BYOD and the Ever-Changing Workplace

The past few decades have brought about an incredible revolution in the workplace. Advances in technology have made the impossible possible and, as a result, many companies have been able to achieve levels of efficiency and productivity that were only dreamed of a few decades ago. From cloud computing to virtualization, there always seems to be a new trend in technology that companies are scrambling to get on board with. Right now that trend is BYOD.

“Bring your own device (BYOD) refers to the trend of employees wanting to use their own smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices in the workplace. With the consumer mobile market exploding, analysts say that organizations of all sizes must develop BYOD strategies or risk employee dissatisfaction and security vulnerabilities.” – Adam Bender, PC World Journalist

BYOD in action

In a recent article by The Globe and Mail, we learn that Intel Corp. jumped on board to this movement as early as 2009 by launching a pilot program in the workplace. Today more than 23,500 devices representing 19 percent of the Intel staff are on board with the company’s opt-in BYOD program. Yet another testament to how quickly these trends can catch on.

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Implications for employers

​As the BYOD movement continues to gain traction, employers are faced with the decision of whether this policy is something they want to embrace or not. There happen to be a number of different opinions on this subject. The biggest hindrance for many employers is that they are stepping into uncharted territory. By enabling BYOD in the workplace, companies become responsible for managing and securing devices they don’t own. Although this does have it’s benefits, it also comes with risks that every employer needs to be aware of before jumping on board.

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Evaluating the benefits:

• Boosts productivity: Allowing employees to use the devices they prefer as opposed to the company-issued devices tends to boost satisfaction and engagement. In the case of Intel, staff members have reported 57 minutes of extra productivity each day because of this. On the flip side, some argue that this dulls the line between work and play and can serve as a distraction for employees in some cases.
• Reduces security threats: Having a clearly defined BYOD policy in place reduces the threats to corporate security that come with unauthorized use of personal devices.
• Saves you money: Many BYOD programs tend to shift costs to the user where employees cover the costs for hardware, data services, etc. Research shows that most employees are happy to do so.

Evaluating the risks:

• Loss of Control: By allowing employees to bring in their own devices, organizations lose control over a lot of the IT hardware and how it is used. Company-issued devices come with an “acceptable-use” policy and are protected by corporate security. This becomes more difficult with personal devices.
• Data Ownership: Synching company data to a personal device gives employers a lot to think about. First they must decide how this is done and ensure that everything is secured and protected. If an employee leaves the company, there must be policy in place to retrieve all of the company data.

The importance of policy 

The risks presented above only emphasize the need for a clearly defined BYOD policy if this is something you’re looking to embrace as an employer. By outlining the rules of engagement for personal devices and stating up-front what your expectations are, you can reduce some of the risk that come with relinquishing full control of which devices are used. PC World states that you could even “mandate company-sanctioned security tools as a condition for allowing personal devices to connect to your company data and network resources.”

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Having a clearly defined BYOD policy in place is just one small step towards having an overall effective employee policy manual. What are some of the additional elements you should include in your manual? How can you be sure you are compliant with all required legislation? These questions are all answered in our “Establishing the Rules of the Game” learning session. The session runs on September 18th, 2013 in Cambridge from 9:00am-1:00pm. For more information including a detailed course outline and registration form, check out our website: http://www.clearpathemployer.com/policy-book-session.html

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