Improving ROI by Investing in the Mobile Workforce

HP has a variety of “how-to” resources on their corporate website. One of the more interesting ones for the GovLoop community is the guide, “Improving ROI by Investing in the Mobile Workforce.”

The guide has some interesting stats on mobile. The guide states, “Mobile workforces exist in every industry today. In fact, more than 50 million U.S. workers are considered mobile because they spend more than 20 percent of their time away from their primary workspace.” The guide states there is three spots an organization can expect to find ROI; increased revenue, decreased costs and improved services.

The guide is broken up into four main sections:

• Understand it: Take a closer look at the ROI (return on investment) potential of a mobile workforce and explore how mobile offices can benefit your business.

• Plan it: Assess the data requirements a mobile solution requires at your company; understand how you can determine company readiness for such a solution; discover how to evaluate your organization’s mobile integration points; and learn how to create a mobile workforce strategy.

• Do it: Learn how to establish a mobile application architecture and how to find the right equipment to support your solution.

• Use it: Discover how mobile business communications can be seamless and swift through the use of mobile phones, mobile workstations, VPNs (virtual private networks) and more. Explore some of the newest mobile security techniques to protect your equipment as well as sensitive company data.

• Buy it: Shop for the mobile workforce products best suited to your needs, such as the HP iPAQ or HP Business Notebook PCs.

The guide has some interesting stats on mobile. The guide states, “Mobile workforces exist in every industry today. In fact, more than 50 million U.S. workers are considered mobile because they spend more than 20 percent of their time away from their primary workspace.” The guide states there is three spots an organization can expect to find ROI; increased revenue, decreased costs and improved services.

HP’s guide also identifies some of the challenges related to a mobile workforce, such as trust. Managers need to trust employees that they will perform the work they are required to do. The report states:

“There is no such thing as a typical mobile worker; mobile workforce needs vary from industry to industry and job to job. However, for the most part, a mobile worker isn’t confined to four walls and a desk—he or she is on the go, serving customers and driving sales whenever and wherever opportunities surface. Whatever the role a mobile workforce plays in your company, there is one thing every mobile office requires: access to critical business information 24/7. Simple e-mail solutions are not enough; today’s mobile workers need the ability to seamlessly connect to company databases and applications whether they are on the road or visiting the office for the day.”

Growing trust in a mobile environment is no easy task, but with the proper management, this can easily be done. Some ways to build trust with a mobile worker can be found below. Be sure to add some of your comments below, I would love to hear your opinions:

• Set Up Periodic Check-Ins
• Clear Performance Goals
• Work on Communication Strategies
• Use Video when Possible
• Meet in Person Whenever Possible

What are some of the ways you are building trust with in the mobile workforce?

HP’s mission is to invent technologies and services that drive business value, create social benefit and improve the lives of customers — with a focus on affecting the greatest number of people possible. Check out their HP for Gov group on GovLoop as well as the Technology Sub-Community of which they are a council member.