In London, big companies are warming up and stretching off for the 2012 Olympic Games. The city is expected to receive millions of spectators, along with the usual high number of tourists – and commuters are being encouraged to take up flexible working to avoid a potentially congested transport network.
In anticipation, mobile phone provider O2 trialled a day of flexible working for employees at its European HQ – and saw benefits beyond the Games themselves.
O2 UK’s business director Ben Dowd said: “In terms of productivity, one of the things that comes out is that people who are flexible workers are 15-20 per cent more productive because they’re happy with the responsibility they’ve been given to get on with the work themselves.”
You don’t have to be in an Olympic host city to enjoy the benefits of flexible working. Seven months ago, PGi’s Cora Rodenbusch left her office in Austin, Texas, and is currently travelling Europe and Asia with her husband, working and visiting PGi’s global offices along the way. (Cora shared her tips for ‘Digital Nomads’ on the WorkSnug blog).
But what about managers? Why should you encourage your workforce to go mobile?
5 reasons to encourage mobile working
- Mobile employees are happier employees. Based on a survey of 2,600 workers and IT professionals in 13 countries, 66% said that they would take a job with less pay and more flexibility in device usage, access to social media and mobility than a higher-paying job without such flexibility.
- Mobile employees are more responsive. Thanks to a boom in mobile devices, mobile workers carry with them smartphones and tablets that enable them to respond more quickly on the move, in the office or at home. According to research by iPass, 42% of mobile employees occasionally work from their smartphone or tablet in the evenings and on weekends.
- Mobile employees make things better. We talked to Cora and flexible working employee José Reyes, and they described how meeting the challenges of mobile working meant introducing new technologies and systems that were a benefit to their organisations.
- Mobile employees are more focussed. iPass’ Mobile Workforce Report revealed that mobile workers don’t waste much time during the day on tech distractions – only about 28 minutes on average. According to the same report, most mobile workers described themselves as highly proficient when it comes to technology (69%), and only contacted IT as a last resort (81%).
- Mobile workers are more productive. According to a Cisco study, 3 out of 5 workers say they don’t need to be in the office to be productive. 45% of mobile workers surveyed admitted to working between 2 and 3 extra hours per day. In fact, if 50 million people in the US worked from home just half of the time, it would recoup almost two weeks of free time per year – time that is otherwise spent commuting.
Employees: What you need to know
If you’re an employee wanting to break out of the office, send your manager this post! But first take Cora’s ‘What’s my work style’ quiz to make sure you’re a right fit for mobile working. If you are, make sure you get your stakeholders on board and follow these tips to make your teleworking experience a success.
What do you think?
Manager or employees: what are your concerns about mobile working? Do you think work could be carried out well – or even better – outside of the office?
San Sharma (@WorkSnugSan) is community manager at WorkSnug, a mobile app and website that helps you find laptop-friendly workspaces near you. For more from San on Blog.PGi.com, read Five Things a Coffee Shop Can Do to Attract Loyal Mobile Workers.
Photo credit: Tambako the Jaguar
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