Companies have moved into a more connected digital age, where employees, users and customers expect to receive various services and tools on platforms that adapt to their requirements. Therefore, the IT landscape has changed from traditional methods to a more user-oriented approach and the inclusion of services and tools based on a mobile platform (mobile application) has been a pioneer in this transition.
The greatest proliferation of mobile applications in companies has been a gradual process, with a scope to improve internal communication, which allows employees to stay informed in real time, react and respond according to the available information at their fingertips. A MyCloudIT report found that “workers are more productive when they can bring their own device and when mobility is encouraged in the workplace“. Another report states that, “the average mobile worker works 240 hours a year more than the general population.”
Many reports claim that mobile applications can significantly increase the productivity of employees in companies. But…
How Can Mobile Apps Increase Employee Productivity?
1) Flexibility
The limitation of time can be part of the business base, but the incorporation of mobile applications offers a certain level of flexibility. According to reports, “remote work has become the standard mode of operation for at least 50% of the US population.” With mobile applications, employees can access, collaborate, share and freely find what they are looking for faster, at their own pace, even outside of their work schedule. They help to reduce the work pressure and increase the happiness index. According to the research, “the more employees have a sense of control over where and how they work, the more engaged and satisfied they are with their workplace. The most committed workers have greater flexibility to make decisions about where and how they work.”
2) Mobility
The study states “the mobility of employees, both inside and outside the office, and the ability of people to use a range of office spaces is influenced by the technological options of the organization.” The key benefit of including mobile applications in business functions is the freedom to work from anywhere. While it allows employees to stay connected with the organization, even in transit, it provides greater mobility by making the information available, regardless of location and connectivity issues. Mobility empowers employees and the result increases productivity.
3) Accuracy
Although the inclusion of mobile technology in organizations cannot be equated with objective practice, the term precision means meeting objectives and improving quality standards. The use of mobile applications in production or manufacturing environments can reduce errors and work can be done faster than paper processes. It is also known that quality standards increase with the incorporation of mobile applications for monitoring. This can help both in tracking progress and in charting new strategies for improvement.
4) Simplified Business Functions
Mobile applications can be incorporated into almost all business functions: from production assistance to human resources functions. Having mobile applications can increase the ability to track, either by learning record keeping or the list of employees, skills analysis, performance analysis, etc. Communications become simpler and mobile applications open the possibility of dialogues, allowing employees to express themselves.
In general, mobile applications can simplify many business processes, therefore, keep employees satisfied and increase the speed of internal functions and improve productivity. According to reports, “it is known that custom applications improve productivity, optimize areas such as project management, collaboration and business intelligence (BI) reports.”
5) User Experience
The growing mobile dependence is the result of the ease and commitment offered by the devices. It is more about the user experience than about the specific applications. The intuitive interface, easy access, simple unlocking (scanning of fingerprints for voice unlocking / activation, etc.), make the entire process of using mobile applications easier and less expensive, which decreases the unnecessary downtime. And, a better connection with business mobility apps means better participation, retention in terms of learning and improvement in terms of productivity.
6) Updates
Mobile applications evolve rapidly and this, in turn, allows employees to stay up-to-date, in terms of business functions, skill sets and personal improvement as well. This aspect influences the productivity that employees obtain from the entire experience. And keeping up gives you a competitive advantage.
The recent increase in mobile apps in the inclusion of business operations has changed the pace of most companies. These apps, also known as employee productivity applications, help improve business processes and can be used in several business functions: in the automation of routine tasks, reduction of effort and decrease in the total time required for those functions. Mobile applications also facilitate data consolidation in secure data storage.