Survey Report: People and technology. Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. June 2003.

Some interesting quotes in this report, which was based on responses to a questionnaire sent to 4,000 HR professionals across a range fo sectors in the UK in March 2003. With the use of an additional telephone survey, 317 responses were received.: - "We also asked survey respondents about their staff use of the Internet and e-mail. Although 94% of the organisations surveyed have a policy on this, 59% report problems arising from misuse of the Internet or e-mail by employees. The majority of those respondents reporting such problems (85%) have taken disciplinary action short of dismissal or suspension for such misuse within the past five years. Fourty-two per cent have dismissed employees, and 27% have suspended staff." - "90% of private sector organizations have taken disciplinary actions as a result of staff misues of the Internet or e-mail, compared with 77% of those in the public sector" - "The survey suggests that HR policies on staff use of the Internet and e-mail are now widespread .... Where such abuse by staff occurs, the costs for organizations can be high - for example, in time-wasting by staff, damage to the organisation's reputation where inappropriate e-mails are sent externally, or even fraud or other criminal activities by employees. The need for an effective well-communicated policy in this area is therefore urgent" ... see p. 14 of the report (esp. Table 9) for more details.