Lauren Burke Remote work can be lonely. And with the COVID-driven transition to a hybrid workforce becoming the new work standard, supporting remote workers to keep them engaged, productive, and happy is increasingly challenging. In fact, last year, nearly 4 million workers quit their jobs each month, surpassing the previous highest average of 3.5 million back in 2019.
Employee churn used to emanate from lack of opportunity, insufficient compensation, or other common reasons people leave their jobs. Now, employees face myriad distractions and disconnection from their teams whether working in the office, at home or anywhere else. Providing a consistent, connected working experience has become table stakes—without the right support, your employees may start searching for opportunities elsewhere.
Still, many companies are discovering that the drivers behind employee resignations may be easily addressed with a simple shift: prioritizing mobile-first work and addressing it with technology. Providing a “total experience” for employees and making working from anywhere easier and more fulfilling is key to transforming The Great Resignation to The Great Recognition and to both increasing and maintaining employee satisfaction.
Mobile-First: Acknowledging The New Normal
When many employees started working remotely in 2020, they quickly discovered how beneficial their mobile phones could be to effectively streamline their workflows. In 2020 alone, workers downloaded business and productivity apps over 7.1 billion times, reflecting a 35% jump from 2019. This is hardly surprising, considering 80% of employees report that they can’t do their jobs effectively without their cell phones.
As asynchronous work becomes standard and employer expectations change, more employees are adopting an “always-on” approach. While they may not be sitting at a desktop computer from 9-5, employees remain available to work while traveling and on the move; they’re just as likely to answer emails and take conference calls from the school pick-up line or the doctor’s office as they are from their desks.
But, while many employers anticipated lower productivity rates from these changes, the research is surprising: since COVID-19 lockdowns, organizations that enabled a flexible work environment saw their number of high-performing employees increase by 55%. Ultimately, a mobile-first approach helps employees maintain high productivity on their terms, providing a better employee experience without compromising performance.
Why Should I Implement Mobile Technology?
The average American checks their phone 344 times a day, and 47% of people claim to be “addicted” to their cell phones — numbers that will only increase as younger, digital-first employees join the workforce. Now more than ever, it benefits employers to flow with the current and ensure that phone usage enhances the work experience, rather than distracting from it.
Mobile technology helps employees quickly access the most relevant, personalized work information from anywhere. With business data and productivity tools at their fingertips, employees can conveniently complete their work, connect more regularly with coworkers, and solve critical business problems at a moment’s notice. Intuitive, mobile-first UI allows employees to seamlessly move through workflows, eliminating the inconveniences and delays that commonly accompany asynchronous work.
With a mobile-first work style, employees are free to define work-life balance for themselves. More flexibility and autonomy allow employees to:
- maintain their privacy
- work efficiently on their own time
- spend more time with their families
With more freedom to determine how and where they work, these employees are much more likely to feel engaged rather than distracted by remote work. Now, employers that recognize this shift early may even reap the rewards of higher performance and profits.
Yet, despite the clear benefits of adopting a mobile-first approach, many organizations resist due to security concerns. Providing a streamlined experience through mobile may seem ideal, but introducing mobile devices to the security network can leave IT teams worried about more endpoints to manage and secure. In fact, research shows that just 22% of businesses offer a mobile experience for work applications and data.
However, solutions like SyncHR’s Employee Experience are making it easier for companies to provide exceptional employee experience on both mobile and desktop with a secure login authentication setup and strong security parameters.
Meet Employees Where They Are with Mobile Technology
SyncHR’s Employee Experience solution allows organizations to provide an exceptional user experience across both mobile and desktop applications for hybrid workers. With SyncHR, your workforce has an intuitive, easy-to-use platform that enables work from anywhere. This tool helps employees make critical HR changes easily from their phone or computer, allowing employees to easily update life changes, access important information, complete onboarding or performance evaluations, and more.
It’s clear that smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices will continue to play a substantial role in employee workflows. Having instant and reliable access to important systems and data, as well as the ability to easily connect and collaborate with colleagues in any geographic location dramatically reduces the chances an employee will search for a new position that better supports their work-life balance.
Recognizing — and adequately addressing — evolving employee needs is essential for businesses to retain and attract top talent amid The Great Resignation and beyond. Optimizing mobile connectivity and the overarching employee experience is the secret to getting it all right now and for years to come.
Discover how PrimePay can keep your employees engaged no matter where they work with our efficient, accurate, and cost-effective workforce management solutions.
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