This year, Cisco IBSG Horizons released this report...
...discussing employee and business expectations for bring your own device (BYOD) policies. Amongst the interesting insights and facts, two things stood out:
- “Eighty-eight percent of surveyed IT leaders perceive growing technology ‘consumerization’ in the enterprise.”
- “Employees are turning to BYOD because they want more control of their work experience, thus improving productivity and job satisfaction.”
And yet, you still visit your local Walmart, 7-Eleven, or Starbucks and see manufacturer representatives and retail employees ‘equipped’ with clunky devices and spreadsheets. They are attempting to structure unstructured data with outdated technology.
These same employees use their personal device during and after work, generally an Android or iOS device that could easily handle the same data collection in an easier, more user friendly format. I agree with Ken Hess when he said, “BYOD is the inevitable result of a new workforce.”
In order to keep these workers happy, productive, and engaged, it is time for retail companies to focus some mobile initiatives on their number one customer: their employees.
