Workforce mobilization has increasingly become a priority for organizations over the past twenty years. Originally, it primarily referred to providing your employees with mobile phones followed by access to corporate email and calendars. Any Blackberry addicts out there? Today, the definition of mobilization has expanded to include real-time access to corporate applications.
The reasons to provide your employees with mobile access to corporate data are for the most part self-explanatory. But, beyond the obvious, “get more work done in less time” let’s explore the various facets of increased productivity and why your company may want to develop a mobile strategy for your workforce.
Reasons to mobilize your workforce
Employees who frequently operate disconnected from a desktop can experience delays in obtaining much needed information. Newly created support incidents, important documents that need authorization, the status of assets/inventory, entering orders, etc… most often are originated or received at a desktop computer. The user frequently won’t have access to this information until they return to their desk. This creates delays that can impact the organization multi-fold. By providing real-time mobile access to valuable information, the employee can be more productive and responsive to time sensitive activities.
Another important benefit is improved accuracy of data entry. Employees who work remotely often capture needed data on paper or simply try to remember until they return to their desk. This frequently results in missing, erroneous or forgotten information. Workflow is negatively impacted because of the delay from the time information is captured to when it is entered. Mobile access to corporate applications and data means that information is captured accurately, in a timely fashion, and can be acted upon almost instantaneously. Furthermore, this eliminates redundant tasks such as capturing the data on paper and then having to reenter it at a later time. The timesavings are certainly quantifiable and compound over time.
A greener, more environmental friendly workforce? Yes! Mobilization saves the company money in terms of reduced travel and energy costs. Employees do less back and forth between the desktop and where the data is captured or needed. This can reduce expenses such as fuel, vehicle maintenance, electricity and more.
Mobilizing your workforce makes everyone a beneficiary. The organization benefits from reduced costs, increased productivity, and happier employees. The customer benefits through increased responsiveness and improved customer service delivered by their vendor. At the end of the day, that goes to your bottom-line.
Tags: field service automation, mobile applications development, mobile applications development blog, mobile technology blog, mobile workforce, mobilizing applications, Navara