Ad Image

Employee Input is Key for Successful BYOD

Employee Input is Key for Successful BYOD

Employee Input is Key for Successful BYODWebroot, an antivirus software provider, recently released a new report outlining a “disconnect between employers and employees when it comes to mplementing and maintaining a secure Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) programs. The main theme of the report was that this disconnect stems from a lack of collaboration between the two parties regarding input, understanding and communication.

BYOD is certainly a hot trend among enterprises and the gains that can be realized through BYOD are significant. However, these gains can only be realized if BYOD is implemented properly which can only be done if collaboration prevails.  The report reads, “While there are some striking areas of agreement, there are also signs that many employees do not take adequate steps to protect company information, a weakness that could result in critical security breakdowns. There is also evidence that employers often only pay lip service to the needs of employees over BYOD security. This can create problems given the large number of personal devices being used for work purposes.”

One statistic that truly highlights the disconnect that Webroot points to is the staggering lack of input that employees have when it comes to policy development and security requirements. The report shows that 73% of employees “expressed that they should have some influence on decisions regarding what kinds of software or security is put onto their personal devices.” In contrast the report shows that only 14% of employers say they seek input often, 48% say they seek input sometimes, 30% say they seek input rarely and 8% say they never seek input. What is worse is that only 9% of employers say that input influences decisions a great deal and that 40% say it has little influence showing a complete lack of consideration for what input is actually allowed. The result? According to the report “46% of employees would stop using personal devices for work creates a potential productivity loss that employers need to address.”

The following are recommendation from Webroot when trying to solve this disconnect in BYOD which can take away from potential productivity through enterprise mobility and BYOD:

  • Invest in educating employees about the risks associated with mobile devices and the benefits of securing devices. An informed user is more likely to buy into BYOD security requirements.
  • Don’t mandate security solutions without engaging users first – otherwise employers risk losing productivity from nearly 50% of employees
  • Acknowledge the employee’s BYOD concerns and personal privacy when setting mobile security policy by using a framework such as the “BYOD Bill of Rights”
  • Ensure browser data security breach concerns are answered to the organization’s satisfaction
  • It’s great to have policies, but they only work and are respected if they are enforced

Click here to read the full report from Webroot.

Share This