The term “mobile-enabled workforce” or “smartphone-enabled workforce” is not something new and enterprises have already been familiar with the importance and value carried by such terms. But in the post-COVID-19 crisis period, these same terminologies appeared with renewed importance and significance. As most of the world population were practically telling under the Covid-19 pandemic, suddenly remote work processes through smartphone apps became vital and a lifeline for many businesses.
The importance of a mobile-enabled workforce is not going to fade away after this crisis is over. Actually, the smart workforce across industries are steadily increasing for several years and in the US and several countries, they constitute a significant portion of the organized sector. The smartphone-enabled workforce can really give a competitive edge to the businesses in terms of customer reach, efficiency, productivity, and grasp on customer analytics and business dynamics.
The Impact of The Mobile-Enabled Workforce on The Bottom Line
Before we continue to explain other competitive advantages of the smartphone-enabled workforce, we need to see the actual impact of this on the company’s bottom line. A company through real-time tracking of employees through mobile apps can boost productivity and reduce the workforce size. This directly impacts the overhead cost of a company in a positive manner.
The mobile-enabled workforce using enterprise tools and solutions right on their handheld devices can actually come with quick solutions to customer problems and this can reduce the load on the company’s dedicated support team and customer service professionals. Thanks to mobile CRM apps, employees now can have continuous exposure to market leads and new business opportunities.
Smartphone apps besides boosting workforce productivity and improving collaboration in workplaces can reduce the drainage of resources. With a fully smart workforce connected through mobile apps, the enterprises need to maintain less number of back-office computers and dedicated terminals for many processes. All these results in sustainable cost savings that impact the business bottom line in a positive manner.
Responding To Mobile Transformation Within The Organization
Already employers all over the world are focusing on the changes brought by smartphones and mobile apps and utilizing them for their business growth. Having a dedicated mobile app for the business brand is just one facet of this response to the change. The other facet is of course creating a mobile-enabled workforce who can utilize their handheld devices to enhance productivity and efficiency.
For years, enterprises found it challenging to meet the security vulnerabilities and risks created by the mobile devices used in workplaces. This is why approaches and protocols like Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) appeared to facilitate a balance between productivity and data security norms. But with the increasing use of most sophisticated biometric authentication and remote device monitoring technologies, integrating employee-owned devices into workplaces has become easier.
Though all the workplaces in the coming years are not going to function with only a remote workforce, employers can now have better flexibility by opting for remote workforce alongside the in-office staff. This flexible approach in the long term will actually reduce the constraints of locations for different skill areas and work processes.
Today’s Short Term Approach Can Be Valid For Long Term
Now coming to the present pandemic led crisis that every business needs to face in most parts of the world, the short term approach of turning the workforce into a mobile or remote workforce can actually pay off in the long term. Today’s short term solution behind adopting this model can actually trigger a long term strategy for boosting productivity, removing workplace constraints, and improving work culture.
We need to remember that the overwhelming advantages of creating a mobile-enabled workforce to combat the emerging situations created by the COVID-19 crisis are not necessarily the short term ones. These advantages can be reaped by businesses in the long run for competitive gain. In this regard, we must remember that many employees working in the home environment can actually boost their competence since they may face fewer distractions at home. Apart from this, the commute time and hazards can completely be avoided through a work from home process based on mobile connectivity.
Allowing Flexibility Balanced With Right Control Measures
There are many issues and problems that enterprises cannot always control and keep track of. But often these deep-lying factors make negative impacts on the productivity and output of a business. The unwanted process silos, lack of collaboration, workplace miscommunication, and employee work ethics are some of the key problem areas that cause a lot of damage to the work output across industries. This is where the integration of mobile apps can have a huge positive impact on businesses. Mobile apps can boost collaboration, reduce process silos, and on the other hand, improve employee happiness with enhanced flexibility.
In certain industries like logistics and supply chain management, the integration of mobile apps actually helps in real-time tracking of the work processes and reduces unproductive time and drainage of resources. Thanks to mobile connected employees, the better quality of service can also be ensured in many industries, particularly in sectors where a large portion of the employees are on field duty.
Smartphones and the enterprise apps offer companies enhanced control over their employees and business processes while keeping the control gestures lower. This at the same time helps integrate employees better in work processes while enhancing employee happiness.
As soon as a company embraces a mobile-enabled approach for its workforce, a whole array of benefits start appearing. From the better collaboration of employees to enhanced employee productivity to making an organization ready to stay reductive in contingent situations like the present pandemic crisis, in a multitude of ways remote mobile-enabled workforce provides a competitive edge to businesses.
Conclusion
Have you decided on your mobile-enabled workforce strategy yet? Are you still waiting for the pandemic crisis to over only to resume your work process with a large in-office workforce as usual as ever? Well, you probably have not realized the danger and opportunity posed by the present pandemic situation. You should take this contingency as an opportunity for enabling your workforce with remote smartphone output.
