Commentary

Productivity and Security Red Flags With Facebook Use at Work

by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer, August 7, 2009

An independent study by Nucleus Research finds that companies that allow access to Facebook lose an average of 1.5% in total employee productivity. Nearly half of employees in the study, and 77% of those with an account, use Facebook during work hours, with some employees using Facebook as much as 2 hours per day while at work. One in 33 employees use Facebook exclusively while at work.

To explore the business productivity impact of Facebook, Nucleus interviewed 237 randomly selected office workers about their use of Facebook and found:

77% of workers have a Facebook account.
Of those workers with Facebook accounts, nearly two-thirds access Facebook during working hours
Those who access Facebook at work do so for an average of 15 minutes each day
87% of those who access Facebook at work couldn't define a clear business reason for using it
Of those who do access Facebook at work, 6% never access Facebook anywhere else, meaning one in every 33 workers built their entire Facebook profile during work hours

It is interesting to note that, says the report, of the 13% of users that had a business reason for accessing Facebook, most were not using it for personal networking but to promote a business, product, event, or fan site to Facebook users, and Facebook was just one component of an overall marketing strategy. None of the users had measured the comparative effectiveness of Facebook over other marketing strategies.

The average employee who accesses Facebook at work uses it for 15 minutes each day, with a low of one minute and a high of 120 minutes per day.

Facebook Usage At Work
*Information*	*% of Respondents*
Workers with a Facebook account	77%
Facebook users that access Facebook at work	61%
Workforce accessing Facebook at work	47%
Average minutes accessed per day	15
Total lost productivity to Facebook across the entire employee population	1.47%
Source: Nucleus Research, July 2009

Beyond its impact on productivity, the Nucleus study also uncovered the growing use of Facebook as an alternative e-mail platform. Traditional e-mail and even personal accounts like gmail can be monitored by corporate IT, while Facebook messages are not. For organizations that have invested in security software to secure sensitive information and limit their transmission via e-mail, the use of Facebook can help users circumvent those controls, opening up the potential to violate corporate communication policies, concludes the report.

The report concludes that "companies need to understand the cost in productivity from accessing these sites." Of those using Facebook at work, 87% could not define a clear business reason for accessing the site. Further, the analysis reveals potential security concerns through email, as most organizations do not monitor and manage Facebook as closely as email, creating an opportunity for Facebook users to circumvent controls and violate corporate communications policies.

For additional detail, please access the PDF file here, or the release here.

research, social media

5 comments about "Productivity and Security Red Flags With Facebook Use at Work ".

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MONIROM S., August 7, 2009 at 9:50 a.m.
Dan's got a brilliant concept. Push it one step further and its easy to see how, leveraged properly, Facebook and other "all-inclusive" social media platforms could be used as a poor man's basecamp™ (Project management, collaboration, and task software) if the users are diligent about the privacy settings they apply to document storage, photo albums, notes etc.
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Paul Cowman from razorfish, LLC, August 7, 2009 at 10:21 a.m.

What about smoking? I am sure companies lose more when a worker goes out to smoke. At least when someone is Facebooking they are at their desk and able to work.

MONIROM S., August 7, 2009 at 10:23 a.m.

BTW: The productivity (of those who did respond to the poll) lost to Facebook came to a whopping 1.47%? Most companies lose that much if not more to people running personal errands, to get coffee at starbucks, to grab a cigarette or socializing with their colleagues in the kitchen.

I understand the issues with "Security and Social Media" platforms but, trying to "ban" it based on productivity drops is akin to companies banning employees from surfing the internet in its formative years. Most companies found that employees were more productive because they stayed in the office (or on campus if we're talking silicon valley) because they could pay their bills, run errands and schedule other personal appointments online. Would any corporation these days even think about running a business that limits their employees access to the internet?

What seems like a waste of time now could be the productivity tool of your business tomorrow — the trick is to leverage the technology to your company's benefit.

Rob Frydlewicz from DentsuAegis, August 7, 2009 at 11:03 a.m.

The study should have asked when is FB used during the workday because I imagine a lot of its use could be during lunchtime.

Deborah French from Zimmerman/Edelson, Inc, August 7, 2009 at 11:27 a.m.

The question this provokes is "what's the real impact?" Yes, coffee/smoking breaks and kibbutzing are the traditional counterparts to chatting with Facebook friends during work hours... it would be interesting to know 1) the comparative daily "downtime" spent by non-FB users and 2) what are the pros/cons to Facebook use during work. Does being able to communicate with friends outside the office contribute to a more positive outlook, or is it simply another distraction? Do people who spend work time on FB accelerate their pace during the rest of the day? Does it slow them down? Does having the freedom to engage in personal online communication have an impact on other relationships, including business relationships? The questions to consider are whether the job is getting done, and how well. Companies need to look at the big picture to understand the significance of the data before they rush into office policies to ensure that every minute of the workday is time on task.