Incorporating a BYOD policy into your workplace is an important step in increasing employee productivity. Besides the benefits of having your own equipment, there are several other benefits to implementation, including lower enterprise costs, increased employee satisfaction, and decreased employee transitions.
Listed below are some of the advantages you may see if you choose to enact this procedure.
Implementation
Before you implement a BYOD policy, you should first perform a survey to gauge employee opinions and needs.
While it can have its benefits, it also comes with risks. If employees don’t follow the policy, the devices may become lost or stolen. If you don’t monitor and track each individual device, you might not know if a security breach has occurred.
Employees should be trained extensively on the proper use of their personal electronics during registration and onboarding. You can also set clear expectations about policy violations.
Ensuring data security is a top priority of a BYOD policy. While most work computers have security measures, personal devices usually don’t. While it’s always good to have a strong password, it’s also not enough.
Employee devices are prime targets for insider data theft. To prevent this from happening, implement a comprehensive security policy that includes strong passwords changed at regular intervals as well as advanced device encryption techniques.
Another benefit is saving your company money. Employees are more productive and cost-effective when they have the ability to bring their own device. According to recent research, more than ninety-seven percent of Americans already own their own mobile device. Click here for more information. By enabling them to bring their own electronics, you can help them reduce the amount of money they spend on office equipment
By having employees provide their own equipment, you can capitalize on the existing infrastructure your employees bring to the table instead of purchasing these machines with company money. Despite all of these benefits, implementing a BYOD policy requires investing in mobile device management software.
Security considerations
Your company’s mobile devices must satisfy security considerations, including how much support you are willing to provide for employees. If you don’t offer any assistance, it’s possible that someone will be able to exploit vulnerabilities and gain access to confidential information. Full support is the most secure approach, but it may also be a burden on your IT staff and your business.
In addition to addressing security concerns, a BYOD policy must outline privacy and corporate data protection. It must also specify how IT will support personal devices. It might be a matter of requiring employees to keep their devices updated, limiting access to certain applications, or vetting all new devices before they’re distributed to employees.
But despite the security risks that BYOD policies pose, they can help companies increase employee productivity and cut operating costs.
While security professionals are generally accepting of this strategy, senior leadership still has concerns about data security. Shadow IT and data leakage are common concerns when adopting a BYOD policy and companies must balance the needs of their workforce with security risks. This can be done with the help of expert consultants.
In addition to balancing security risks, your company must also address regulatory compliance and user education. When deciding whether or not this is the right strategy for your technological acquisition, you will have toconsider these issues before implementation.
Employee survey
The findings of a new survey show that the vast majority of employees favor BYOD policies. A WorkJam survey of 1,000 hourly employees found that 69 percent of millennials would prefer to use their personal mobile devices for work, and 57 percent would prefer to use an application that allows them to use their own devices at work.
The study also found that the growing BYOD trend is impacting employee satisfaction and retention. Ultimately, the costs of training and recruitment will increase if more employees leave a company.
Recent labor shortages have made it more costly than ever before to lose qualified employees. It could be months or even years before a company is able to recruit the right replacement and will take even longer to train them. Click the link: https://www.uschamber.com/workforce/understanding-americas-labor-shortage for more information about the current labor shortage.
Despite the increasing popularity of BYOD, only one in five organizations has a formal policy for the use of personal devices. Despite this, the survey also found that nearly 80 percent of companies don’t educate employees about BYOD policies.
As a result, it is essential that organizations offer greater employee training on BYOD policies. This includes creating a company culture that encourages mobile device ownership and encouraging employees to use their personal devices.
Another potential drawback of BYOD is a lack of employee privacy. Many employees are concerned that the company could access their private data, such as photos, videos, and contacts.
While a company may be able to wipe business information after an employee leaves, it is not uncommon for employees to keep private information on their phones. As more employees embrace BYOD in the workplace, employers need to update their networks and security mechanisms to accommodate the devices.
This is why it is essential to have a written contract signed by all new employees at the time they are hired so it is clear at the termination of their employment how much of their mobile information is actually the property of their employer. This can prevent messy negotiations or leaks down the line.
