I know when I am developing a page for the world wide web I need to make it render properly in all browsers.
However, when I am developing a page for internal company use. I spend a lot of time making sure it works on all browser. If we had a company policy to enforce using the same (standards compliant) browser, I could roll out applications faster and the users would have a better experience.
(and it wouldn’t be like the company’s who are locked into ie6, because I would be enforcing using a standards compliant browser, viewing pages that are using web standards that won’t break in the future)
Is this a good policy? or should the employees be able to use whatever browser they want (even if its an outdated pos).
If this is a good policy how can I convince the people in charge to get on board when all the associates ( who loathe any change ) are going to complain about it?
Should every computer and system in the company have the same browser and applications? Yes, they most certainly should. (Aside of course special cases where required.) The reason I’m on the yes camp has to do with maintenance, security and keeping systems updated.
Computers at the company do not belong to the employees, letting them install whatever they want leads to problems. It further complicates the process of updating the software with new security updates. Do we update every single browser (or other application) one of the employees might have installed? No. Most virus and other nasty software gets on a company’s computers because of lax software rules. Giving their employees freedom to do whatever they like on their computers.
Another complication when it comes time to update hardware, or reimaging (easier then reinstalling everything from scratch) computers. Do we keep a dozen different images for every employee? For me it is a maintenance and security nightmare. Users should not have the privilege to have any access beyond what they need to work. These computers do not belong to them.
For me it all comes down to: these computers are for work. So why do we need all of this software on them? It is just excess baggage (adding to potential security vulnerabilities) that we are wasting our time on trying to keep it all updated.
I disagree with logic_earth - in some cases, especially those in which individuals are in charge of the maintenance of the machines they use for work (like in smaller studios) the ability to use a browser they feel comfortable with is one of those conveniences which should outweigh the need for standardisation. Arguably there is also a beneficial situation that comes from non-standardisation which is that it avoids you being caught into vendor lock-in situations and conformance to specific browser issues. My advice would be allow people to use the browser they prefer - as long as they ensure it’s current (to the nearest major version number). 
In terms of efficiency, its usually a good thing to standardize things within a company. I would certainly enforce the use of a modern browser (i.e. not IE 6)
As for the actual change, just come up with a few solid arguments e.g. security, compatibility, etc. then present them to management/associates. Thats pretty much the best thing you can do.