Please note: this article does not deal with internal mobility in the human resources sense of the term, but with mobility in terms of the ability to do one's job somewhere other than in an office.
Mobility, one of the major changes in the working world exacerbated by the covid crisis and employees' search for a lifestyle that suits them better.
Initially reserved for sales people and engineers in the field to carry out their missions, and often seen as either a privilege or a constraint, mobility has become the norm in a reinvented world of work.
Mobility today means being able to work wherever and whenever you want, giving employees - who are often on the move - the ability to do their job fully and properly without having to go to the office, telecommuting, working while traveling, coworking spaces - a flexibility that is sometimes appreciated, sometimes shunned, and sometimes seen as an additional constraint (is it really justified?).
In this article, you'll find an overview of the origins of mobility, its strengths and weaknesses, and how to make it a real strength for your company.
History
The concept of corporate mobility is far from new. Door-to-door canvassers, drivers, construction workers, mobile doctors... many professions are obliged to be in a different place every day in order to carry out their activities.
The concept has become even more popular since the advent of computers, even though the first telecommuting policies were written before the PC (personal computer), and put into practice by Nobert Wiener, the famous inventor of cybernetics. The first quotes appear in the 70s:
- In 1972, the Washington Post used the word "Tele work" for the first time.
- NASA engineer Jack Nilles, in his 1973 book "The Telecommunications-Transportation Tradeof ", talks about "telecommuting".
- In 1978, Louis Brunel published " Des machines et des hommes: télécommunications ", in which the word " telework " appears.
And speaking of PCs, in 1979 IBM conducted telecommuting tests with 5 of its employees. Satisfied with the results, IBM continued to develop teleworking, offering a call center team the chance to work from home. By 1983, IBM had more than 2,000 teleworking employees. At the same time, the number of teleworkers in France was very low, benefiting from the reduction in size and price of certain technologies such as printers, fax machines and the beginnings of telematics.
The phenomenon gained momentum in the 1990's and 2000's with the emergence of tech start-ups, which were unable to afford office space and so set up in their homes or garages, aided by the rise of the home internet. However, this development was slowed down by a large number of companies that were opposed to these new ways of working.
In Europe and France, telecommuting legislation is reviewed every 5 years or so, each time giving more advantages to employees and more rules to companies. These advances have not only made telecommuting more widely available, but have also led to the emergence and/or acceleration of new concepts, such as the flex office, which boomed in the early 2010s, and asynchronous working methods, which are now the talk of the town with the emergence of dedicated tools.
2020, the covid-19 crisis, more than 80% of employees, in fact all those who can, are obliged to work from home. A cyclone hit the telecommuting trend: companies had to change the way they operated in record time, and telecommuting was a wonderful discovery for some people who'd never had the chance to do it before, or who had preconceived ideas. The world of work has changed, irrevocably, and telecommuting, working from wherever you want, and therefore mobility, is now the norm, especially in certain fields where competition for talent is fierce.
Working anywhere has its advantages and disadvantages.
You probably already know them all, but perhaps a reminder will help you in your future company agreement negotiations :)
Advantages :
- less time and money wasted on transport
In both France and the USA, studies have estimated daily commuting times ranging from 50 to 68 minutes on average, or 5 hours a week, 20 hours a month or around 9 days a year! Free time for employees to improve their work-life balance, and the opportunity to live wherever they like with 100% telecommuting.
Savings too! Admittedly, the figures we can find vary, but in any case, we can see a reduction in costs for companies: around 11,000 dollars per year compared to an employee present on site (Global Workplace Analytics, June 2021 report), which coincides with the ARSEG assessment of 2019 which communicates an annual cost of a workstation of 13,500 euros, thanks to a reduction in allocated space and running expenses and reduced absenteeism and micro-absenteeism. Isn't that great?!
These savings are also visible at employee level, with the famous "13th month of telecommuting".
- so less noise and environmental pollution
What does Ademe (Agence de l'environnement et de la maîtrise de l'énergie) have to say (2020 report)?
A rather encouraging provisional assessment - provisional, because we need to take into account the new uses created by the boom in telecommuting, such as additional leisure-related travel or the explosion in video meetings - but positive for the moment!
"Teleworking offers considerable potential for reducing mobility, with favorable effects on congestion and emissions of greenhouse gases and pollutants".
The average environmental benefit is therefore 271 kg of annual carbon equivalent per day of weekly teleworking, thanks to a 69% reduction in travel volume".
