Goldbricking

Goldbricking
Working Hard or Slacking Off?

1. Goldbricking/ Cyberloafing Working Hard or Slacking Off? Are Your Employees Watching Porn at Work?

2. Goldbricking/ Cyberloafing

3. Goldbricking Goldbricking is the practice of doing less work than one is able to, while maintaining the appearance of working.

4. Goldbricking The term originates from the confidence trick of applying a gold coating to a brick of worthless metal—while the worker may appear industrious on the surface, in reality they are less valuable. A modern example is staff who use their work internet access for personal reasons, which can lead to inefficiency. Goldbricking online is referred to as cyber slacking or cyber loafing .

5. Goldbricking

6. Goldbricking A 1999 report estimated that cyber slacking cost employers in the United States $1 billion a year in computer resources Instances of goldbricking increased markedly when broadband Internet connections became commonplace in workplaces. Before that, the slow speed of dial-up connections meant that spending work time browsing on the internet was rarely worthwhile

7. Goldbricking

8. Goldbricking Many firms employ surveillance software to track employees ' Internet activity in an effort to limit liability and improve productivity.

9. Goldbricking Other methods used to reduce goldbricking include installation of proxy servers to prevent programs from accessing resources like Internet Relay Chat, AOL Instant Messenger, or some online gambling services , strict disciplinary measures for employees found goldbricking, and carrot and stick measures like providing free or subsidized Internet access for employees outside of working hours.

10. Goldbricking

11. Subsidized Internet Access For Employees Outside Of Working Hours

12. Goldbricking Smartphone's have greatly reduced the need for employees to use company computers/Internet access for personal matters , also making it harder for companies to restrict or track workers' Internet activity.

13. Goldbricking

14. Goldbricking Goldbricking became a mainstream topic when Yahoo! announced in late February 2013 that it was banning the practice of telecommuting because it discovered its remote employees were not logging into the corporate VPN often enough

15. Goldbricking

16. Alternate Views Research has indicated that permitting employees to utilize computer resources for personal use actually increases productivity. A study by the National University of Singapore entitled Impact of Cyber loafing on Psychological Engagement concluded that using the internet for personal use served the same purpose as a coffee break and helped workers concentrate and stay engaged

17. Research has indicated that permitting employees to utilize computer resources for personal use actually increases productivity.

18. Goldbricker What is a 'Goldbricker' A goldbricker is a person who gets paid a wage, or salary, for work that is not done, despite the appearance of working . The term originates from the unethical practice of coating bricks of cheap metals with gold plate, to pass them off as solid gold. Thus, a worker who seems hard at work might be tending to personal matters.

19. 'Goldbricker'

20. 'Goldbricker' 'Goldbricker' Goldbricking today most often refers to employees who use company time to scour the internet or perform other personal tasks. Unproductive workers add to a business' expenses. Companies who use independent contractors in hopes of boosting production must remain vigilant to avoid overpaying for the work completed. However, business is not the only victim of the goldbrick.

21. 'Goldbricker'

22. 'Goldbricker' For example, as shown in 2009 NBC News  report, New York City it was reported that about 700 teachers accused of various on-the-job offenses were paid to do nothing for months, or years, awaiting decisions on their cases. This Union-forced practice becomes goldbricking as the teachers were still reporting to work and thus giving the appearance of labour. In fact, they sat in a so-called rubber room for eight hours, doing nothing. The policy costs city taxpayers an estimated $65 million a year.

23. Rubber Room

24. Cyber-Slacking is Goldbricking In the United States, goldbricking is estimated to cost companies billions of dollars a y ear. A 2012 survey by Salary.com found that 2112 of the total 3200 respondents confessed to wasting time at work.  Internet use, sometimes called cyber-slacking, was the leading time-wasting activity in the workplace.

25. Cyber-Slacking is Goldbricking

26. Cyber-Slacking is Goldbricking Employees cited the lack of challenging work, long hours, and the lack of incentive to do more work as the reasons for goldbricking at work. The boon in social networking sites like Face book, Integra, and Twitter, as well as texting, has contributed to goldbricking habits. Workers who want to socialize on the job no longer need to stand around the water cooler or pick up the phone they go online.

27. Cyber-Slacking is Goldbricking

28. Cyber-Slacking is Goldbricking Companies are fighting back with surveillance software which can monitor employee internet searches, or by installing proxy servers that block social media and other websites. H owever, the ubiquity of Smartphone's has complicated restriction efforts, since employees can browse cyberspace on their own devices.

29. Companies are fighting back with surveillance software

30. Corporations Push Back on Goldbrickers Goldbricking has become such a serious issue that it is impacting labor and societal dynamics. In 2013 Forbes reported Yahoo announced it would prohibit telecommuting citing productivity issues as it found remote employees were not logging into the company servers as often as office-based workers. 

31. Goldbricking Has Become Such A Serious Issue

32. Corporations Push Back on Goldbrickers Other companies such as Aetna and Best Buy are also pulling back workers. For example, as reported by Forbes in 2017, IBM pulled many of its remote workers back into the office place, citing the lack of collaboration skills as the reason.

