How important is the traditional office environment?

It seems not a week can go past in Australia without some surprising new statistics regarding the impact mobile devices are continuing to have on business productivity and efficiency. With the ubiquity of smartphones, tablets and laptops in modern society, all packed with ever-changing features and functions, savvy organisations are constantly on the hunt for ways to implement the technology into their workflow.

The latest insight comes from Deloitte's recent Mobile nation: Driving workforce participation and productivity report, the findings of which are startling indeed, and could be cause for SMEs to sit up and take notice. According to the report, $42.9 billion of the total Australian economy can be directly attributed to increased productivity and workforce participation resulting from the take-up of mobile technology.

Let your employees work from anywhere with the right office phone system.

Matthew Lobb, chair of the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association (AMTA), notes the nation's employers must be ready to adapt to the evolving office environment, starting with support for increased mobility in the workplace.

"It is estimated that globally around 5 billion mobile devices are in use, and with the rise of the IoT this is anticipated to grow to 6.4 billion in 2016 and 20.8 billion by 2020. Harnessing the potential of new and existing technologies will be important for securing Australia's economic growth and living standards in the future," he said.

Building an engaged workforce

So, how can your company tap into that increased productivity, and reap the benefits of more engaged workers? A leadership IQ survey from Forbes of almost 3,500 employees found that people who telecommute are 45 per cent more likely to say they love their job. Compare that to just 24 per cent of respondents who work in a traditional office environment who report the same fondness for their occupation.

That's not to say all employees should immediately be sent home to carry out their various responsibilities from their own laptops and phones, rather that presenting the option some or all of the time has a proven track record for some organisations. A still impressive 38 per cent of those surveyed said they loved their jobs, so with an effective unified communications system in place there's no reason why your staff can't at least log some of their hours from outside the office. 

With the latest business phone systems, keeping office communications streamlined across a variety of devices from any location is easier than ever, so offering greater mobility options in your workplace should be a no-brainer.

Give the people what they want

To attract and retain the most skilled and effective workforce, consider adapting your operations to meet the expectations of the employment market. PricewaterhouseCoopers' Millennials At Work survey notes that millennials want flexibility in their jobs, and feel that the location where work is done is irrelevant, as long as it does in fact get done.

Could BYOD be right for your business?

There's little doubt that communications is one of the key drivers of effective business operations. Now that phone systems for business have reached a level of technological sophistication that allows them to be operated from almost anywhere, it may be worth asking yourself whether it does actually matter where employees are based.

That question seems to be on the minds of more organisations, as Tech Pro Research notes that 72 per cent of companies it surveyed either already allow or are planning to allow the use of personal devices for work purposes. Not all of those respondents necessarily allow remote working, but the implications are that this bring-your-own-device (BYOD) solution allows people to work from anywhere, at any time.

If you believe it's time to free up your workforce, then maybe it's time to speak to the team at Fonality, and bask in the love of your valuable employees.