Is your best fantasy footballer your worst worker?
October 16, 2008 by Fred HosierPosted in: Dubious decisions, Special Report
The news release came to HRB headquarters via e-mail with this headline in bold print: Employees are tracking football when they should be working. A company that makes software that tracks everything done on an employee’s computer wanted to “throw the flag on fantasy football.”
“Employers can see EVERYTHING an employee does at the PC and on the Internet while on company time at work,” the release went on to say.
Backing up the need for its product, the e-mail spouted facts about fantasy football in the workplace:
- More than 14 million people are playing fantasy football, according to the Fantasy Sports Trade Association (FSTA).
- The FSTA estimates the average fantasy football player spends about 90 minutes per week researching and managing teams at the office.
- Nearly 37 million people spend an average of 50 minutes a week at work managing their fantasy teams, according to outplacement consultants Challenger, Gray & Christmas (CG&C).
The company also provides its own statistics: More than 50,000 companies have purchased SpectorSoft solutions to crack down on Internet abuse, according to the firm.
And the ROI is high: One company estimates it’ll save $200,000 in the first year of using the software.
Cost cutter or morale massacre?
Of course, fantasy football isn’t the only non-work activity employees use their company computers for. E-bay and online card games also come to mind.
And political junkies probably can’t stay away from polling Web sites as the election draws near.
On top of that, the Internet isn’t the only way employees waste time at work. That list would be huge, including long lunches, smoke breaks and just chatting with your co-workers about non-work topics.
Forbes notes in a recent article on this topic, [companies] “might as well lock up the restrooms and insist on bagged lunches as well” because of time employees waste taking breaks or going out to eat at lunch.
Would strict rules regarding Internet use hurt morale?
“It truly depends on the company,” Christina Stovall, an HR supervisor in Fort Worth, TX, told McClatchy Newspapers. “We don’t necessarily police it, but we don’t want people using their whole day on non-business activities.”
Even CG&C Chief Executive John Challenger cautions against crackdowns on things like fantasy football. “The boundary line between work and personal life is very blurry today. Many companies and managers still operate on the basis of time — you’re in the office and you’re working, or you’re out of the office and it’s your personal life. That concept of clocking in and clocking out is outdated.”
Challenger says managers need to realize fantasy football can build camaraderie and boost morale. He suggests managers use work output not time “wasted” on the Internet as a measure of employees’ productivity.
So, what do you think? Has your company installed Internet monitoring software? Would such a crackdown be worth it as a boost to the bottom line or would it hurt morale? Let us know in the Comments Box below.
Tags: computer monitoring software, fantasy football, morale
October 17th, 2008 at 9:45 am
We’ve been blocking these and other sites for years and it hasn’t impacted morale. Company policy (which appears on your desktop every morning when you log on) is that company equipment is to be used for company business only. Violators of this HR policy subject themselves to discipline up to and including dismissal for continually violating policy. We tell people upfront when they are hired and it is reinforced each time they log on.
October 17th, 2008 at 10:55 am
We also have blocked these and other sites for over four years. We called a meeting and reminded all employees that through our server we know exactly what sites they visit and how long they were on those sites. In addition all IM and e-mails are kept in the server archives. Then we explain in clear no nonsense words that company computers are for company work only any abuse could/would result in a lost of employment. Next step was to block access to many sites. A memo of the meeting was then printed and sent to all employees. A copy of the memo is posted next to all company computers and our stance was added to the employee handbook. As a small company we recovered 270 man hours of work per month which saved the company from having to hire two additional people and we saw productivity increase.
October 17th, 2008 at 11:06 am
The statement concerning the “blur” between work and personal life is a great argument for the allowance of these sites. How many people that read this article work 40 hours and go home? I doubt very many, if any at all. I go home and find myself being attracted to my work email late on a Satuday night, am I getting paid? Of course not, so maybe it’s just a litlle Quid Pro Quo…eh?!
October 17th, 2008 at 11:23 am
When a company expects employees (salary or hourly) to put in the extra time to get the job done during waves of extra demands/deadlines hitting all at the sametime. The company should realize that the employees lives don’t stop during these times and to get things done for their personal lives there is going to be overlaps. Employees that go the extra mile for the company need to have their personal lives in order too. It could be entertainment, paying house hold bills, calling for doctor appointments, etc. they need to enjoyed and/or maintained in their personal lives, to keep stress from home reducing their productivity at work. The company that has zero tolorance for personal lives overlapping work hours could be faced with stressed out workers that will burn out and not be there during the next “crunch” time.
The key is moderation.
On the flip side, the employee cannot expect the company to put up with daily work not being completed because personal entertainment or chores are taking up most of their day.
Chanllenger’s comment that productivity should be the measurement is what we should all keep in mind.
