We had an Internet filter in place, but it became a big hassle. Employees complained that it was blocking sites they needed to do their jobs.

And the IT department was way too small to keep up with all the maintenance and monitoring involved.

Besides, they knew there were plenty of savvy users out there that could get around the filter if they tried hard enough.

So the company decided to change its Internet security approach.

To give employees what they needed to work – and to save a lot of hassle for us – IT removed the filter.

Instead of blocking behavior, they started educated users on security. And they held a company-wide meeting to go over our technology-use policy. Employees got basic reminders –- use the Web for work only, beware of attachments and pop-ups, etc.

Managers followed up with periodic e-mails if they saw a specific problem.

Also, IT now works closely with supervisors and team leaders. They let the techies know if someone’s breaking the rules, then monitor behavior.

Otherwise, their teaching does the trick.

And it’s worked. There have been a few incidents, but no more than we had when the company used the filter.

(Tim Olig, IT Leader, Mid States Aluminum Corp., Fond du Lac, WI)

Tags: employee backlash, IT department, Web monitoring