Should you adopt a BYOD policy on the frontline?

84% of frontline employees would like to access training and communication on their personal devices. With this many employees requesting a simple change they believe will help them do their jobs better, implementing a Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) policy for your workforce should be a no-brainer.

But we know it isn’t always that simple. Concerns about intellectual property and data security, employees doing work off the clock and the uncertainty of transitioning to digital training and communications might have you feeling nervous about making the switch to personal mobile devices for your workplace. In a recent episode of The 80 Percent podcast, JD Dillon dives deeper into why and how organizations should consider BYOD for their frontline. Here are some of the benefits to help you see what’s in it for you.

1. Improve accessibility to internal communications

For employees on the frontline that can’t leave the floor to complete their training, having to log on desktop and laptop computers can be a barrier to receiving the critical information they need to do their jobs. So access to portable devices at work means fast, engaging and personalized training that fits easily into their workflow. Being able to communicate with your frontline, no matter where they are, ensures they’ll have timely, consistent resources in the moments that matter. Help your frontline employees answer questions in a few clicks with a searchable, mobile learning resource library they can keep on the devices in their pockets.

2. Keep them coming back to learn more

Delivering highly relevant training through a fast, positive experience will quickly transform learning into a daily habit on your frontline. Get off-the-charts engagement and motivate your employees to keep learning by increasing the fun factor of your training. And with your frontline coming back to train more often, key information is reinforced and retained in the long-term. 

Worried about people trying to complete training away from work? This is a great problem to have, but it’s also easy to solve: add disclaimers and user agreements clearly stating training rules and responsibilities, provide employees with a pay stipend to cover any work being done outside of work or block digital training away from your workplace network.

3. Safe and secure

Security is a must. However, unless every corporate employee and executive is required to carry around two phones, your organization already has this one covered: 

• Use single sign-on to authenticate users with the same credentials and information security infrastructure as other workplace systems.
• Manage your digital training and communication tools so all proprietary information, as well as employee and customer data, is properly protected at all times.

As an added bonus, your employees will likely take better care of the devices they use and love every day, while updating them more frequently.

Remember: not every employee will want to use their personal device for work. Some might not have this option at all. But it’s important to give them the flexibility to get the information they need on any device they may use—whether that’s their own smartphone, a POS machine or company tablet. 

Get more information on how to deliver safe, simple training on the devices your frontline loves over here.

Maliyah Bernard

Maliyah Bernard is an academic writer turned copywriter. As a former frontline worker, she loves writing about all the ways organizations can support these essential workers smarter.

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