BYOD stands for ‘Bring Your Own Device.’
In some organizations, the idea of BYOD is a big NO. As an employee, you cannot come to work with your own PC or do anything relating to office work on your mobile phone. If you have personal software or apps on your phone/PC, you cannot use any of those to do office tasks. Office devices and software should be the only tools you use to work.
This is the rule in some organizations, which is quite rigid if you ask me.
The good news is some companies are starting to embrace the idea of workers working with their personal devices. And we think this makes a lot of sense.
If you’re still on the fence on the subject, we say don’t do anything yet. First, read this blog to understand the benefits of the BYOD system. If you’re still not convinced by the end, feel free to shun the practice in your workplace.
8 reasons to implement BYOD in your organization
1. Increase in workers’ productivity and efficiency
According to a study published on Forbes, 42% of employees permitted to work on their own devices experienced a significant boost in productivity and efficiency.
You may be wondering, how does working on a personal device make one more productive? Here are the reasons behind that.
Familiarity
Being familiar with a tool means you get to work faster and better on it, unlike a tool you’re just being introduced to.
Less training
Suppose you already use a free flowchart maker like Zen Flowchart to craft simple and complex charts at home. You won’t need any training to use the same tool to draw important charts at work. However, if you’re forced to use a charting software different from Zenflowchart, you’ll need to learn the ropes of that. And for the period you’re doing that, your productivity and efficiency will be down.
Ease of customization
Someone can wake up one morning and decide to upgrade their phone’s OS to the latest version to enjoy the newest features. If you are working on an organization’s device, you cannot do this.
Perhaps you enjoy working with your computer flipped into a tablet (360 degrees convertible). If you’re working with an office computer, you may not be able to do this.
All of these drawbacks can hinder a worker’s productivity.
2. Saves Time: Round the clock operation
When employees are allowed to work on their devices, they get to carry out their regular work operations even when they’re away from the office.
Instead of waiting until they get to the office to respond to clients’ emails or process an order, they can do all of that from within their own devices. Thus, saving the business precious time.
Imagine the number of tasks (simple and important) employees can complete on the go if they’re allowed to work on their own devices.
3. Convenience
Employees will tell you it’s easier for them to have all the apps they use for work and life operations stored in one place. That way, they can easily navigate from work apps to life-related apps.
And they’re quite right.
Imagine juggling between two phones or computers to carry out work and life-related operations; how exhausting would that be?
Some employers may claim workers are not supposed to be bothered about their personal phones during work hours. But such employers need to remember that workers have lives, too. There could be emergencies from home they need to attend to. Plus, workers could need their phones to listen to music while working.
To avoid a clash of opinions, just embrace BYOD in your workplace. That way, employees can use one device for work and life-related activities.
4. A drop in operating costs
Embracing BYOD saves your business money. To begin with, the cost of devices, the cost of repair, and the cost of internet access.
This sentiment is shared by Samsung, who revealed in one of their studies that companies who embrace BYOD save up to 14% over two years.
5. Improved employee satisfaction
One of the reasons workers love the work-from-home concept is because of the flexibility it affords them. In that system, workers can easily carry out office-related tasks when they’re most convenient for them.
Even though your workers work in the office, you can still afford them this sort of flexibility. By embracing BYOD, workers can easily take office tasks home. They can reschedule shifts, attend to customers’ needs, attend meetings, respond to emails, or put tasks on hold when they’re tired until they get home.
All these make for improved job satisfaction. Your employees will be satisfied with their position and will be more loyal to you.
6. Access to newer tech
BYOD allows a company to enjoy access to the latest technology without necessarily buying it.
For example, let’s say the office’s official mobile phone is an iPhone 8. There may be an employee in the organization with an iPhone 13 Pro Max. Clearly, the latter is the better phone, and it offers some amazing features absent in the former.
By allowing BYOD, the business can leverage the advanced camera abilities of the worker’s 13 Pro Max to snap awesome product images.
7. Emergency communication
Most companies’ desktop computers and telephones are not mobile. They are usually stationed in one place, which means workers cannot go home with them.
This creates a challenge.
Since workers can’t go home with their work-only devices, it will be difficult for them to communicate with one another, particularly those who don’t have each other’s personal contacts.
Now, imagine that an issue comes up in the middle of the night which requires urgent attention. How would employees communicate? Clearly, this can lead to a lot of negative developments for a company.
8. Access to global talent pool
When you structure your organization to rely on BYOD, you’re already one step closer to embracing a remote work system.
Remote work systems entail workers working from anywhere other than an office environment. With a BOYD system adopted, it becomes possible for the company to hire remote workers from anywhere in the world. The market craze of remote jobs exponentially increasing.
This offers a greater advantage for accessing the talent pool from anywhere in the world.
