www.toughbook.eu

UK WORKFORCE ATTITUDES TOWARDS MOBILE DEVICES

THE SECRET SABOTEUR:

BUY THE RIGHT …NOT… BRING YOUR OWN DEVICEThere is an increasing frustration amongst the UK workforce with the mobile devices they are issued with to carry out their jobs. Although technology has helped to revolutionize the way we work and improved productivity rates across all industries, in many ways the mobile computing devices used in businesses have lagged behind the user-friendly consumer tablets, notebooks and hybrids that we have become used to using in our leisure time.

Our close contact with our business customers, and more importantly their workforces, indicated this was the case but we were staggered by the strength of feeling uncovered by the research recently carried out by Panasonic.

We were surprised at the number of employees who admitted to being tempted to sabotage their work laptops and mobiles, but even more staggered by the number of people who had actually gone through with it.

This research demonstrates the depth of feeling from people when they are given generic devices for work that are simply not fit-for-purpose. It is also a wake-up call for businesses to rethink exactly which types of device they need for their employees.

Unfortunately, in an effort to meet the desires of workers who wish to use their own personal device in the workplace, many organizations are rushing headlong into adopting a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) culture.

However, we believe passionately that this approach is a mistake and will result in a false economy, as the security and management headaches that surround BYOD have been well documented.

Bring Your Own Device is not the solution; businesses should be concentrating on “Buying the Right Device”. With the increasingly wide range of business-ready, rugged tablets, laptops and mobile devices on the market, organizations should be looking to provide employees with the most appropriate device for their specific role; allowing the IT team to maintain standardized security and management across the organization while giving the workforce the best tools for the job.

Manufacturers have their part to play. Panasonic Toughbook focuses on a range of truly tailored rugged and semi-rugged devices designed to fit the very different needs of workers, from engineering and utility field workers, through to mobile executives, retail and sales forces and even specialists such as emergency service and medical personnel.

We will continue to develop mobile computing devices that include all the benefits of the latest consumer technology but that are tailored and fit-for-purpose in the workplace. We hope other manufacturers will follow suit and that businesses will respond by providing their workforce with devices that better meet the needs of the individuals.

When it comes to form factor, 36% of the sample were critical of the look and feel of the work-owned mobile devices they currently use, especially those aged 18-44, junior and middle managers, those in sales and marketing and IT and data management. 18% described them as being old and out of date, while 17% described them as looking dull and boring. Moreover, 11% said their work-owned mobile device was ugly and lacked style. Not surprisingly, there is a correlation between those who have either deliberately or accidentally damaged their devices, and those with a negative attitude.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS COUNTKEY RESEARCH FINDINGSAre you a Secret Saboteur? Research shows more than a quarter of UK workers want to destroy their laptop or mobile.

A new type of secret saboteur is emerging in Britain’s workplace. Over one quarter of UK employees have deliberately sabotaged or been tempted to sabotage their company mobile device and 14% of workers have actually become “device destructors”, according to research commissioned by Panasonic Toughbook. Sales and marketing and IT managers are the most likely offenders in the workplace and the key reason for the abuse is the embarrassment of using an out of date device or frustration with their laptop or mobile.

The survey, which questioned more than 500 British employees, found that 27% of workers had deliberately or been tempted to sabotage their work mobile devices by damaging or losing them.

A key reason for the abuse stems from 38% of British employees who have “negative feelings” for their work-owned technology, with 30% stating they would rather use their own device. 9% admit they are embarrassed to use the work-owned device they have been given, 7% say the devices are difficult to use and 6% simply say they hate them.

1/4 HAVE DELIBERATELY SABOTAGED OR BEEN TEMPTED TO SABOTAGE

18

31

25

14

14

21

13

22

8

17

39

14

30

9

58

24

64

41

71

6

3

7

3

8

16

8

16

10

21

11 6

13

4

10

2

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140

Wholesample

Saboteurs

Non-saboteurs

Have hadaccidents

Have nothad accidents

% ofsample

Old and out of dateUgly and lacks stylePortray a bad image in front of customers / suppliers

Look dull and boringNone of theseDon't know

Look worse than any personal mobile devices you own

7

26

14

2

30

51

26

44

20

57

10

65

38

71

5

3

5

1

7

4

3

11

5

15

6 9

29

6

18

3

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140

Wholesample

Saboteurs

Non-saboteurs

Have hadaccidents

Have nothad accidents

Difficult to use You hate them

You are embarrassed to use Would rather use your own device

None of these Don't know

% of sample

MORE THAN

With a range of rugged mobile PCs and tablet devices, Panasonic Toughbook delivers specialist computing solutions that perform where it matters most to a business – at the point of service or operation.

Capable of performing outdoors, in harsh environments and in the pressurized surrounds of retail, sales and hospitality settings, our computer solutions are proving their worth in the real world, every day, across many industries.

Take a closer look at our Toughbook range of mobile PCs and tablets and you’ll discover a family of rugged devices that have long dominated the European rugged notebook market with a 65.8% share in 2011 (VDC, March 2012).

It’s a range built on a legacy of uncompromising quality and performance, which stretches back for almost two decades. There’s also our range of mobile printers, again, designed to optimize performance in the most challenging of environments.

For further information visit: www.toughbook.eu

Breakdown of the 42% of workers who have had accidents with their devices

DROPPED ON THE FLOOR

SPILLED WATER ON THE DEVICE

IMMERSED IN WATERSCREEN

BREAKAGE

LOST

OTHER

CAREFULLY DOES IT

ACCIDENTAL DAMAGEThis apathy for company property also seems to translate to high levels of accidental damage. In the past three years, collectively 42% of employees who use a work-owned device have had accidents with them. Nearly a quarter (23%) have dropped them or knocked them to the floor, 13% have spilled water on the device, while 5% have seen their devices immersed in water (e.g. in a pool, the sea, a river, sink, bath or in a puddle). 12% have suffered from screen breakage. Absentmindedness was a problem for 12% of the sample, actually losing their work-owned mobile device.

PANASONIC TOUGHBOOK: BUSINESS COMPUTING AT THE POINT OF SERVICE

97% of the sample questioned had both a work-owned and a personal device. The bad news for UK PLC is that when it comes to looking after them, only 8% of people look after their company property more carefully than their own device.

Treat their work devices better than their personal devices

Treat both their work devices and their personal devices badly

Treat both their work and personal devices the same

Treat their personal devices better than their work devices

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