The way of working has transformed over the last two decades. While the last decade saw glimpses of this change, the way businesses function today is completely different. And mobile devices – may it be smartphones, laptops, tablets – are at the center of this change. Mobile technology, along with Cloud Computing, offers an unforeseen anytime-anywhere-any device productivity opportunity.
As a result, mobile workforce has become a standard practice for most organizations with 60% of employees believing that working with mobile technology improves their productivity. A recent study by Economist Intelligence Unit also highlighted that 45% of employees agree that mobile technology helps to improve creativity. Interestingly, employees considering their employers to be mobile technology ‘pioneers’ score themselves 23% higher for satisfaction and 21% for loyalty.
Stakeholders seeking to improve employee productivity are already considering mobility as a major factor and strategizing to implement mobile technologies to simplify day-to-day work for their employees. If you are still sitting on the fence about introducing the mobile-first way at your organization, take a look at the five major benefits that it can bring in:
1. Improved collaboration and communication:
Cloud-based apps enable better communication and collaboration across teams that may be stationed any corner of the world at a given time, thereby helping employees to work without geographical barriers. Besides, a central web-based management system can help to manage inventory assets, applications, device configurations, and policies without a hitch. A cross device management solution, on the other hand, can make the transition between devices (tablet, smartphone, PC) much simpler and smoother.
2. Mobile-first approach benefits for field employees
The employees that are stationed at client locations or ‘fields’ know the value of devices and technologies that allow them to access and share information on a real-time basis. This easy access helps them to make on-the-spot decisions and enables them to resolve customer issues more efficiently.
3. Faster resolution times:
Advancements in smart technology, increased bandwidth and data-driven decisions have laid the foundations for today’s connected employees. A mobile workforce helps to expedite resolution times, thereby enhancing clients’ satisfaction. The best example off this benefit can be noticed in how the 2015 storm situation of Europe was handled with the help of mobile-enabled workforce. The storm had caused widespread infrastructure damage and disrupted rail services. Field engineers required quick reports of incidents and damages to initiate the repair work on a priority basis. The field maintenance workers used a simple forms-based mobile app to upload pictures and damage reports in real-time that helped the management to prioritize repairs location-wise and allocate resources accordingly. In a corporate setting, this ability can heavily reduce issue resolution time and help to mitigate downtimes.
4. Improved security
When it comes to mobility, a large number of stakeholders point to IT security concern as one of the major factors that’s keeping them from adopting it. It is true that without the correct procedures and policies around the use of mobile devices for work, the risks of privacy breach and data thefts are quite high. However, by creating a robust security solution including multi-factor authentication, consolidated identity repositories, on-premise and cloud identity and access management (IAM), organizations can ensure that their data is much safer than it used to be previously.
5. Operational cost-efficiency
With employees working on mobile platforms, businesses can significantly reduce operational and infrastructure management expenses. A mobile workforce helps to reduce the need for real estate overheads too.
There is no denying that a flexible work culture makes for happier employees. And happier employees are up to 20% more productive than unhappy employees. Going the mobile-first way can not only help employees work from a device, at a time and from a place that is convenient for them but also enable them to strike a better work-life balance. This makes the employees realize that their organization cares about them and this in turn results in higher levels of productivity, lesser leaves and even boosted loyalty among employees. As workstyles and lifestyles change, corporate culture and practices must also follow.
