One of the biggest threats to your business is your employees.

It may sound strange to say this, but it’s true. Every year, employees across the country cost companies millions of dollars because they are not properly using their computers.

Employees are wasting valuable time playing on websites, or they are accidently downloading programs, which can damage company computers.

Your business should have a policy that protects its computers. Having a company computer policy is a necessity in the 21st Century. It establishes the rules and procedures for computer and internet use.

Software Access

Everyday, tons of company computers become infected with viruses because employees download corrupt files and viruses off the internet.

To protect your company’s computers, you should not let employees download software programs from the internet without the authorization from your IT department or staff. Have the employee put in a request to the IT department to download a program off the internet.

It is your job to ensure the IT department immediately responds to requests to ensure things get done as soon as possible. This will help to prevent any project delays.

Internet Usage

The internet is one of the most abused tools. Create a corporate internet policy to help keep employees focused on work.

An internet policy should include information on proper internet use during the work hours. It also should include information about social media websites such as Facebook. Many times, people will spend lots of work hours on these sites.

You may want to consider purchasing software that will prevent employees from accessing certain websites to improve productivity.

Email and Instant Messaging Policy

You will also want to let employees know that corporate email and instant messaging should only be used for work related purposes.

Employees should not be allowed to use instant messaging to communicate with friends. The same goes with email. Be sure to remind employees that company emails are stored on company equipment. This gives you the right to access this information whenever needed.

Equipment Policy

Your computer policy should include a section on how to handle and treat company computer equipment. This also should include items such as printers, fax machines and scanners.

This section should tell employees to take care of any company issued computers such as laptops. This will help to ensure that company computers are taken care of and not abused.

Protect Confidential Information

Often times, private and confidential information is accessed and spread via computers. It’s important to include a provision in your company computer policy that warns against the dissemination of private and confidential company information.

Be sure to warn against accidentally sending confidential information to outsiders. This section should also include information about protecting passwords and internet account information from outsiders.

Summary

Following these tips will help to protect your company. Having a company computer policy will help to ensure that your company’s resources are not abused by employees.

Make sure that your policy extends beyond the internet. Be sure to protect all of your company’s assets. This can include printers, high volume scanners, productivity software and document management software.

Author Bio: Inception Technologies is a document imaging company that provides high volume scanners and document management solutions. You can find more information at InceptionTech.com.

Category: Business Management
Keywords: computer policies, company internet policies, business computer policies