Bring your own device (BYOD) concept, has been gaining in popularity for several years and some companies have implemented them with varying degrees of success within their organizations. If your company is considering implementing it, make sure you understand both the pros and cons that come along with it.
Here are three tips from Jane Harper’s article titled Creating an Effective Cell Phones at Work Policy
“Employee cell phone policy must be consistent: Policies are more prone to collapse when a group of employees are living above them or observing a different version of it. You don’t want to bring in misunderstandings, resentment among team members or be accused of unfair treatment – enemies of productivity. Keeping the policy consistent regardless of sexual orientation, race, age, level, etc, is what makes it effective.
Specify the smart devices employees can use: Is there no need for some smart devices to be allowed? Your policy will be ineffective if it restricts only cell phones. That means employees can bring in personal tablets or similar smart devices to still create the problem you are trying to avoid by limiting cell phones. The policy should categorically state the personal technology permitted during the time of restriction.
Consider safety, security, and privacy: While creating an employee cell phone policy, there is a need to consider safety, security, and privacy. Presenting your policy as a means to only stop employees from work time theft or to only maintain productivity level is not totally ideal. Employees should understand the dangers of using devices while operating machinery or driving. It should be clear that downloading infected attachments on their personal devices could shut down the entire office if passed into to the office network”.
Bring your own device concept (BYOD) will not work for all companies. Because, while the costs will likely be borne by the employee, in such a situation, what happens when that employee leaves the company? It’s obvious that the company the will want the data, and if there is no policy that was drafted to deal with this, it could end up being a bad break-up between employer and employee.
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