Companies that integrate mobile devices into their business benefit from increased productivity, according to a new survey
Over 10 percent of UK SMEs that integrate personal devices such as iPads into their business enjoy productivity gains of more than 30 percent, according to a new survey.
Conducted by
YouGov on behalf of
Citrix Online, the survey examined how customer-focused communication devices are being adopted in UK workforces as part of a wider move towards flexible working.
It found that one third of firms using the devices are seeing productivity gains of 10 percent or more.
However, with 45 percent of SME employees using personal devices, over half the firms surveyed said they aren’t aware of all the devices being used by staff for business purposes.
"Of even greater concern, a similar number (57 percent) have no controls in place to monitor or control such a rapid expansion in the use of non-company devices on behalf of the business," said Andrew Millard, senior director, marketing, EMEA, Citrix Online.
Almost a third of the employers surveyed were most concerned over the security implications of permitting application and document downloads, while a further 29 percent were concerned about employees having remote access to intranets.
Despite these concerns, over 20 percent of firms polled reported being under increasing pressure to adopt flexible working practices as employees seek an improved work/life balance.
The top drivers of consumerisation were staff pressure (30 percent), financial pressures such as competition (13 percent) and cutting travel budgets (11 percent).
"This is a huge change," said Millard. "As the boundaries between office hours and personal time become less distinct, managers are losing control of how people 'work', as individuals want to prioritise what they do. It is no surprise therefore that there is so much resistance to workshifting, as managers have to move to evaluating performance on results over time rather than on the basis of physically seeing them working at their desks."
Businesses are making progress when it comes to staying ahead of flexible working trends, with 20 percent having already adopted secure remote access software, web conferencing services or remote IT tools.
Milliard added that smaller companies can improve customer and staff satisfaction, and overall productivity, by seizing the benefits that remote working can bring.