Jamf, the standard in Apple Enterprise Management, announced the results of an independent global survey, conducted by Vanson Bourne, of 2000 employees and 500 IT decision-makers (ITDMs) on the importance of employee choice and the future of work. Key findings reveal that 87% of respondents surveyed said choosing their own work device was of importance to them, so much so that 89% of respondents said they’d be willing to sacrifice part of their salary for it.
“Employee experience is impacted by the technology they use more than ever before,” said Dean Hager, CEO, Jamf. “Giving employees the choice of what technology, they work on has incredible value, not only to workers, but to their organizations as well. Establishing a choice program with the right technology partners can help employers attract and retain talent, while boosting employee creativity and productivity.”
Employee Choice can Help Employers Attract and Retain Talent During a Period of Mass Exodus
According to a recent study by Microsoft, more than 40% of employees are thinking about leaving their job in 2021.
In the study conducted by Vanson Bourne and Jamf, 70% of respondents say that they would be more likely to join a company, and 75% say that they would be more likely to stay at a company, if they could choose their own devices. More than nine in ten respondents (91%) report benefits from an employee choice program, including increased productivity, positivity and feeling more valued. Two thirds (66%) of respondents said that being forced to use a device that they did not choose would negatively impact their perception of the organization. As far as India is concerned, 99% of respondents mentioned that it is important to use a device of their choice at work while 91% agree that they are more likely to join a company if they are able to choose their own devices.
But employee choice remains more of an opportunity than a reality for many companies. Despite the strong incentives to let employees choose their own work device, only 40% of respondents surveyed report their organization offers choice. Top challenges reported by ITDMs to offering employee choice include difficulty in effectively managing different laptops (41%), supporting different operating systems (39%), time (38%) and cost (37%) associated with offering individualized work technology packages. Organizations in India are clearly listening to their employees, as just over two thirds (69%) offer an employee-choice program. These are far less popular in other regions such as Australia (20%), France (31%) and the UK (31%).
Offering Apple May Help Organizations Prepare for the Future of Work
Organizations across the world are focused on future-proofing their workplace to meet both remote employee demands and future flexibility for hybrid work. Looking forward to 2022 and beyond, nearly two-thirds (62%) of employees say they will work both at home and in the office, and nearly half (47%) anticipate continuing to do so through 2025.
When it comes to the technology used at work, employees are looking for specific attributes, including most commonly, performance/speed, operating systems and battery life.
Additionally, of the surveyed employees who only use an Apple device at work, 65% have used a non-Apple device in a work capacity. When comparing Apple users’ experiences using their Apple device against their experience using non-Apple devices at work, they reported a much better experience with the former. For example, these respondents reported improvements in productivity (87%), self-sufficiency (87%) and creativity (86%) when using Apple devices.
But the pandemic has not only had an impact on how employees use their devices. Over half (55%) of ITDMs reported fewer issues managing Apple compared to non-Apple devices. This research also found that over half (58%) of ITDMs report Apple devices to be easier to secure, compared to 42% of ITDMs about non-Apple devices.
Other key India findings:
When shifting the focus onto employee retention, these themes remain as almost 9 in 10 (89%) of respondents in India cite that they are more likely to stay at a company if they could choose their own devices.
When thinking about salary sacrifices that would potentially be made to ensure they could choose the device of their choice at work, 98% of respondents in India would be willing to make a sacrifice.
When converted in monetary value, respondents in India are willing to give up, on average, £105 of their salary compared to just £60 for those in France, the lowest of all European countries.
There is a clear trend in the perception of work devices for those in India as 80% of respondents state that they use their work device as a personal device outside of office hours, perhaps as they’re more likely to have chosen it.
