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Goldbricking/ Cyberloafing Working Hard or Slacking Off? Are Your Employees Watching Porn at Work?
Goldbricking • Goldbricking is the practice of doing less work than one is able to, while maintaining the appearance of working.
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.
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
Goldbricking • Many firms employ surveillance software to track employees' Internet activity in an effort to limit liability and improve productivity.
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.
Subsidized Internet Access For Employees Outside Of Working Hours
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.
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
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
Research has indicated that permitting employees to utilize computer resources for personal use actually increases productivity.
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.
'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.
'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.
Cyber-Slacking is Goldbricking • In the United States, goldbricking is estimated to cost companies billions of dollars a year. • 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.
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.
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. However, the ubiquity of Smartphone's has complicated restriction efforts, since employees can browse cyberspace on their own devices.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
