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Terrence O'Brien
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Large corporate offices make a habit of blocking certain Web sites -- particularly personal e-mail, video sharing, and social networking sites. But, according to a recent survey compiled by Robert Half Technology, it appears that smaller businesses are locking out employees, too.
The survey of 1,400 Chief Information Officers (CIOs) from across the U.S. found that 54-percent of companies completely block access to social networking sites, while 19-percent block their use outside of "business purposes." Dave Willmer, executive director of Robert Half Technology, noted in a press release, "Using social networking sites may divert employees' attention away from more pressing priorities." Given the recent rash of people being fired over Facebook and Twitter, we imagine such policies might also serve to protect employees from themselves.
Still, despite corporate America's insistence on blocking access to many of these sites, some studies have shown that having access to Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, and even YouTube can make workers more productive. Having access to such services can provide a much needed break during the day and can alleviate the stress of being disconnected from friends and family while sitting in your cubicle. Besides, people will inevitably find a way around such restrictions.
There was one disturbing stat from the survey; one-percent of CIOs who responded didn't know their companies' policies regarding social networking sites. This leads us to believe that one-percent got their jobs purely through cronyism and nepotism. One of the responsibilities of a Chief Information Officer (the head of information technology) is to know the company's policy regarding, well, technology. And that does include social networking. [From: Robert Half Technology, via Huffington Post]
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