You can’t help but notice the growing number of people who work from home or on the road on a constant basis these days. Technology has made it so easy for companies to hire employees all across the globe and not worry if they are actually doing their work. From WiFi to videoconferencing to content management systems to new timekeeping systems; companies can now let their employees work from anywhere they please. Today, we will discuss the best ways to support a growing mobile workforce, including using an absence tracker.
Mobile Workforce Continues to Grow
The mobile workforce continues to grow. In 2015, the IDC predicted that it would include 105 million workers by 2020. It is quite possible that these 105 million employees could make up three-quarters of the workforce in the United States at that time. According to Citrix, 61 percent of office employees work outside of the office at some other location at least part of the time they are on the job and they usually use three or more devices to complete their tasks.
Virtualized Resources
One of the first steps you need to take in order to support a growing mobile workforce is to acquire virtualized resources. These allow employees the opportunity to access their desktops at the office from anywhere in the world so long as they have an internet connection. This means that they will have access to their critical files, proprietary information and any other property of the company. Because of this, employees will be able to travel without laptops and other electronic devices. They can simply use a computer at the hotel where they are staying to access their computer at the office.
Use the Cloud
Any company that wants to support a growing mobile workforce must use the cloud and use it wisely. The cloud allows every single employee of your company to work on the same project no matter where they are located in the world. Nothing will fall through the cracks and every document will be updated in real time on your cloud program. Each employee that has access to the documents will see the updates immediately, making it less common for multiple employees performing the same work twice.
Know Your Employees
You need to know your employees as much as possible. We are not just talking about their family situation, their hobbies and what they like to read online. We mean know how they are with technology. Take into account that millennials have now surpassed generation Xers as the larger share of the United States workforce and you really need to know your employees. Understand that they know, live and breathe technology. Think about it this way; millennials have used collaborative tools their entire lives and use them in the workplace. Make sure you encourage this, especially if they are working out of the office.
Create Communication Policies
In order to support a growing mobile workforce you will need to create communication policies that handle discussions between off site employees and the company. These communication policies should explain to off site employees how they are to contact management, submit assignments and meet deadlines. These policies will help to establish expectations and ensure workflow that is reliable.
Collaborate Effectively
It is imperative that your company collaborates effectively in order to support a growing mobile workforce. This includes using social media and mobile messaging applications within the company. The mobile messaging applications should include video chat capabilities and text capabilities. This allows you to chat with off site workers without having to call them or find them at their location, making collaboration easy for everyone on the payroll.
Determine Which Jobs Can Work Remotely
Not every job at your company will be able to work remotely. This means that you need to determine which ones can work remotely and do it successfully. Some jobs can succeed working in the office two days per week and remotely three days per week. Other jobs will only succeed by working in the office five days per week. And then there are some jobs that truly succeed when being worked off site all the time.
Offer Support
Support must be offered to all employees of your company, especially those that are working remotely if you want to support a growing mobile workforce. Even though these mobile employees are not in the office, they are still part of your organization and deserve the support in-house employees receive.
Use an Absence Management System
Consider using an absence management system to support your growing mobile workforce. This system, which can include fmla tracker software and PTO tracking software, can make it easier to track when your employees are working and for how long they are on the job, even when out of the office at a mobile site.
Supporting a growing mobile workforce is very important today for companies of all sizes. Take into account some of the tips offered up in this post for your company to be successful when managing a mobile workforce.
About Tess C. Taylor:
Tess C. Taylor, PHR, CPC, SHRM-CP; Founder of HR Knows and The HR Writer, is a seasoned human resources content developer and career coaching professional in New York. She is passionate about educating others about human resource topics and policies, and has been featured on About.com (Employee Benefits), BlogHer, Career Addict, Glass Ceiling, HR Magazine, PayScale Compensation Today, and US News Careers, among others. Twitter – https://twitter.com/HRKnows1
