Employees work faster when using personal devices for work—study

VMware Philippines country manager Emmanuel Portugal announces the results of their “New Way of Life 2013” study which found that employees were happier when they are allowed to use their own computer devices in their jobs.

MANILA, Philippines – Employees work faster, happier, and are less stressed if they use their own personal computer devices in their job, an international study has found.

The result of the “New Way of Life 2013” study by international technology provider company VMware found that when employees were allowed to use their personal devices, 80 percent said they were more efficient even when working outside of the office.

Of the total 2,100 survey respondents in 11 countries, three out of every four employees said they were faster to respond to change while using their own devices, they felt less stress and they were happier.

The study also found that the main reasons why employees use their personal devices were: clients establish contact through their personal phone (37 percent), their work requires them to be mobile (30 percent), their personal devices have more functions and makes them feel more engaged (29 percent) and they get more work done (25 percent).

Emmanuel Portugal, country manager of VMware Philippines, said in a statement during the unveiling of the study results said that “we are experiencing a technology revolution that is being dictated by the demands of an increasingly young, connected, and vibrant Philippines society.”

Emmanuel Portugal, country manager of VMware Philippines.

“This new way of life holds positive productivity implications for employers that adopt more flexible IT policies, but also brings with it very real concerns around ensuring corporate data security and compliance as well,” he said.

The study also found that the IT department of most companies don’t provide support for the personal devices of employees which leave them on their own in finding out ways to do their work in their devices.

Almost all of the respondents (93 percent) said that their IT department knows they bring their own devices to work but only 32 percent receive support from the IT department.

Despite the lack of support, 41 percent of respondents said that they will still use their devices for work with 60 percent saying they will find ways to solve any problems in their devices on their own.

With at least 81 percent of the respondents saying they own two or more personal computer devices that they bring to work, the study found that 31 percent of employees would consider leaving their job because of poor IT policies and that dealing with IT issues was the second most stressful issue at work.

Companies that have introduced IT policies that accommodate the personal devices of employees were seen by seven in ten respondents as progressive and dynamic and would be their employer of choice, the study said.

“The floods that swept the Philippines last year are a great example of why it is important to empower employees to work flexibly in their own time, anywhere and from any device,” Portugal said.

The VMware New Way of Life 2013 study was conducted by Acorn Marketing & Research Consultants. It surveyed approximately 2,100 employees aged 18-64 that work in international organizations that have more than 1,000 staff worldwide.

The countries where the survey was done are Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand.