The ever-changing nature of the workforce continues to give rise to new ways of working. Some work arrangements such as global mobility, remote working and flexible hours are increasingly becoming a norm in many organizations. However, it was not until recently that the term ‘Bring Your Own Devices’ (BYOD) became prevalent to companies.
Bring your own device or bring your own technology (BYOT), allows employees to bring their personally owned devices to work. Items such as laptops, tablets, and smartphones are used to access company information and applications.
Advantages of BYOD
Lowers the Expense Cost
The most obvious advantage to a company applying BYOD is that they do not have to buy a significant amount of expensive devices for its employees to use when working. This helps the company minimize its expenditure associated with acquiring and maintaining the technological devices which represent significant savings.
Breakages and wastage are also minimized by the fact that employees tend to take better care of their own gadgets than company-owned ones. Any repair costs that may arise are the responsibility of the employee as well.
Enhances Technology Familiarity
Many people tend to be familiar with their own devices. Apple fans are well conversant with Apple technology. Windows fans, on the other hand, are better with devices that have Windows operating systems. Getting used to another one can be irritating and also pose a challenge to any employee.
BYOD eliminates this challenge as it gives employees the luxury of using their own personalized device which is already suited to their own unique needs.
Work Flexibility
Under the BYOD policy, workers do not need to travel with several gadgets satisfying their home and work needs since one device fulfills both. Work that could only be done in the office can now be done wherever as long as they have access to all of the data that is needed.
Increases Productivity
The production increase associated with a BYOD policy in the workplace is a result of the benefits of work flexibility. A greater familiarity with the technology an employee uses leads to success in their job. This enables them to work comfortably and efficiently, increasing work output.
An increase in employee productivity combined with the reduced expenses of acquiring and maintaining a company’s devices all have a common advantage of increasing the profit of any business adopting BYOD.
Final Remarks
For this to work effectively, companies must make sure they have a well-defined policy for BYOD. It should outline the rules of engagement and state what the expectations are.
There should also be minimum security requirements or company-sanctioned security tools put in place before allowing personal devices access to company data.
