Workers who believe their employers use mobile technology well score themselves higher for productivity, creativity, job satisfaction and loyalty, a new study by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) reveals.
For a research project sponsored by Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company, the EIU surveyed 1,865 full-time employees from a range of countries and industries. Respondents who consider their employers to be ‘pioneers’ at using mobile technology scored themselves 16% higher for productivity, 18% more creative, 23% more satisfied and 21% more loyal than those who describe their employer’s use of mobile as ‘bad’.
CIOs therefore have an opportunity to contribute to company performance by shaping an effective mobile employee experience, the study concludes.
The survey asked respondents to identify the dimensions of the employee experience that impact their productivity, creativity, job satisfaction and loyalty, how well their employer supports those dimensions, and how it uses mobile technology to do so. This reveals the following mobile strategy guidance for CIOs:
- To boost employees productivity, CIOs should implement mobile practices that support remote and flexible working effectively, such as offering IT support for employee-owned devices
- To increase creativity and loyalty, they should encourage the use of mobile technology as a platform for collaboration
- CIOs should address the concerns of early technology adopters, such as privacy and work-life balance, as they score more highly for each measure of employee performance and engagement
Pete Swabey, senior editor and global technology lead at The Economist Intelligence Unit, commented: “This report proves that CIOs have the opportunity to use their mobile technology strategies to influence the employee experience—and therefore the productivity, creativity, loyalty and satisfaction of their workers. This is a departure from the usual target outcomes of efficiency and cost optimisation, and allows IT to make a more meaningful contribution, both to the strategic ambitions of the organisation and to the lives of its workers.”
