One of the biggest challenges faced by today's managers is ensuring that their employees are able to deliver all the productivity necessary for the company to achieve its objectives. Among countless solutions found on the market, having tools to block websites is one of the most efficient alternatives.
Most of the activities carried out in the workplace depend on an internet connection. However, although this tool is essential for most demands, it also represents a major risk to productivity and digital security within businesses.
In the same way that it delivers unlimited resources and possibilities to bring more quality and efficiency to processes , the internet is also an environment full of distractions. Much of the productivity that is lost in the course of everyday life is due to access and activities that are not related to work.
Even if the company has a Internet Access Policy that is highly thought out and developed to avoid this type of problem, it is common for employees to be distracted by content such as:
- Social media;
- Gaming platforms;
- Personal emails;
- Entertainment website;
- Betting sites;
- E-commerce;
- Pornographic or violent content.
For this reason, it is necessary to find alternatives and strategies that help eliminate this type of problem and bring more productivity to the company.
Why invest in productivity?
For a business to be successful in the market, it is essential that management is able to establish more assertive strategies to increase productivity.
Having a productive team can make all the difference for businesses that want to stand out in the market and achieve increasingly better quality in the services or products offered.
Investing in productivity is much more than having the most efficient and modern resources on the market. It is necessary for the company to know its employees well and be able to understand the reasons that end up causing a drop in income.
According to a survey carried out by Fundação Getúlio Vargas , Brazilian worker productivity suffered a drop of 4.5% in 2022, and had already shown a substantial drop (7.9%) in recent years. This data highlights the need to implement strategies to ensure that workers maintain focus on what is really important for the business.
It is very important that the company understands that productivity is a completely different concept from production, as we are dealing with the quantity produced within a given time and with the resources available. Productivity is not focused on quantity, but on quality . Understand the difference:
Did you understand why your company needs to invest in productivity? Below are the main reasons to invest in productivity within your business:
Avoid financial losses
A business's employees are hired according to available demand . This means that if the company experiences an increase in demand, more employees will be hired. If there is a drop, it may be necessary to make cuts. But if your number of employees is compatible with demand and the company is still unable to achieve its objectives, it is necessary to look at the reasons behind this incompatibility.
It is very important that employees deliver the productivity expected for their role, avoiding distractions and loss of focus. Having more employees than necessary represents a great loss for the company , and just as other tools must be used as intelligence, the workforce must be developed to deliver what is expected.
Using Lumiun's waste calculator , we can imagine the following situation:
In a company with 10 employees who use the Internet, working 8 hours a day and receiving around R$2000 a month, how much does the business lose? Considering that these workers spend 15% of their daily working hours on improper access, R$15 are wasted per day, resulting in R$3,000 in losses for the business every month. Calculate your business waste here.
Customer satisfaction
Depending on the activity carried out by your company, the quality and agility established in the processes can make all the difference for the consumer. If your company is more productive, the faster it will reach its demand and the higher the quality of the product or service it delivers. Customer satisfaction must be a priority for the business , as the organization's survival depends on its positioning in the market.
To understand the impact that problems during service can have, according to a survey by Zendesk , around 50% of consumers prefer to switch to a competing company after a negative experience.
Improvement of the organizational environment
It is extremely frustrating to work in a business where some of the co-workers carry out activities correctly while others do not deliver the expected productivity. This type of incongruity can lead to a loss of employee satisfaction with the activities carried out. Strategies and measures aimed at increasing everyone's productivity can match the reality of employees within the business and avoid the overload suffered by your team.
Now that we understand the importance of investing in productivity, it becomes easier to understand why website blocking tools can contribute positively to business success . Blocking certain resources helps to maintain focus on activities that are truly important to the company and prevents the time available for work from being wasted on resources and access that have no relation to the activities performed .
Why block websites in your company?
When it comes to blocking websites in the company, there is a wide debate regarding the need for this type of strategy. It is necessary to remember that this type of blocking can deliver countless benefits to the business.
It is very important that employees understand that this blockade is not being carried out to the detriment of the team. Just as people have personal interests, the company also needs to invest in what is healthy and profitable for it.
In addition to representing a major loss to the organization's productivity, improper access also poses a major threat to the security of networks and data stored by the business . Improper access favors user contact with the main cyber threats used today.
Recognizing digital traps can be a real challenge, so avoiding contact with harmful content helps the company to stay safer and avoid the main losses caused by cyber attacks and data leaks.
In this sense, implementing tools to block websites in your company must happen in a healthy and transparent way. All employees need to be informed of the need to use this type of tool and what benefits this strategy can bring to everyone. Among the main ones, we can mention:
Smarter consumption of internet bandwidth
Just like any other resource, the internet is a tool that must be used intelligently in the interests of the business. Improper access ends up consuming excessively the available bandwidth and hindering the performance of activities that are really important for the business.
