companies can be ‘Scrooges’ and lock-down their Web access filters, or they can be more ‘Bob Cratchit-like’ and provide controlled and safe access to commerce sites.

Boston, Mass. (PRWEB) November 26, 2012

With the rush of Cyber Monday predictions about lagging employee productivity due to online holiday purchases at work, some Web content filtering experts see a potential upside. “With the right Web access policies and flexible Web content filtering tools, companies that allow workers to do their online shopping at work may actually boost productivity and employee satisfaction,” according to Eamonn Doyle, President of Bloxx Inc.

“It’s about fine tuning Web access policies and controls,” continued Doyle. “Web filtering tools that give employees access to sites like Amazon.com or eBay during their lunch hour, for example, keep employees at their desks instead of driving to the local mall. This can actually boost their overall workplace productivity.”

Most Web filters, which just block a list of pre-determined inappropriate Web sites, offer simple “yes” or “no” access to shopping or productivity-hogging games, entertainment or sports sites. Tools, such as Bloxx’s real-time Web content filtering solution, let organizations set comprehensive, yet flexible security and Web access policies.

This kind of control and visibility into employees’ Web use lets organizations:

• Grant employees access to shopping sites during designated hours, such as lunch time or at the end of a shift;
• Set a limit on the amount of time, say 30 or 60 minutes, an employee can access commerce sites. Time intervals might also vary according to an employee’s role or full versus part-time status;
• Make seasonal adjustments to their access policies and Web page content categorization allowing someone, for example, to shop for holiday deal on “sports equipment” but not access a “sports gaming” site.

The real key to putting these types of policies in place is having a Web filter, such as the Bloxx Web Filter, that looks at Web page content in real time rather than only accessing a list of known, static URL addresses to accurately categorize Web pages.

“Close to 50% of online shopping takes place at work* so we need to find new approaches to Web access,” continued Doyle. “During the holidays companies can be ‘Scrooges’ and lock-down their Web access filters, turning employees into unproductive clock watchers darting out the door to do holiday shopping. Or they can be more ‘Bob Cratchit-like’ and provide controlled and safe access to commerce sites, keeping employees at their jobs, happy and productive.”

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*Personal Internet Use at Work Survey from Career Builder

About Bloxx
Headquartered in Boston, Bloxx Inc. offers Web and email filtering and security for medium and large organizations in both the business and public sectors. Bloxx has achieved unrivaled sales growth year-on-year to become a leading Web filtering provider with an estimated 5 million+ users worldwide. To find out more about Bloxx Web filtering call us at 617 924 1500, email info(at)bloxx(dot)com or visit http://www.bloxx.com to book an online demonstration.

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