33. Corporations Push Back on Goldbrickers

34. Top Employee Time-Wasters It's probably no surprise to you that a employee's day is not all work. But how much of it is goldbricking? Well, surveys  conducted  by Salary.com and AOL.com  report that the average American employee wastes more than two hours each workday, costing employers more than $750 billion annually.  A stunning 64 percent of survey respondents admitted that they surf the Internet for non-work purposes every day. Even more surprising, 46 percent of employees surveyed admit they have spent time looking for another job while on company time.

35. Top Employee Time-Wasters

36. The Typical Profile More men waste time at work (69 percent) than women (62 percent). Workers in the 26-to-35-year-old age group topped the list, with 75 percent wasting time each workday, edging out 18-to-25-year-olds, while workers 56 and older waste the least amount of time. Perhaps the most startling revelation is the correlation between higher levels of education and time mismanagement. Only 59 percent of high school graduates reported wasting time, while 67 percent of PhD's admit the frequent misuse of company hours.

37. Time-Wasting Rationales Some 35 percent of respondents say they waste time because their work isn't challenging enough. In a close second, 34 percent of workers say they waste time because their workday is too long, while 32 percent feel their company gives them no incentive to work harder. Another top time-wasting excuse, cited by 30 percent of employees, is job dissatisfaction in general, while 23 percent are just plain bored.

38. Top Employee Time-Wasters

39. Here's the list of the top time-wasting activities, according to the surveys. 1. Social media sites.  Not surprisingly, visiting social media sites is the black hole of workplace productivity. Facebook is the top social destination, with 41 percent of survey respondents logging in from work every day. Facebook is not the only culprit however; LinkedIn, Google+, Twitter and more recently Pinterest all claim their share of work-hour traffic.

40. Social media sites

41. Here's the list of the top time-wasting activities, according to the surveys. 2. Socializing with co-workers.  The water cooler is still king, with a majority of employees admitting they commonly engage in office gossip on work time. Although employers certainly want co-workers to be friendly in order to boost company morale and team cohesiveness, it can be an enormous drain on company time. 

42. Socializing with co-workers

43. Here's the list of the top time-wasting activities, according to the surveys. 3. Personal business.  Employees use work time to check personal e-mail accounts, make personal phone calls, send texts and do other personal tasks such as online shopping and gaming. This trend is on the rise, as the line between work and home continues to blur.

44. Personal business

45. Here's the list of the top time-wasting activities, according to the surveys. 4. Excessive or prolonged breaks.  A 15-minute break stretches to 20. A 30-minute lunch break turns into 45. Arrive a few minutes late in the morning. Leave a few minutes early in the afternoon. A few minutes here, a few minutes there, it’s no big deal, right? These seemingly tiny bits of lost time, add up to valuable hours squandered each week.

46. Excessive or prolonged breaks

47. Here's the list of the top time-wasting activities, according to the surveys. 5. Unnecessary or inefficient meetings.  While many employers tend to overlook their own contributions to inefficient use of employee work-time, 47 percent of workers surveyed cited unnecessary or unproductive meetings as their number-one waste of work hours. That should be a red flag to business owners and perhaps the easiest problem to repair.

48. Unnecessary Or Inefficient Meetings

49. few tips on increasing productivity without causing a full-scale mutiny. Use website blockers . Utilize software to block access to certain Internet sites from work computers. While this is only a partial solution as many employees simply turn to their smart phones, some significant improvements in employee productivity have been seen. It’s apparently much more inconvenient and obvious to surf the Internet from a mobile phone. 

50. Use website blockers

51. few tips on increasing productivity without causing a full-scale mutiny. Implement an Internet policy.  The specifics of the Internet policy are not important. What does matter is that the policy is clear and consistent. Most workers say that if they know what is allowed and what is not, they will be more likely to adhere to those guidelines. 

52. Implement an Internet policy.

53. few tips on increasing productivity without causing a full-scale mutiny. Try tracking software.  Time management and tracking software has been found to improve employee productivity by creating more structure and accountability as well as enabling employers to more effectively monitor employee time use

54. Try Tracking Software

55. few tips on increasing productivity without causing a full-scale mutiny. Challenge employees.  Time and time again, employees have said they are bored and not being challenged enough. So, challenge them. That doesn’t mean piling on additional work; most employees already have plenty of work to do. What it does mean is that you should give them more responsibility and challenge their initiative, decision-making and creative skills. 

56. Challenge employees

57. few tips on increasing productivity without causing a full-scale mutiny. Be more visible.  Have management, supervisors or owners spend more time on the office floor . It’s not necessary to look over shoulders; the mere presence of management is a deterrent to time wasting. Additionally, the increased employer-employee interaction might lead to a better understanding of problems that exist and possible solutions. 

58. few tips on increasing productivity without causing a full-scale mutiny

59. few tips on increasing productivity without causing a full-scale mutiny. Give rewards.  Motivate employees to be less wasteful with their work hours by giving them recognition and some extra incentive . Start a friendly office competition to reward the most productive workers or the most efficient team. Offer small rewards such as movie tickets, gift cards to local restaurants or even an employee of the week parking space.