Your results will be all the more positive if you reduce your meetings even more ;)
- improved concentration
No more interruptions every time someone says hello in the morning, no more noisy discussions, no more open-space phone calls, no more unnecessary solicitations...
In its study " Evaluation de l'impact psychologique du télétravail " ( Evaluation of the psychological impact of teleworking ), the Centre hospitalier universitaire de Nice cites the following as a point to remember:
"Generally speaking, the psychological impact of teleworking is positive".
But what are the drawbacks?
While there are many advantages, there are also disadvantages, which need to be treated as risks in order to mitigate them and make them acceptable!
- integrating new employees
- a new way of working
- heightened safety risks
More and more places where company information can be consulted, devices with access to company servers in the wild at any time, no certainty of who's behind the screen. These are the risks associated with mobility. Risks that can have serious consequences for your business. Remember that 90% of security problems are caused by humans, and that a single device is enough to hack into an entire company, so it's vital to work on these risks for greater peace of mind on a daily basis.
- working hours, communication and team cohesion dependent on company policy
Another conclusion from the Centre hospitalier universitaire de Nice in its study " Evaluation de l'impact psychologique du télétravail " ( Evaluation of the psychological impact of teleworking ) is to ensure that teleworkers' working hours are respected, and not to neglect team cohesion:
"The increase in working hours and the deterioration in interpersonal relations are cause for concern"
Teleworking does not mean bringing your work into your private sphere at all times. The right to disconnect is an obligation for companies and a duty for employees.
- cyber security risks exacerbated by decentralization
Laptops, smartphones and tablets scattered everywhere your employees work, when they're on the move, amplify IT security risks. On the one hand, the probability of having your device stolen or connecting to a fraudulent public wifi network is multiplied by the number of employees authorized to be mobile. On the other hand, the ability to manage your devices while they are on the corporate network disappears: you no longer have the ability to force updates or block devices.
- a need to review its working methods and tools, which are no longer appropriate
The whiteboard, the bulletin board, paper documents... all these tools and/or means of communication you used to use are now inadequate. Having employees working remotely requires you to rethink your approach to work, using web-based communication and collaborative working tools, as well as change management to ensure that these new tools are adopted by your employees, both remotely and, above all, face-to-face.
- drastically longer IT management times if the department is poorly sized or cannot concentrate on high value-added tasks
Solving a computer problem remotely, with an employee on the other end of the line who is not very comfortable with computers, and has no ability to get to grips with them... complicated isn't it? These days, IT in the broadest sense of the word is the backbone of most companies, a tool that helps structure, support and coordinate the development of your business. So why not make sure you have a solid backbone, with automated, documented management processes and tools to help you make all its joints run more smoothly. Which tools? Let's get to it!
What are the decisive factors in the transition to successful corporate mobility?
In a nutshell: "the ability to work as if you were in the office".
If we go into a little more detail, we recommend :
- an adapted network
In your company, of course, with a dedicated fiber line or even two to ensure redundancy. A VPN (on private infrastructure) to connect remotely to company data.
And for your telecommuting employees, make sure they have a sufficient internet connection so they can work seamlessly.
- adapted hardware / IT equipment according to needs
Depending on the job, frequency of travel and computing resource requirements, provide your employees with devices that meet their needs. Today, a tablet may be sufficient for your flying sales teams. A 12" laptop for your developer
- applications that help you communicate and work better
- risk-trained personnel
- a calibrated, configured and monitored computer system
- remote intervention capability
- automated deployment and management of all your devices
- next-generation login and authentication methodologies
- safety as a leitmotiv
- integrating teleworkers into the life and decisions of the company
- beware of crowded meetings with cross-talk and mediocre sound...
In conclusion, mobility has changed the game for the modern workforce, facilitated by advanced IT infrastructure and connectivity. By leveraging technology and implementing sound IT strategies, organizations can enable their employees to work from anywhere, increase productivity, access global talent and ensure business continuity in an increasingly interconnected world.
Are you considering implementing teleworking practices, but lack IT expertise? Are you concerned about managing your IT assets and protecting your valuable data from remote sites?
Bravas is here to be your best solution, ready to dispel your doubts and meet your challenges. We offer a complete SaaS solution that lets you configure, secure and control all your IT assets via a single interface.
Say goodbye to costly expenses, eliminate IT headaches and enjoy seamless teleworking made easy!
Book a quick demo session here !
