Who’s embracing BYOD? Probably not who you think

We all know that our work lives have changed dramatically in recent years, as technology has both let us do more and shackled us to our work at all hours and in practically all locations. Businesses worry about securing corporate information that is no longer confined to corporate PCs, software, and networks; employees worry about getting work done whenever and wherever, and they demand that as work intrudes into personal time that personal “work” should be allowed to intrude work time.

Often, discussion around trends such as BYOD, work at home, mobile technology, and cloud computing center on narrow issues such as security. But what’s really going on in businesses and homes? What is the reality on the ground that must be understood to make the right decision, whether you are an employee, manager, or IT pro? Dell and Intel surveyed more than 8,000 people throughout the world to find out. The results are fascinating and should set the context for those decisions in today’s changing technology and workplace contexts.

You can download the full PDF report at no charge or signup. What follow are the facts I found most interesting.

Sixty percent of employees globally — and 76 percent in the United States — want to be evaluated on the quality of what they produce, not the hours they work in the office. In private enterprise, that percentage is 63 percent, and in the public sector it’s almost as high: 59 percent.

Forty-three percent of employees feel pressure to work longer hours, though just 32 percent of Americans feel the same; Americans also report the greatest ability to shift their schedules, which may explain how they reduce the overtime pressure. Perhaps then it’s not surprising that 61 percent of workers globally want more flexible hours than the traditional 9-to-5 schedule. Given their ability to shift their hours, it may be understandable that Americans are among the most optimistic that they can do their jobs in a 9-to-5 schedule (58 percent), including 72 percent of government employees and 68 percent of financial-sector employees.The survey strongly suggests that Americans either have a good work-life balance or have become comfortable with any imbalance that may exist.

Forty-five percent of workers globally want the ability to work remotely, and 55 percent believe they’ll need to in the future.

Confirming what I think we all know intuitively, 45 percent of private sector workers have some say in the technology they use at work, versus 32 percent in the public sector. Likewise, 49 percent of small-business employees have some choice, versus 36 percent of enterprise employees. But less intuitively, when it comes to device choice, China, Mexico, and Brazil lead (at 59 percent, 57 percent, and 50 percent, respectively), whereas the United States, France, and the United Kingdom lag (at 29 percent, 28 percent, and 27 percent, respectively).

Nearly half (46 percent) the workforce globally expects to use devices for both personal and business purposes. Again, China, Mexico, and Brazil lead in terms of these expectations (in the high 60s), with double the acceptance of France and the United Kingdom (in the low 30s). Americans report similarly low desire (37 percent) to use devices for both work and personal purposes, though 55 percent say they already have the ability.

Interoperability — meaning data exchange — is the norm globally, with 59 percent of workers saying they have no restrictions on such sharing, though it’s lower in the United States (48 percent). Media and engineering workers have the most freedom, surpassing 70 percent of respondents. Seventy-four percent of all workers globally said they believed they would have that freedom in the future.

The vast majority of workers globally — more than 80 percent — believe the Internet can help them collaborate more and gain more access to more resources. But some industries are much more accepting of this notion than others: 87 percent of engineers, 87 percent of media pros, and 84 percent of educators. Those less accepting are the armed forces and emergency responders, both at 67 percent. Canadians and Germans are more accepting of this notion than the British or Japanese.

Fifty-five percent of employees globally want technology to help them work in new or different ways. But people in developing countries are more likely to want that than people in developed countries — a sign of greater flexibility in the emerging economies. For example, 83 percent of Mexicans and 76 percent of Brazilians want to enable new or different approaches to work, versus just 43 percent of Brits and 46 percent of Americans.

Young people (ages 18 to 24) are more open-minded about work approaches than older people (ages 55 to 64), but not by a huge gap: 62 percent versus 51 percent. But young people are much more likely to be happy when given technological choice (65 percent) than older people (50 percent), perhaps as compensation for greater work expectations: 55 percent of young people are expected to work longer hours versus 28 percent of older workers.

In most countries, younger people have more faith in technology’s ability to improve work. But there are two exceptions: France and China, where older workers have the most faith in the benefit of technology usage.

When it comes to work flexibility, the United Kingdom, China, and Japan are the least flexible countries, with 51 percent, 43 percent, and 41 percent of respondents respectively saying they have it. By contrast, 67 percent of Germans and 62 percent of French enjoy such flexibility.

Despite our reputation, Americans are among the least unable to relax when at home (35 percent, nearly tied with Mexicans at 36 percent). The Brazilians, French, and British are least able to relax after work (46 percent in each country).

Workers in the United Kingdom and United States are most likely to have monitored email: 41 percent in Great Britain and 34 percent in the states, versus the global average of 28 percent. Only 18 percent of French workers and 16 percent of German ones are subject to email monitoring.

Having an employer that gives freedom to choose how to work is most important to Brazilians (74 percent), Mexicans (73 percent), and Germans (72 percent); the British are much less interested in work freedom (53 percent). Fortunately, most employees agree that employees do have such freedom, with Mexico leading the way (84 percent), followed by Germany (83 percent) and France (81 percent). Chinese and Japanese workers are more constrained (54 percent and 57 percent, respectively). Large enterprises trail small businesses (69 percent versus 77 percent) in granting such work freedom.

Fifty-seven percent of the world’s employees are free to download their own software, with Mexico (82 percent), China (79 percent), and Brazil (74 percent) leading the way. The United Kingdom is the most constrained in terms of software, with just 37 percent of British workers free to download as they like. When it comes to company size, 67 of small-business workers say they can freely download software, versus 44 percent in large enterprises.

What I get out of all this are the following:

• Aspirations for freedom, flexibility, choice, and trust are widespread and generally supported. This is no minority aspiration nor isolated trend.
• Workers in emerging countries aspire to greater flexibility and freedom than those in developed countries, even those said to be more entrepreneurial such as the United States and the United Kingdom.
• Young people are not as exceptional as the media like to portray in their demands for freedom and choice, though they tend to be more supportive as a group than their older peers.
• I would not want to work in Britain, which comes across as the least pleasant, most close-minded work environment. Although Chinese employers also tend more toward authoritarianism, their workers at least aspire to something better, whereas the British seem not to.

This article, “Guess who’s embracing consumerization? Probably not who you think,” was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Read more of Galen Gruman’s Smart User blog at InfoWorld.com. For the latest business technology news, follow InfoWorld.com on Twitter.