BYOD: Blurring the Lines for Work vs. Personal Time

As more and more personal devices are used in the workplace, the lines are blending between work and personal time. This trend has not only knocked down the physical office walls, it’s also increased the “working hours” for employees. The flexibility of work hours has shifted due to BYOD, which is enabling employees to work when and how they chose. And, Egnyte is a major player in this, allowing users to share, access and store their files from any device and wherever work takes them via the web or our mobile apps.

To find out more about this trend, we partnered with TLF Research to commission a survey with 1,000 employees across the British Isles who are required to use a laptop, mobile phone or tablet in their line of work. Let’s take a closer look at what the survey’s respondents had to say about the BYOD trend.Putting in the hoursAlmost half of respondents stated that they would be more likely to work overtime as a result of a BYOD policy being implemented. The majority of these conscientious employees cited home to be the place where they would carry out extra hours of work, while just over 40% would do so while travelling to work. Astonishingly, almost 10% admitted that they would undertake extra hours while socialising!Work-life balance

When asked how BYOD would affect their work life if such a policy were to be introduced in their place of work, almost 40% of those surveyed responded that they would feel obliged to work in their own personal time. Although this would naturally increase productivity for businesses, the survey has shown that such a policy could also be detrimental, specifically to employees’ personal lives. Nearly a quarter of respondents feel that a BYOD policy would negatively impact upon their social lives, while 36% said that their partners or other family members do not approve of them working at home.

Compromised security

As the way work gets done shifts with this new trend, there’s now a bigger concern for security and compliance associated with accessing and sharing it through personal devices. While most would take precautions when accessing company documents on their own devices, over a quarter of the survey participants admitted that they would not be conscious of the files they access. Of those who responded in concerning this way, 80% were aged between 55 and 64, proving them to be the age group that is the least conscious of company security.

While BYOD is not a new phenomenon, it is still an important factor into how employees manage their work, as well as how and when they complete it. While employers are getting more time out of their employees beyond the typical 9-5 timeframe, they still need to balance this with work/life balance and the security of their data being shared through personal devices.Be sure to check out our upcoming webinar that dives into BYOD as it’s associated with identity and access management across numerous devices. Our partner OneLogin will be hosting the webinar with us on Wednesday, May 21 at 8:30 AM PT. Sign up today here:  http://bit.ly/1j2zj3L