Are Your Devices Weighing You Down?

It’s vacation time, and all over the world, busy business people are packing their bags for a relaxing break with the family. A few days by the sea, exploring the countryside, climbing mountains – all you need is the right clothes, a good book or two, and each other, right?

Unfortunately, for many, a few days away are becoming increasingly technology top-heavy. The number of mobile devices per individual is increasing year over year (for many, a quick check around the house will reveal several smart phones, at least one game console, various e-readers, a multitude of music players and multiple notebooks or tablets). And of course, many prefer to bring those devices along when traveling.

So technology is already weighing you down even as you shut your suitcase. And that’s without figuring in the must-have accompanying paraphernalia that the off-duty executive simply cannot be without. Chargers? Check. Adapators? Check. Dongles? Yes. Secure IDs? Of course.

The fact is, the technology that makes so many things easier, and enables many to work whenever and wherever they want, is also increasingly – and literally – becoming a burden. Backpacks are full of devices, and travels are increasingly becoming marathon charge-a-thons, with a military timetable for swapping devices from socket to socket in chronically under-plugged hotel rooms.

For the enterprise, the technology top-heavy vacation raises genuine business concerns, not least related to the security of company property. Are you sure your employee is not taking company property to ‘at risk’ locations? Are they inadvertently breaking export regulations? What happens when the relaxing executive leaves a device by the pool? Can you safeguard against petty crime? It’s hard enough implementing a mobility policy which will work for the daily commute.

An effective, and well thought out enterprise security policy is an obvious answer to the challenges of mobile device proliferation. But perhaps forward-thinking enterprises also need to be looking again at how – and why – their employees are accessing company information throughout the year. While you can’t legislate for the number of devices each individual likes to carry around on a personal basis, you can make it easy and simple for employees who really need to stay in touch to do so. Offer secure cloud-based services which can deliver applications to the individual’s device of choice. Make sure employees have devices that are fit for purpose, and enable them to multitask on the move.

But perhaps most importantly, let your employees know that you value their down time, and recognize the value that rest and recuperation has on their overall performance. Perhaps the biggest weight attached to device proliferation is that of expectation – real or perceived. The expectation that the only way to be truly recognized within the workplace is to be always-on, always-available, always-present – even when those who need to know are fully aware you’re on the beach with the kids.

So perhaps it’s time for those three great, and often under-appreciated pillars of the corporate world to get together and truly demonstrate their value. When health and safety, human resources and IT combine their skills to establish a mobility framework that is respectful of business needs AND employee well-being, it bring things one step closer to the work-life balance that technology seemed to promise all those years ago. And you might just be able to travel with a lighter luggage burden whenever you go away…