Most FI Employees Want to Use Their Own Phones for Work, Study Finds

"Overall, an organization that embraces BYOD has a much more productive, engaged and loyal workforce.”

Employees seem to prefer the BYOD approach to work. (Source: Shutterstock)

More than half of banking employees are comfortable using their personal mobile devices for work purposes, according to a study by Montreal, Canada-based enterprise platform company WorkJam Digital Workplace.

The poll of over 1,000 U.S. hourly employees and employers found that 56% of full-time banking employees said they didn’t have a problem using their own phones for certain work tasks. That compared to 75% of hospitality employees, 66% of healthcare and retail employees, and 65% of logistics employees. Another 8% of banking employees said they had no preference.

“It’s not difficult to see how this sentiment has formed,” the report said. “Americans spend up to five hours a day on their mobile devices, a 20% increase compared to the fourth quarter of 2015. As a population, we are glued to our phones for nearly a day-and-a-half every week. Consequently, our phones are now an extension of ourselves. We customize them, take them everywhere and consider the cost of ownership as important as our utility bills. So, it’s no wonder hourly workers want to integrate aspects of their work lives into their personal devices.”

The study also found that 57% of millennials would prefer to use their personal mobile devices to access information such as schedules and training materials. More than two-thirds (69%) of the respondents said that using their own mobile devices could make it easier to pick up shifts that work with their schedules.

The study also found that 61% of frustrated employees said that scheduling and communications difficulties were reasons for quitting a job.

“Employers that aren’t currently leveraging the technology their employees already use are missing a huge opportunity,” the study said. “Adopting a bring your own device (BYOD) policy can be transformative for an organization, unlocking benefits like agile scheduling, seamless employee communication and vastly improved employee engagement. Overall, an organization that embraces BYOD has a much more productive, engaged and loyal workforce.”