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Mobile solutions have made their way from the consumer world to the business one. They can boost employee engagement, enhance productivity, and support project management. The importance of mobile solutions to the employee experience is growing, with 61% of enterprises having a mobile-first workplace strategy. This means many businesses are already reaping the benefits of mobile technology.
In this blog, Hemant Soni, Solution Director at Planon, shares his perspective on the changing role of mobile in the business world, the concerns around security and privacy, and how organisations can put mobile and people at the centre of their workplace strategy.
The rise of a mobile-first approach in enterprise tech
The smartphone has become an essential part of our personal lives, so it stands to reason that this would also happen in the workplace. Do you remember the release of the first iPhone in 2007? Within a year the App Store was launched, and by 2010 mobile app downloads numbered just under 6 billion. If I wanted to carry out some online shopping, book a hotel, or simply surf the web, then I would invariably use my smartphone.
It wasn’t long before businesses discovered that they could utilise mobile solutions as part of a successful workplace strategy. Mobile penetration in the workplace has soared, with 51% of employees now using company-mandated apps to carry out tasks on their smartphones. Almost half of all workers spend at least an hour each day using their phones for work.
The benefits unlocked by mobile solutions are undeniable. Managers and executives have witnessed a 34% increase in productivity when employees use their mobiles for work purposes. Mobile apps also help with the creation of a more engaging workplace, allowing employees to interact with company resources and absorb the corporate culture in real time, wherever they are.
What about security and privacy?
We can no longer imagine life without a mobile. But what about security and privacy when using my mobile phone for my work? And how can I keep my work and personal life separate when I always carry a work device in my pocket? Certainly, I’m not the only person that has these thoughts. These security and privacy worries held back the proliferation of mobile apps in the enterprise, but they’re fading.
Innovations like single sign-on solutions streamline the authentication process for employees. And enterprise mobile apps are finding ways to safeguard user privacy, providing personal and professional profiles to keep work and business lives separate and protect individual wellbeing. There are still risks from rogue devices and unmanaged apps and to mitigate them, 85% of companies have budgets dedicated specifically to mobile security.
What’s the role of mobile apps in workplace management?
Now that it’s possible to integrate mobile apps throughout the enterprise environment, there is a role for mobile in everything. Workplace smartphone apps are employed for project management, communication, staff training, marketing, sales, and more. There is also a rising expectation for facility managers and workplace strategists to prioritise the role of mobile use in the built environment. Especially as the world of work has changed dramatically in recent times.
Flexible working models make workplace operations more dynamic. Mobile apps support activity-based spaces and workplace experience monitoring. Combining essential building data, collected by smart sensor technology, with data collected by workplace apps, brings further benefits. For example, this enables facility managers to perform faster asset and equipment inspections, and service providers can optimise cleaning.
63% of high revenue growth companies use a 'productivity everywhere' hybrid work model - evidence of the complete mobilisation of workplace requirements. In this flexible working era employees need to access workplace information on the move. They need to know when their colleagues are at the office and where, what rooms are available to book and if there is an available parking place, or a free spot in the organisation’s fitness class. Employees are used to smart consumer technology and expect the same ease at work. Today’s mobile apps provide greater levels of convenience than ever before.
At Planon, we recognise the growing importance of putting mobile and people at the centre of any workplace strategy. That’s why I am proud of the Planon Workplace app - a mobile-first method to connect your people to their workplace as part of an engaging, personalised experience. If you want to find out more about the Planon Workplace App you can read this or register for a free 14-day trial today.