Global Study Finds 58% of Generation M Suffering from Mobile Guilt

-- New, hyper-connected workforce requires a rethink of corporate policies

MOUNTAIN VIEW, California, April 21, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- A global study by MobileIron highlights an emerging demographic, Generation Mobile or "Gen M," that relies heavily on mobile technologies for both work and personal activities. Gen M is defined by mobile workers who are either men age 18-34 or who have children under age 18 at home.

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Conducted by Harris Poll on behalf of MobileIron between December 2014 and January 2015, the MobileIron Gen M Survey studied 3,500 full- and part-time professionals who use a mobile device for work across France, Germany, Japan, Spain, U.K., and U.S. and found that Gen M does 26% of work on smartphones or tablets. This generation is very comfortable "shadow tasking," or using mobile to blend personal and work activities throughout the day. In fact:

• 82% of Gen M does at least one personal task on mobile per day during work hours compared to 72% of non-Gen M workers.
• 64% of Gen M does at least one work task on mobile per day during personal hours compared to 54% of non-Gen M workers.

However, Gen M's hyper-connectedness comes at a cost: mobile guilt:

• 61% of Gen M suffers from mobile guilt when receiving work communications during personal hours versus 47% of non-Gen M workers.
• 58% suffer from mobile guilt when receiving personal communications during work hours versus 46% of non Gen M workers.
• 60% would leave their job if their employer did not allow any remote work or restricted their ability to do personal tasks at work, while only 50% of non-Gen M workers would leave their job for those reasons.
• 29% of Gen M would leave their job if their employer could access personal emails, texts, photos, or videos on their smartphones or tablets, compared with 31% of non-Gen M workers.

When it comes to Gen M professionals in the U.K., 52% check/send email and 50% send texts related to work outside office hours at least once a day, compared to 40% and 42% of non-Gen M workers in the U.K., respectively. The interruption of work related communication during personal hours causes 60% of UK Gen M professionals to feel guilty whether they respond to the communication or not, compared to 50% of non-Gen M workers who feel guilty for the same reason.

"Mobile is fundamentally changing how we work and live," said Bob Tinker, CEO, MobileIron. "The Gen M Study, to us, reflects the emerging, connected culture of modern business. Forward-thinking companies embrace this change and understand that mobile is as much an HR program as a technology initiative. To recruit and retain the best and brightest employees, companies must establish policies that are aligned with the way employees want to work and live."

For more details on the MobileIron Gen M Study, including recommendations for addressing mobile guilt, please visit: https://www.mobileiron.com/en/gen-m-uk.

Shadow tasking is a global phenomenon
Gen M employees shadow task extensively across all six countries in the survey:

• French professionals are the most likely to do mobile work while driving.
• German professionals are the most likely to feel guilty when receiving personal communications at work.
• Japanese professionals are the least likely to do mobile work while watching TV.
• Spanish professionals are the most likely to do mobile work while using public transportation.
• U.K. professionals are the most likely to use mobile to monitor their home during the workday.
• U.S. professionals are the most likely to do mobile work while using the bathroom.

Wearables are coming to the workplace
"Smartwatches, such as the Apple Watch, are expected to be very popular," said Tinker. "These wearables will increase our connectedness and, likely, our guilt about mixing work into our personal lives and personal tasks into our work days."

Forty two percent of Gen M either own or plan to purchase a wearable device, such as the Apple Watch. Of those, 95% plan to use those devices for work tasks, including:

• Taking phone calls 58%
• Reading email 56%
• Writing email 45%
• Getting alerts, such as meeting reminders 44%
• Accessing calendar 40%
• Reading documents 37%
• Surfing company intranet 30%

Organizations need new policies to support Gen M
Companies are in a war for talent, battling to attract the best and brightest employees. Companies with progressive programs that support the Gen M work style without creating feelings of guilt will be more successful at recruiting and retaining employees.

Five considerations support the development of corporate policies with high standards of both work productivity and employee fairness:

• Accept shifting work styles. Understand in detail the actions employees are taking to be productive so that you can improve their experiences.
• Focus on goals. Managers and employees should agree on what needs to get done so the employee can hit mutually agreed targets, regardless of when or where the work happens.
• Set top-down boundaries. If the CEO is sending emails at 2 A.M., employees will be bound to work at all hours and their personal lives will suffer.
• Offer reimbursement stipends. In Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) environments, employees should feel encouraged to use the tools they need to get the job done. Employers can show their support by offering reimbursements for mobile data plans and other tools, which enable employees to integrate work and personal activities throughout the day.
• Secure data selectively. Protect business data without compromising the privacy of personal data no matter who owns the smartphone or tablet.

For a complete set of recommendations and best practices, download the white paper here: https://www.mobileiron.com/en/gen-m-uk.

MobileIron Gen M Study methodology
From December 17, 2014 to January 22, 2015, Harris Poll conducted an online survey on behalf of MobileIron of 3,521 full- or part-time workers who use a mobile device for work purposes in France (502), Germany (501), Japan (503), Spain (500), UK (503), and US (1012). Gen M (1,702) is defined as those who are male aged 18-34 or those with children in the household under 18. The sample was weighted to the populations in each country by age, race/ethnicity, education, region, and household income data.

About MobileIron
MobileIron provides the foundation for companies around the world to transform into Mobile First organisations. For more information, please visit www.mobileiron.com.

Related Links

http://www.mobileiron.com