Sites like YouTube, for example, end up consuming excessively the available internet bandwidth and causing slowdowns and crashes when using essential tools. Imagining that at least half of the team uses this type of content during working hours, we can measure how the company loses in results due to the slowness caused.
Error reduction
Many of the mistakes made while carrying out activities in the workplace are the result of distractions. If an employee carries out his activities at the same time as he accesses content that is not related to work, the chances of this employee making mistakes will be greater.
By carrying out efficient and assertive control of the resources used, the chances of this employee making mistakes and causing losses to the company will be lower , as their focus will be fully directed to the tasks that are really important for the business.
Increased internet security
Cybersecurity should be a priority for all businesses, regardless of the company's size or sector. Contrary to what many think, cyber attacks do not have a specific target audience. This means that, even if your company is small or does not store confidential customer information, it could also be the focus of an attack of this type.
Cybercriminals can steal information, leak confidential data , damage company devices, hijack data, among others. For this reason, it is essential to block certain accesses so that employees do not have contact with the main traps planted in the digital environment.
What are the best tools for blocking websites?
In a quick search for tools to block websites, you can find numerous resources available on the internet. But which of these tools really adapt to the scenario of a Brazilian company? Which one can deliver all the resources your company needs for an effective blocking, with support in Portuguese, payment in reais and an intuitive panel?
Here we have separated some of the main tools for blocking websites that are used today:
pfSense
This solution is widely used today and can deliver several benefits to the business. pfSense works as a firewall , securing devices and bringing more efficiency to connections. it can also be used as a resource to block websites in your company, providing extra network protection against the main external threats.
Despite having several extra features, such as secure remote access, load balancing, VPN and network monitoring, it is a difficult and highly complex feature to operate and is not recommended for all types of users.
DNS Filter
DNS Filter can block pages considered dangerous or malicious, in addition to allowing a filtering process for content that may be inappropriate . It performs this type of blocking by equating domain names with IP addresses, helping to control networks and resources more effectively.
Functioning as a content filter, this tool helps monitor activities carried out in the digital environment. The disadvantage of DNS Filter is that, as it is not a national resource, it is necessary to pay for the tool in dollars, which may represent an investment that is too high for the company.
Open DNS
This resource developed by Cisco has two different free versions: Family Shield and Home. In the first version, the most recommended use is to control inappropriate content, being applied mainly for parental control. Although efficient, this is not the best solution for companies, as these organizations need to block other types of resources.
The Home version is designed to increase device security and improve internet performance. Even though they are free, these solutions cannot meet all the needs of a business. Furthermore, its paid plans are more suitable for families and small businesses , without efficiently serving businesses that have many users and need more complete tools.
Lumiun Box
Lumiun has several tools aimed at protecting company devices and controlling internet access. Lumiun Lumiun Box is one of the best solutions available on the market, being highly functional, with an intuitive, easy-to-use panel.
Through it, it is possible to carry out intelligent monitoring of activities carried out on the company's internet, contributing to a more assertive and specific blocking of the internet . The biggest advantage of this tool is that payment is made in national currency, providing better cost-benefit for companies. Additionally, this tool can also ensure:
- Unified access control, without the need to carry out individual installation on each device;
- Blocking websites and resources according to usage patterns, users, groups and specific times;
- Complete reports;
- Remote access control tool, for users working remotely or working outside the company's location.
Lumiun DNS
Lumiun Lumiun DNS is a more simplified solution than Lumiun Box , but equally effective. It allows you to block websites and resources for companies that have many connected devices. This tool guarantees more protection and security on the internet through unified control of its resources.
Lumiun Lumiun DNS offers great value for money for businesses that want to increase their protection but do not want to pay for expensive and complex tools on the market.
How do I know if my company needs to block websites?
It's very easy to find out if it's time to look for tools to block websites in your company. There are some clear signs that can be observed that indicate whether your business is suffering from a loss of productivity. Look:
- Recurrent delays in delivering tasks;
- Priority activities are being carried out without due importance;
- Excessive friction between employees;
- Contamination of devices by viruses and malware, causing slowness, crashes or unavailability;
- Access to inappropriate content such as social networks, gaming platforms and pornography;
- Drop in business profitability;
- Accumulation of tasks;
- Between others.
Given these signs , it is extremely important that your company starts looking for tools to block websites , finding a solution that can meet your demands and needs.
As we have seen throughout this text, blocking websites is not a futile or unnecessary measure to be implemented randomly by managers. This type of block helps increase productivity and put your company back on the path to success.
Until later!
