Why Letting Employees Keep Their Laptops Can Backfire: Key Reasons to Reclaim Company Equipment
When organizations provide computer equipment to employees, they assume responsibility for the impact of those assets. Allowing employees to retain this equipment after their employment ends can lead to significant risks and missed opportunities. Here’s why it’s not only crucial but beneficial for companies to maintain control over their company hardware.
Ensuring Proper Disposition of Assets
Deciding not to reclaim equipment, such as monitors and laptops given to remote workers, means losing control over their ultimate disposal. This lack of oversight can lead to serious consequences that the company is still accountable for. Here are a few scenarios to consider:
Early or Unnecessary Disposal: How many printers or monitors are discarded by individuals because they don’t want them anymore rather than when they are truly at the end of life? By maintaining control over assets, the company ensures a full first life, maximizing the chances of reuse.
Untracked Disposal: If employees are merely advised to donate their monitors to local charities like Goodwill, there is no guarantee that this will happen. The company loses the ability to verify the monitors’ final destination.
Partial Tracking: Providing a QR code for parcel carriers to send the equipment to recyclers offers some tracking ability. The company can at least monitor how many items are returned and processed correctly.
Full Recovery: The most effective method is to provide an easy process for returning equipment during the employee offboarding process. Providing the actual means to return equipment to you maximizes the chances of recovering the equipment and minimizes the risk of improper disposal, such as ending up in landfills.
Addressing Corporate Responsibility
Some companies try to avoid this discussion by giving remote workers funds to purchase their own equipment. This could be seen as shifting the disposal responsibility to the employees, potentially easing the company’s ties. However, it raises questions about the organization’s commitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR).
Even from a practical standpoint, companies must be deliberate and clear on how much they are willing to invest in being responsible corporate citizens. This includes taking proactive steps to manage their IT lifecycle and ensuring they adhere to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards. CSR teams, especially those reporting impact metrics to ESG frameworks or the SEC, should be involved in these decisions to ensure all steps are taken to minimize environmental impact, and that the right information is shared between departments.
Managing Data-Bearing Devices
The stakes are even higher for data-bearing devices due to the security risks and compliance requirements involved. Devices that have stored company data pose a significant risk of data breaches if not properly handled. For healthcare companies, HIPAA compliance is a concern, while public companies must consider SARBOX compliance. Devices that were connected to a company VPN might still be vulnerable to hacks. Additionally, software licenses on these devices could be reassigned, presenting another layer of potential loss.
Considering Social Impact
Beyond environmental and security concerns, companies should also think about the social impact of their equipment disposal strategies. Recovering and repurposing data-bearing assets can have significant social benefits:
Community Donations: Donating equipment to underserved communities can address digital equity issues and support education, veterans, or elderly populations. This aligns with broader ESG priorities around community impact.
Employee Benefits: Offering low-cost equipment to current employees can be a valuable benefit, enhancing employee satisfaction and retention.
Financial Implications
Retaining control over company equipment also has financial implications that can impact the bottom line. Allowing employees to keep their laptops and other devices might seem cost-effective in the short term, but it can lead to hidden expenses down the line. For instance:
Depreciation and Write-Offs: Companies can better manage depreciation and optimize write-offs by reclaiming and reselling or refurbishing old equipment.
Replacement Costs: By recovering equipment, companies can reduce the need to purchase new devices for incoming employees, thereby lowering overall IT expenses.
Warranty and Maintenance: Reclaimed equipment still under warranty can be serviced or repaired at a lower cost, extending its useful life and maximizing return on investment.
Taking responsibility for the equipment provided to employees is not just a policy—it’s a commitment to sustainability and social responsibility. Organizations must implement robust strategies for recovering and disposing of these assets to minimize environmental impact, ensure data security, and maximize social benefits. By doing so, companies can demonstrate their dedication to CSR and ESG principles, ultimately fostering a more sustainable, equitable, and investable future.