Employers Aren’t the Only Ones Concerned About BYOD

Some businesses embrace Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies in the workplace, while others aren’t so sure. If you think that employers are the only ones worried about BYOD policies, you might be surprised to learn that employees are just as concerned about it as their employers. Of course, their reasons are entirely different, but are still valid reasons to be on edge.

According to a recent study by Ovum Ltd. and the mobile security firm AdaptiveMobile, employees are reluctant to participate in a BYOD policy due to two primary reasons: They don’t trust their employers, and they feel that individual privacy will be an issue. In fact, when it comes to privacy protection, more respondents to the survey trusted mobile service providers than their own employers. The survey cited that over 84 percent of employees find privacy to be a top three concern. This can be troubling, especially considering how valuable a BYOD policy can be for your business.

The truth is that this lack of trust can affect the way that your team operates and functions. If your employees feel they can’t trust you, they won’t be willing to work as hard or take risks. This in turn can lead to decreased productivity and motivation, which can be detrimental in a highly-competitive market.

According to ZDNet, this survey, which was conducted in July 2014, looked at employees from all sorts of organizations around the world. Believe it or not, only a paltry 30 percent of employees were happy with having their employers managing their mobile devices, and 42 percent felt they would be happier with third-party operators managing their mobile devices. Not exactly the most reassuring numbers, but they show that BYOD policies must be thought about considerably before being integrated.

These same employees who dislike their employer having any control over their mobile devices also agreed in a separation between home and the workplace, and express disinterest in using their mobile devices for anything work-related.

If you are considering integrating a BYOD policy for your business, take some time to discuss the idea with your employees and get the full scope of things. If your team isn’t willing to use their own devices for work, ask them why, and do your best to respond to their concerns. The better you understand what the issue is, the better you can do something about it.

Ferrum Technology Services understands how complicated a BYOD policy can be to integrate. On one hand, you have sensitive company data, and in the other is personal information of the user. In the worst-case scenario, you can’t just wipe the entire device and bring about the loss of your employee’s information. That could potentially result in legal problems, and nobody wants to deal with those, least of all your business.

Ferrum Technology Services can offer your business quality BYOD solutions which can help you secure your company’s mobile devices from outside threats, and we can offer you guidance on how to best cater to your anti-BYOD employees. For more information about what Ferrum Technology Services can do for your business, contact us at (847) 697-3282.