October 17th, 2008 at 11:46 am
Wow, glad I am not working for those companies. We do not need to police our employees. As long as the work is done correctly in a timely matter we do not care how it gets done. We solve this problem during the hiring process, if you recruit the right people you don’t have to babysit. We want our employees to enjoy their job and enjoy coming to work. We have enough rules that are far more important.
Also Fred, Fantasy Sports Trade Association = FTSA.. you sure about that?
October 17th, 2008 at 11:48 am
While it annoyed me to no end that a key employee was obsessed wtih Fantasy Football, rather than not allow it, we talked about the guidlines in which it would be acceptable and the other players were in our industry and to an extent it was good for the company on a social level.
I decided to back his play and put up $1000 last year..We came in First Place!
October 17th, 2008 at 11:52 am
It’s ironic, because one could reasonably question whether your taking company time and using company equipment to comment on this article violates you own policies.
Work product is what matters. Not work process.
October 17th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
Here’s a question - are those companies who monitor internet usage, etc. considered what we’re all doing now against policy? It seems to me that while we are reading these articles to broaden our general HR knowledge, posts of this sort may be conflicting with those policies. Where do you draw the line?
October 17th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
I am lucky I guess. My company adopts the output model of production mentioned in the article. I do think it depends on the culture of the organization, the duties of the employee, and what level the employee is within the organizational structure.
October 17th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
I agree with Lisa. We do not “police” our employees. Since we all spend such a great deal of time at our jobs, and in most cases the stress level is so high, a little R&R is OK as long as they dont go to undesirable sites (porn!!). Big business, corporate america, has the attitude that the entire time you are at work it should be all work, work, work. As Lisa said, as long as your work is completed and done correctly, sitting back for a few is no big deal.
October 17th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
If you are acquiring knowledge that helps your job, you are obviously not abusing company property. If you are playing Fantasy Football, watching You-Tube, visiting a dating site, blogging on My Space or Face Book, you are probably not working on company business. Our IT department provides a weekly report to HR on what sites are being visited and by ho and the number of times. We make a judgment on whether to intervene.
Congratulations Lisa on being able to discern which potential employee will surf the web for non-business activities and which won’t. How do you do that? We have very liberal HR policies and we do a decent job of hiring and screening folks. You’d be surprised what people are doing if you actually turned a filter on your company internet traffic - we were. Most studies would support that. It is dangerous not to do it as well - you, the company, may be help liable for what an employee may be doing on the web, especially if it is offensive to someone else or considered harassment. If you have some secret way of screening folks, we’d love to hear. BTW, we also employ a fair number of people from other countries - weve learned in doing so, for example, that watching porn on the internet for those people may not be culturally problematic back home but they certainly are in the US. If you don’t screen - you could have a suit on your hands.
October 17th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
We do have a strict policy on Internet use. We inform people when they are hired and it is in our handbook.
We do use the computer for business research and I do realize that people will use the computer for personal things during the work day - such as checking the weather, or paying a bill on line ect. If I notice excessive use on non-business sites - I mention it to the employee 1st, then if it persists I will block the site from their computer. If someone wants to surf around during their lunch hour or before or after work - that’s fine as long as the sites are not pornographic or something.
All and all moral is good. I think people appreciate that they can have some leisure time - but if excessive or inappropriate it is dealt with. No one wants to be working hard and sitting next to a person that is playing around all day.
October 17th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
In response to Jim:
We screen for productivity not internet usage. As my response states, we allow our employees to freely use the internet. It’s that lack of attention to detail that’s probably hurting your screening processes.
October 17th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
Jim, how are your comments related to “acquiring knowledge for your job?”
By your posts, clearly in your workplace you obviously have this whole thing figured out already, so what are you doing other than bloviating?
October 17th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
To bloviate means “to speak pompously and excessively,” or “to expound ridiculously.” A colloquial verb coined in the United States, it is commonly used with contempt to describe the behavior of politicians, academics, pundits or media “experts,” sometimes called bloviators, who hold forth on subjects in an arrogant, tiresome way.
October 17th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
Jim, I’m happy to have added a new word to your vocabulary.
October 17th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
You obviously watch too much O’Reilly who uses the word far too often. The purpose is to learn something at places like this and to exchange knowledge - if someone has a screening method for people’s behavior that will avoid a potential law suit from happening, lets all learn.
October 17th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
I’m not a big fan of the character (or his loofa fantasies), but I do like the concept of the no spin zone.
Like for example, your statement “if someone has a screening method for people’s behavior that will avoid a potential law suit from happening, lets all learn.”
Let’s put that in the “no spin zone” and go back to a previous post:
“Congratulations Lisa on being able to discern which potential employee will surf the web for non-business activities and which won’t. How do you do that? ”
The sincerity of your congratulations almost moves one to tears.
