BYOD=Bring your own device. It’s a growing trend in business that employees bring their personal phones, tablets, computers, etc. to their jobs and use them, rather than the company having to pay for, distribute and maintain their own equipment. On the surface it sounds cool and convenient-you know what you are working with, and aren’t switching between devices to work and play on. But after today’s experience, I will never allow that to happen with my equipment.
I don’t get it. Why would you allow your professional life and personal life intertwine like that, especially on something that you have on you all the time-which means your job has you on call all the time? Why would you potentially have some stranger in the IT department have access to your information? Not only access to your information, but give him the ability to put software on your devices that the company controls, and can potentially harm something else in your device? To me that’s just plain stupid. Also, after so many years, infrastructure of some companies are embedded in one company’s product, that trying to put your personal device on can be problematic for both you and your workflow. It makes no sense to me.
So lets say I’m one of the morons that allows this-maybe I was drugged or drunk at the time I said yes-and I’m on vacation. Since my corporate email and apps are with me because I allowed them to be put on my personal phone, that means anyone in the company can contact me about work. When one goes out of the office-whether it be sick day, personal day, vacation, or simply the work day is over-they should not be bothered with work unless they said they will be working from home (another thing I sort of have issue with). I’ve made it a personal rule to first off tell everyone I do not want to be bothered about work when I am away, and if they bother me while I’m on vacation or sick, I either totally ignore their calls or emails (even deleting them before opening them), or if they are constant pests, be a pain in the ass on the phone. But since some morons want to tie their corporate communications with their personal communications, they are agreeing to this nonsense and are almost obligated to be “on call”. Unless you have “Dr.” in front of your name, or you are in a job where it’s an emergency services profession, you should NOT be on call. When the workday is done, so is checking your corporate communications. It can wait until you are on the clock.
Wait, you say the company compensates you by paying part or all of your cell phone bill in return? Let me ask you: is the headache and knowledge that you are chained you your desk via your own doing work the money you supposedly save? Is it worth the lost time from being at the call of your company-that unless you got interest in or are the owner you are just a hired hand-saving that money?
My time is MY TIME, my phone is MY PHONE. ANy work-related stuff on it will be kept to a minimum and whatever crap they give me for work will be put on the side when I get home and on weekends/vacations.