Employee Internet Christmas Shopping

As we approach the Christmas season, it is appropriate to point out one immutable fact: Employees will shop. Whether we formally acknowledge it or not, they will use company resources for their Christmas shopping.

Employees will

• extend their lunch breaks or slip out early to beat the rush to the mall,
• “let their fingers do the walking” through the Yellow Pages to locate items they want at local stores,
• call around for price, availability, store hours, installation instructions, etc. , and
• shop via the Internet using company computers, bandwidth and time.

So, if employees are going to shop on company time, don’t you want them to use the most efficient method?

Even companies that have a rock hard “Acceptable Use Policy” (AUP) find themselves pushed into a corner. Companies that have AUPs that read “the business network is to be used for business purposes only” find themselves on a slippery slope. Defining business purpose is next to impossible. Enforcement is downright impossible.

Is it reasonable for a purchasing agent to understand the Internet purchasing experiences of other companies? How about customer service people? Sales? How about logistics professionals seeing how the delivery process works and the levels of integration others have with carriers?

In the early 90s I requested access from my employer to the Internet. At that stage, access was commonly controlled by an IT professional in the R&D area. The reason I gave was “Need to buy.” This was when no major retailer was up on the web. My application breezed through without comment.

Most companies do not have rock hard AUPs. Some have moved to a more pragmatic policy. Companies are correct in asserting that personal Internet use cannot interfere with official business. But they also should not assume the employee can correctly define what that means. This is a great time of year to reinforce what the rules are, how they should be interpreted, and why.

Company Responsibility

For business security, safety, personnel, legal, regulatory and compliance reasons, companies have a responsibility to manage their Internet access.

These include:

• blocking inappropriate content,
• preventing downloads of copyrighted materials in any form,
• preventing Spyware and Malware (Viruses, Worms, Trojans), and
• regulating file sharing and loading of applications to personal devices (IPods, personal PCs, Palms, etc.).

No new controls are needed when providing a more flexible AUP.

Employee Responsibility

Here are your employees’ responsibilities in using a more pragmatic AUP for their Christmas shopping:

1.    Recognize business comes first.

2.    Access to content remains unchanged. The company prevents access to pornography (among other things), so don’t think it is okay to buy pornography for someone else on company computers and time.

3.    Surf and shop for personal reasons only before your scheduled work time.

a.    No, it is not okay to do this stuff at lunch. That is when the web has the MOST traffic and we don’t want you taking up bandwidth.

b.    No, it is not okay to do this stuff at break time, when your 15-minute break unintentionally becomes a 45-minute search.

c.     No, it is not okay to do this during meetings or conference calls. The company is paying for your undivided attention.

d.    No, it is not okay to “multitask” and do this while you wait for other things to finish running. This causes those “other things” to take longer.

4.    Shop at established, reputable, proven web-based retailers only.

5.    Don’t use your company email address when placing orders. That is why God created personal email addresses. We don’t need the extra traffic.

6.    Don’t leave your credit cards out in the open. You assume the responsibility for stolen credit card numbers, even by another employee. Don’t expect us to investigate how your credit card got stolen (someone looking over your shoulder, while being transmitted through the company network, etc.).

7.    Don’t click the box to leave you logged on. The computer assigned to you is not for your exclusive use. Technical folks and others have our permission to access devices assigned to you.

8.    Don’t download anything you have purchased. No, it is not okay to download stuff and move them over to your CD, Flash Drive, printer, etc.

9.    Don’t do anything that would compromise security. Read and respond appropriately to pop-up messages. Read to make sure licenses don’t allow access to the computer you are using.

10.           Don’t have your purchases delivered to work.

11.           Your boss doesn’t like Fruitcake. Think golf shirts!

Need help with your eBusiness?

Duane Cook is the founder of Strategic eBusiness-Cook Consulting. He helps businesses of all size (through workshops, executive and managerial coaching, and business evaluations) drive their businesses to eBusiness success.