Mobile working – opportunities & risks of mobile working models

Flexible working promises many benefits. From improved productivity to a better work-life balance, to less frequent health complaints. According to Digicomp, 25% of working time in Swiss SMEs is already managed on a mobile basis. A study by office services provider Regus shows that 82% of employees believe they would prefer a job that offers flexible working. 62% of respondents would reject a job where flexible working is not supported. If you want to be attractive to highly skilled entry-level workers in the future, you should be proactive.

Before plunging headlong into a mobilization project, however, there are a few things to keep in mind. After all, not every employer and not every employee is equally suited to this way of working.

Flexible working models transfer a large part of the responsibility to the employee, because he has control over his own time and thus over the company’s resources. With good self-management, he can meet the demands. Strongly intrinsically motivated individuals who have a high talent for self-discipline are particularly well suited to mobile working. Every employee should therefore ask himself whether this way of working suits him and communicate his needs openly.

Home office and working outside the company should never be used as a form of reward. This conveys a false expectation within the company. It makes more sense to define clear frameworks and goals, and leave it up to employees to decide where they can best do what work. Mobile working is best suited for project teams. A culture of trust should be present in the company, with the work performed being valued more highly than pure attendance time.

In order to work virtually, advanced communication tools and collaboration tools are needed. In doing so, it is imperative for enterprises to ensure that these tools protect proprietary information at a high level without limiting productivity. With an enterprise mobility management solution combined with an enterprise file sync and share environment, they are able to manage all devices, business applications and data in any state. Endpoints can thus be securely integrated into the corporate network and internal resources made available on the go without exposing them to the outside world.

• Is your security infrastructure ready for mobile working?
• How are mobile devices managed in your organization today?
• Does your organization have an IT strategy that provides for mobile working?