60. Give rewards

61. few tips on increasing productivity without causing a full-scale mutiny. Streamline meetings.  While some employers don’t want to hear this, it is actually the solution most in their control . Eliminate unnecessary meetings altogether. Are weekly or daily staff meetings truly productive or a waste of employee time? For meetings that are justified, limit attendance to critical employees, stick to the agenda and adhere to a time limit.

62. Streamline meetings.

63. Case Study: Are Your Employees Watching Porn at Work? For many of us, the very thought of accessing such material at work completely unthinkable .  However, unfortunately yes it does happen – and under many different guises. From blatant office ‘banter’ forwarding indecent images around colleagues, to secret viewings – it all goes on.

64. Case Study: Are Your Employees Watching Porn at Work?

65. What are the risks? There are a number of risks for employers. Firstly, it is a complete breach of most company IT policies .  Besides the offensive nature of what is being viewed, these porn sites are often completely riddled with viruses, malware and other nasties that you really don’t want on your business IT network. 

66. What are the risks?

67. What are the risks? There is a huge risk too that employees may raise complaints against their employer if a colleague is accessing offensive materials in their presence, or forwarding round inappropriate emails – you have a duty of care to provide your employees with a safe working environment, and such activity may leave people feeling upset, afraid and vulnerable.   It could also give rise to discrimination claims and even so far as constructive dismissal if you failed to address a concern and an employee felt they could no longer work for you So it is a very serious matter.  

68. What are the risks?

69. What are the challenges?  What are the challenges?  Blurred lines is a major issue here. We live in a world where there is very little distinction now between our work and home lives. With smartphones and tablets, laptops and other tech, we are constantly ‘plugged in’ whether this be to work at home or vice versa. So some employees can’t distinguish the difference between a quick look at a website on their personal mobile phone vs. doing the same on their work mobile. 

70. What are the challenges? 

71. What are the challenges?  Equally, if you aren’t regularly monitoring the content of your employees web and email activity how would you know?  We dealt with a case a few years ago now, where an employer was blissfully unaware of their employee’s internet activities until their IT company flagged an issue. Turns out their employee was frequenting some VERY offensive sites during work times.  The other thing to consider too is that catching an employee watching porn at work can have pretty life changing consequences for them – how do they explain their dismissal to their partner? 

72. What are the challenges? 

73. So what can you do about it?  Make sure you have a comprehensive IT and Internet policy in place that is clear on what is/isn’t acceptable use Make sure your contracts and policies state that you have the right to monitor employee internet/email activity Make sure employees are aware of these policies and have understood what they mean Make sure employees are 100% clear that you will monitor their use

74. So what can you do about it? 

75. So what can you do about it?  Make sure you include this as part of your induction process with new employees Speak with your IT provider and ask them to carry out regular checks and flag any issues to you Deal with any complaints/concerns seriously and swiftly  Don’t assume that employees know what is / isn’t acceptable – education is k ey

76. So what can you do about it? 

77. Terminology Counterproductive work behavior Counterproductive work behavior ( CWB ) is employee behavior that goes against the legitimate interests of an organization e.g. production deviance , involving behaviors like leaving early, intentionally working slowly, or taking long breaks; property deviance , involving sabotage of equipment, theft of property, and taking kickbacks; political deviance , involving showing favoritism, revenge, gossiping, or blaming others; personal aggression , involving harassment, verbal abuse, and endangerment

78. Counterproductive Work Behavior

79. Terminology Goldbricking Goldbricking is the practice of doing less work than one is able to, while maintaining the appearance of working. The term originates from the confidence trick of applying a gold coating to a brick of worthless metal—while the worker may appear industrious on the surface, in reality they are less valuable.

80. Goldbricking

81. Terminology Goofing off Goofing off is a slang term for engaging in recreation or an idle pastime while obligations of work or society are neglected

82. Terminology Slacker A slacker is a person who habitually avoids work or lacks work ethic

83. Terminology Cyber Loafing Cyberloafing is a term used to describe the actions of employees who use their Internet access at work for personal use while pretending to do legitimate work. Cyberloafing is derived from the term goldbricking, which originally referred to applying gold coating to a brick of worthless metal.

84. Cyber Loafing

85. Terminology Cyber Slacking Cyber slacking is a term used when employees use their work internet connection for personal reasons for excessive amounts of time. Cyber slacking can cause a number of problems, from the obvious loss of productivity to legal liability as well as virus infection

86. Cyber Slacking

87. Terminology Rubber Room A room where teachers in the New York City Public School System who are suspected of misconduct are held for an indefinite period of time.

88. Rubber Room

89. References Cyberloafing https:// www.techopedia.com/definition/2390/cyberloafing Cyberslacking https:// www.investopedia.com/terms/c/cyberslacking.asp Goldbricking https:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldbricking g oldbricking https:// whatis.techtarget.com/definition/goldbricking Go ldbricker What is a 'Goldbricker' https:// www.investopedia.com/terms/g/goldbricking.asp Pornography at work: grounds for dismissal? https:// www.theguardian.com/money/work-blog/2013/sep/04/pornography-work-dismissal-workplace-rights

90. Thanks…