“If you have some secret way of screening folks, we’d love to hear.”
Yep. No trace of condescension there. Just a genuine thirst for knowledge.
October 17th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Glad you can read someones mind and intent from their writing Tom. I repeat, if someone has a meaningful way of screening people’s behavior that is reliable, lets here it.
October 17th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
Jim. Jim. Jim.
Don’t you remember we entered the no spin zone?
October 17th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
No such thing Tom - you’ve already proven that by insulting someone without understanding the question.
October 17th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
Editor/moderator: OK guys, back to HR, not spin zones and such.
And I’ll start: I’m intrigued by the differing opinions that have already been posted on this topic, roughly split into:
1. Don’t sweat a little Internet surfing if employees are productive
and
2. Productivity requires that we monitor employees’ Internet use and block certain Web sites.
Goes to show the diversity in company cultures.
October 17th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
Jim, apparently your company’s internet time-wasting program has failed or you’ve just found a way around it. I don’t see how it will save you from lawsuits either. When our kin come after your company for annoying us to death, IT will realize it was a poor investment.
You’re a time waster, just like those we screen out.
October 17th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
Fred - what those of us that screen because we have prior history of abuse and where a multi-cultural workforce can present problems using the internet, we certainly would like to know if someone has come up with a reliable method to predict an employee’s behavior - in all the years I’ve been in HR, I’ve never seen such a system. Just trying to learn from those who seem to have a solution.
October 17th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
I can’t speak for the reader/poster who said, in a nutshell, hire smartly and you won’t have this problem. Instead, I’ll just share my experience:
I’m a manager besides the editor of this Web site. Our company doesn’t have Internet monitoring software, but we do have policies about at-work Internet usage. The decision not to have the software isn’t mine.
We have expectations about productivity. If employees don’t measure up, they’re told about their productivity, not about whether they’re taking too many breaks, coming into work late, surfing the ‘net too much, etc.
Also, employees who exceed productivity expectations will be rewarded for that.
I’m not saying this will work everywhere; but it seems to work for us.
October 17th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
Mr. Hosier, thanks for the site! Keep up the good work.
I apologize if I got a little out of line.
October 17th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
Thanks Fred. We do ours (monitoring) on advice of counsel - nearly 3/4’s of all companies do in a recent survey I saw.
We also reward peoples productivity - we have a formal system for that as well. But if an employee is otherwise productive, they can still abuse the internet and place themselves and the company in jeopardy. But very smart and productive people do stupid things (like our former governor here in New York) and the company can, and is often held liable for those stupid things.
October 17th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
I believe productivity is compromised severely by internet use for non-business activity. The policing and blocking of sites and usage has to be universal. If you have one standard for executives and managers and another for rank and file you have problems. We would all be more productive if it was cutoff and our companies made us request access to each site we wish to visit. This would ensure its work necessity and end the countless hours of surfing, browsing and other non-productive activity. Employees are not paid to take care of personal business. I speak as someone that was reprimanded for excess personal use of the pc and policy violations. If you don’t give the computer use policy teeth it is worthless.
October 20th, 2008 at 10:19 am
The process of paying employees for their time rather than their work is outdated. But since that’s the way things are in the vast majority of companies, if an employee is doing their work and doing it well, what does it matter if they spend a little personal time on the web between tasks?
Companies adopting ROWE(SM) have the right idea and will leave all others in the dust when it comes to being the employer of choice.
This is a far bigger issue than a little bit of time spent on the web on company time. It’s time to think outside of the box, and make the necessary changes to have happy and productive employees in the future. The millenial worker is demanding, and they know what they want. The best thing any company could do to increase productivity and retention is to learn that their current and future employees want more than PTO, flex time or an extra paid day off for a job well done.
Different people are productive at different times - it’s ludicrous to think that we’re all going to perform at peak between 8 and 5, Monday - Friday. Stop managing your employee’s time and start to focus on their work and you’ll realize not only that Fantasy Football at 10am on Monday isn’t tragic, it’s healthy!
November 3rd, 2008 at 1:06 pm
ROWE as I recall started in Best Buy. It was the rage. Now a recent report by Consumer Reports shows Best Buy as 23 out of 24 in retail walk-in electronic stores and next to last in internet stores. Their lack of focus on the cusomer is now reflecting itself in their stores and on the internet. Doesn’t speak well to the concept or its implementation.
November 3rd, 2008 at 3:25 pm
I should say - their focus on their employees and when they feel like being productive is causing them to lose customers - if you run a business that has customers (any type of customers) you have to be productive when your customers need your services, not when you feel like it. Best Buy’s approach (ROWE), while interesting, is backfiring on them - they are so busy building a culture of no meetings and let their employees determine when they feel productive that it is now showing up in lack of customer service and customers are saying no to Best Buy. Its a formula for disaster.