Work-life balance for everyone

Danielle Jacobs: BELTUG

“Work-life balance includes diverse departments within a company,” says Danielle Jacobs from BELTUG, the union of professional telecom users. Today, people often work at home as well as at the office. They are often on the road, in Belgium or in other countries. “A coherent approach is needed.”  We survey a few company departments and suggest focus points. 

Drafting a clear policy

Company Department: the HR department

“Work-life balance is about how people feel at the office. And about their earnings. This is why, on the level of the HR department, good, strong agreements need to be made,” says Danielle Jacobs, General Manager at BELTUG.  The most important task for an HR department is the drafting of a policy. However, collaboration with other departments, such as IT or Facilities, is strongly advised. “We notice, for example, that departments sometimes do not speak to each other enough. In a lot of companies, people start from a mixed-up line of attack.”

A proper HR policy will decide the approach.  So, among other things, it is about deciding on having or not having a free choice of mobile devices, as well as the use of social media, apps or working from home. “What is crucial in such a policy is the question of who has the right to what. For this, you can divide people based on profiles, but the best idea is not to make it too complex.”

At BELTUG, they differentiate between two extremes in the approach. On the one side, a company can set strict standards and limitations.  The other extreme leaves the initiative and choice with the employee. The truth often lies somewhere in the middle. “Above all, a policy does not need to be forever,” says Harold Ryckaert, Chief Information Officer (CIO) at SD Worx.  “Evolution goes quickly. In our company, there was no talk of YouTube, chat or Facebook two years ago. But now, that’s all completely different.”

Limiting Costs

Company Department: the Financial department

For the financial department, the emphasis is on the management of costs. “Staff members, who are given a mobile device and a contract by their employer, are often completely unaware of the costs involved. Some accounting or financial departments regularly send emails to staff members with an overview of their communication costs. This is especially useful for people who spend a lot of time abroad,” says Danielle Jacobs. There are also companies that, via formulas like Invoice Split from Orange, keep the call costs for work and those for private use clearly separated.

“A lot has been done already to improve communication costs,” she says. In the meantime, there are bundles for mobile data for a variety of staff members and for a variety of devices belonging to one user. The communication between fixed and mobile calls have become steadily cheaper over the years. And for roaming, this is also going in the right direction. “Operators have strongly cut the costs for speech and data traffic on account of the European legislation,” says Danielle Jacobs. There is still a great deal of uncertainty, especially when it comes to distant destinations. “Companies are best off contacting their operators to request special formulas for abroad.”

Management and Protection of Mobile Devices

Company Department: the ICT department

Companies see the management and protection of their growing fleet of mobile devices as an absolute priority. The market for so-called mobile device management systems, which provide this care, is growing substantially. “Until very recently, especially small suppliers offered this, which made companies reluctant to jump on board. But in the meantime, RIM, an established name, has also become involved,” says Danielle Jacobs. Despite all these initiatives, as a result of the interweaving of work and private life, the IT aspect remains delicate. “A company will therefore be obliged to be able to remotely delete all data from a device. That could also mean the recent holiday photos an employee has on their device are removed,” acknowledges Danielle Jacobs.

This means that in 2012, the IT department will need to loosen up.  “For us, trust and freedom are key words,” says Harold Ryckaert from SD Worx.  For the laptops, SD Worx opts for the rather more traditional approach of devices that are purchased and managed by the company.  But employees can choose which mobile phone or Smartphone they use based on a system of vouchers from Orange. For tablets, the Apple iPad is standard. “Apple does exactly what we need in relation to our work, it seems.  Although there is one important consequence,” says Harold Ryckaert. “In exchange for this freedom, we have to encrypt the data on the devices to secure it. It’s a pragmatic global approach with a clear vision,” he believes.