Harnessing the Power of a Mobile Workforce

As smart devices go from everyday personal gadgets to workplace must-haves, business owners can either fight the shift—and risk losing an already restless workforce—orembrace it. And while using devices in the office brings many challenges, research shows allowing the shift to happen with clear guidelines and rules can be a win for your business.

As we all know, happiness at work can make a significant difference in the productivity and loyalty of employees. At the end of the day, it’s really about this perceived flexibility and willingness to accommodate that can turn a good working environment into a great one.

See what these Leadership IQ survey results reveal

Are mobile workers happier?

• 38% of people working remotely love their job.
• 24% of people working from the office love their job.
• 45% of people who telecommute love their job.

Employing a mobile workforce can come at a price—especially when the proper checks and balances aren't in place. If you want to avoid the pitfalls and reap the benefits, here's what you should do.

Prioritize security
If your business is not currently in a position to ensure the security of your employees’ mobile devices or their work-from home environments, then you are not ready for a mobile workforce. Proper security protocols must be in place to ensure that your business is protected and everyone is in compliance. You should also have an IT team that can help you create these security policies, monitor their application and train your employees.

Know your mobile device policy
Some companies prefer a BYOD policy as it means less money out of pocket. However, BYOD policies are not a free-for-all. If your employees are going to use their own devices, then you should provide device and security management services and application support. You must also make sure every employee is trained on your company’spolicies about accessing data remotely.

Stay connected
Empowering your team to work remotely can be great for productivity, but working from home or outside the office should not mean that your team can be incommunicado during those times. Invest in a real-time communication app like GoToMeeting, Skype, or Slack so you can stay in regular communication with your employees.

Train for every scenario, not just security failures
Typically, when we think about training people to work remotely, we think of security—which is a necessity. However, so is training for the less obvious risks, like:

• Driving safety tips
• Maintaining accountability and working collaboratively
• Proper schedule management
• Communication guidelines (e.g. hours of availability, mobile email signatures, etc.)