In a War for Talent, Small Wins Count

In a tight and competitive labor market, enterprises must do whatever they can to engage with the best talent possible. While engaging independents in a strategic and compliant manner is always essential, enterprises should always lead with a people-first policy.

An example of a policy that can potentially turn away independents is one that requires external hires or employees to use company-owned devices for work-related matters. This directive has gained traction as of late due to security concerns about Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) programs.

If you’re unfamiliar with BYOD, it’s an approach where employees or independents use personal devices such as smartphones, laptops, and tablets for work purposes. This program grew in popularity at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when almost everyone was forced to work in a remote capacity.

Today, we often hear organizations apprehensive about a BYOD policy – and they’re not wrong. According to a 2022 Verizon cybersecurity report , 73% of the organizations surveyed experienced “major” mobile-related compromise. Moreover, 79% agreed that remote work has negatively impacted their cybersecurity.

The devil, in this case (as with all complex items), is in the details. Today’s top talent wants ease, and when working on multiple engagements at a time, using different devices for each project and client is both unwieldy and inconvenient. So much so that we have increasingly heard of talent turning down projects for this and other reasons, declaring that where they can, they’d prefer to join a more talent-friendly Client of Choice.

To avoid missing out on talent, consider the following steps to implement a best-in-class BYOD program:

●?????Develop a clear BYOD policy - A well-defined set of guidelines outlines the acceptable use of personal devices, defines the responsibilities of individuals who use their gadgets, and lays out the protocols for data security and privacy clearly and effectively.

●?????Provide security software - As an extra layer of security, organizations should provide employees and independents with antivirus software to ensure devices that have access to company data are secure from cybersecurity threats.

●?????Instruct users to regularly update software - Educate users on the importance of keeping operating systems (OS) and applications up to date, in addition to supplying required software for security.

●?????Enforce access controls - Restricting what data and resources users have access to based on job function minimizes the risk of data breaches since this prevents individuals from accessing information they’re not supposed to see.

●?????Implement a Mobile Device Management (MDM) solution - This will enable organizations to remotely secure and monitor owned devices in the event of loss or data breaches personally.

As hybrid and remote work continue to become fixtures in today’s job market, it’s imperative that you take steps that will allow your company to become the client of choice for independent professionals. Wondering if you have the proper steps in place? MBO CEO Miles Everson also shared a solid game plan in his latest FastCompany article.

Trending Topics

●?????According to a Future Forum survey with 10,243 participants from six countries, including the U.S., 40% said they are burned out. Burnout from workplace stress has been at an all-time high ever since the think tank began measuring it in May 2021. Women and workers under 30 are at greater risk of burnout as well.

●?????In a memo sent to employees, Mark Zuckerberg cited an internal data analysis that suggests engineers who joined Meta in an in-person capacity performed better than those who entered the tech giant and worked remotely. Additionally, younger engineers do better when they work with their peers in person for at least 3 days a week.

●?????According to Paayal Zaveri of Business Insider, American tech firms are offshoring jobs not because of remote work but due to the U.S.’ difficult immigration processes .

●?????In a Salesforce global survey involving 11,000 participants, it was found out that only 1 in 10 employees use AI for their work . With the rise of AI technologies, as seen in the example of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, there has been an increase in the need to recruit and upskill employees in generative AI.

●?????In its last annual report before its collapse, Silicon Valley Bank pointed out that remote work has had negative effects on its operations . Like many firms, the bank decided to embrace remote working setups, even as far as onboarding new employees “entirely remotely.”

Today’s issue was guest authored by Vice President Holly Kehrer, CCWP , who leads MBO’s professional services vertical.

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