Commentary

How Mobile Changes Consumer Behavior During Work Hours

Some 58% of employees participating in a recent survey did not receive a device from their employer, but still purchased one on their own. Of those who purchased a device on their own, 66% use it for work-related purposes, which got me thinking about a bunch of issues related to the data.

Who owns the data when an employee accesses information on an employer-owned server? Jeff Corbin, founder and CEO of theEMPLOYEEapp, admits the employee gives up a bit of privacy because the employer can more easily track employee progress and the type of apps stored on the server through analytics now available for mobile devices. The trend will likely initially cost companies money to secure networks, but in the long run can save money if productivity rises.

For me the interesting stats will come as more workers use their mobile personal device or one provided by an employer for work. How will the trend change the behavior of consumers as it relates to media, video and other types of advertising during working hours? Will consumers click on less ads, watch more videos, or make fewer ecommerce purchases? Corbin didn't have too much to say on the topic, but these types of trends change consumer behavior.

The 2014 Employee Communications Satisfaction Survey, out this week from theEMPLOYEEapp, a native app technology platform for internal business communications, reveals key changes in today's work environment, focusing on how mobile devices unleash employees from their desk.

Meanwhile, Gartner believes firms should have a bring-your-own-device agreement. Some 26% of respondents to a Gartner survey said their employer required use of BYOD devices and 15% had signed a BYOD agreement. A third of respondents have employers who are aware but don’t have a policy in place, and the rest said their employer was either not aware or they didn't know. This means 59% of survey respondents who regularly use their private devices for work have not yet signed a formal agreement with their employer.

Corbin didn't talk too much about data breaches either, but the fact remains that mobile devices like a smartphone still make it easier to steal data. Statistics show that global breaches are increasing rapidly, per Experian. There were 2,644 worldwide breaches reported in 2012 – more than double the number reported in 2011.1 As Big Data continues to grow, along with the use of cloud storage, global breaches will grow too.

Most employees like the idea of being mobile, and I would think they prefer to communicate with clients and partners in a similar way. For people who do business with one another, text messages are less intrusive than phone calls. The text message performs pretty close to a chat window on a desktop or laptop, allowing one person to get a near-immediate response from another without making the person stop what they're doing to take your call.

There are obstacles, per the theEMPLOYEEapp study. It reveals that 29% of employees would prefer work communication via mobile apps, but that rarely occurs, per sources. About 82% of employees with corporate Intranets said they either have never tried to access this channel via their mobile device or find it difficult. Of those using social collaboration networks, 78% have either never tried to access them or have difficulty doing so via the mobile device.

I've written countless articles on how the tech industry continues to move back to the age of the mainframe, only in this picture the mobile device becomes the monitor, and the cloud becomes the mainframe supporting the apps. Corbin believes that scenario will happen within five years.

About 93.4% of survey respondents highlight email as the most common way employers communicate important company-specific information. Without a better solution, 87% said email is the preferred method by which employees want to receive company news. Other methods include 54% in person; 33% corporate intranet, 29%, mobile apps; 25% conference calls and webinars; and 14%, internal social collaboration tools like SharePoint, Yammer and Jive.

How do you see the trend of workers using a mobile device or using their own mobile device for work changing ad consumption?

1 comment about "How Mobile Changes Consumer Behavior During Work Hours".
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  1. Jull Sanders from MO Team, May 27, 2014 at 12:29 p.m.

    Nowadays consumers and employees really often can not imagine their day without a mobile device, through which they have access not only to corporate information but often to various financial options online. The employers who fail to protect their information and in addition allow usage of personal devices should realize the risk to their business, if they fail to do that most likely they will once face troubles in the information security area.

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