Over half of Europeans use personal devices for basic HR admin

Brussels, 28th March 2019 - Over half (57%) of European employees are completing basic HR admin tasks on their own device rather than a work device. These are the results of a survey from leading provider of global payroll and HR services, SD Worx, which looks into the extent of the digitisation of the workplace. This comes off the back of research from earlier in the year which found that the average number of basic HR admin tasks that can be done online is 42%.

The survey found that employees’ working and personal lives are increasingly merging. In fact, 71% of employees submit sick notes through their own devices, making it the most popular task to be completed using personal technology. Requesting sick leave (68%) and reserving a parking space at work (61%) followed as the tasks most regularly completed in this manner. In comparison, the least frequent task to be carried out on a personal device is submitting expenses (48%). 

Using a personal device for admin tasks at work is far more common amongst employees under 30. Regular tasks such as reserving a parking space at work (78%) and submitting a sick note (77%) are completed by those in this age group on their own tablets, laptops or smartphones. Even the least popular task for those under 30, reserving a mobile work station, is completed by 57% on their own device. On the other hand, over 50s are considerably less likely to use anything other than a work device for such tasks. For instance, 48% usually request a change in working time on a work device, compared with only 27% for 30 years and under. 

Out of the countries surveyed, there are significant differences between what each country prefers to do on a personal device compared to a work device.

Overall, Austria scored the highest in terms of completing HR admin tasks on a personal device with 67%, second was The Netherlands with 65%. Germany, France and the UK all scored the same at 56%.  Belgium scored the lowest out of the countries surveyed with only 45% of employees choosing to complete these HR admin tasks on a personal device. 

"Work and life are increasingly intermingled. In our company, there is no nine-to-five mentality. We use our personal devices to communicate with our colleagues, via apps that we also use privately. In addition, there is a demand for more flexibility, both from our employees and the company itself. The Digital Assistant of SD Worx supports this interaction. A day working from home or requesting a few hours of vacation and approving, registering illness: it happens in no time. And it reduces administration for our HR department ", says Lore Berden, HR Manager at GfK Belgium.

Steven Van Hoorebeke, CEO of SD Worx Group comments: “As technology becomes even more ingrained in our personal lives, it’s not surprising that the lines may blur between personal and work devices. Demand will vary from country to country and across age groups, but what organisations must ensure is that they give their people the opportunities to work how, when and where suits them best, if the kind of work allows that, of course. Businesses have to make efforts to make the personal and working lives of their employees easier. If they do not, engagement levels will suffer and people will leave for a company where their expectations are met.” 

Laura Lovejoy/Katie Evans 
SDWorxteam@madebychameleon.com  
020 7680 5500

The Europe LTD survey is a questionnaire on one hundred work-related aspects relevant to employee satisfaction, motivation, involvement and engagement. Since 2009, the survey has been carried out annually among 2,500 Belgian employees under the name NV Belgium. Because of its international growth, SD Worx expanded this survey in 2017 to include Germany, France, the Netherlands, Austria and the United Kingdom. It concerns 500 employees each time.

The sample is representative of the specific local labour markets, with the same composition as to statute ((blue-collar) workers, office workers and civil servants), gender, region, work regime, language, educational degree and organisation size as that of the active labour population in the countries concerned.

As the leading European player in payroll and HR, SD Worx provides worldwide services in the areas of payroll, HR, legal support, training, automation, consultancy and outsourcing. It focuses on customer centricity, fully embraces digitisation and is committed to international growth. More than 65,000 small and large organisations worldwide have currently placed their trust in SD Worx and its experience of more than 70 years. The 4,150 employees at SD Worx operate in ten countries: Belgium (HQ), Germany, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mauritius, the Netherlands, Austria, the United Kingdom and Switzerland. SD Worx calculates the salaries of some 4.4 million employees and achieved a turnover of €443 million in 2017. SD Worx is co-founder of the Payroll Services Alliance, a global strategic network of leading payroll companies that together provide 32 million payroll calculations.