In July 2021, analysts at Gartner released Future of Work Reinvented: Seizing this Golden Opportunity Requires 3 Actions, research that found “the pandemic demonstrated that many of our work assumptions are archaic, unnecessarily limiting, and now begging for reinvention.”[1] And “Some executive leaders are loath to evolve their work model for fear that it will put business outcomes at risk, but new data shows returning to old ways is riskier than reinventing work”. Discover how the future of mobility management is being reinvented for the modern workforce.
How many businesses today are even ready for the modern, hybrid workforce though?
McKinsey reported in 2021 that a majority of CEOs overestimate how thorough their digital capability program really is.[2] It isn’t the CEO, though, who determines the day-to-day effectiveness of digital and mobility management programs. Rather, company policy ultimately governs what they are or are not capable of delivering. These policies act as “guardrails” for employees. They give everyone the ability to state an understanding of and commitment to following the policy and clearly define and communicate the consequences of breaking policy.
Who determines policy, then? Often multiple groups within an organization are involved in the formation of these initiatives and the policy that governs them. They ensure whatever program is put in place will meet the necessary business requirements.
The typical organization involves three primary groups of stakeholders. Each has their own idea of what a good mobility management program looks like, what governance is essential, and what unique priorities to consider. In most cases, these groups are: (1) the IT/mobility department, (2) business-process functions, and (3) the end users or employees.
Generally, the IT team wants to define an overall architecture that meets their network-integrity requirements. They want to ensure business data is secure and reduce the risk of any accidental leakages or malicious parties, either internal or external.
IT teams need to ensure that any initiative that involves technology is not only feasible, but it also can’t bear significant risk or require too much time and/ or resources. It’s critical to avoid hindering the flexibility and growth potential of the business — namely rigid systems and programs which rely on specific vendors.
Like IT, the business-process functions care about checking the necessary boxes such as IP and asset security. However, they’re most interested in the day-to-day advantages mobility can bring to their work process flows.
Depending on the organization, this group might be operations, sales and marketing, human resources, general administration, or a mix. They know the impact that future mobility management initiatives can bring to their individual functions. This group also has the most sway in determining what needs of the program take priority over others.
Finally, for the workforce to fully-embrace the future of mobility management, the needs of the employees should also be considered. Employees care whether the proposed solution will make good on its promise to help them do their work better, or more quickly, or with less errors, etc.
Mobility is the most personal to this group. Therefore, paying attention to the experience of the end users is essential. They want to work smarter — with accurate and timely access to applications to make their respective jobs easier.
Over time, an underlying belief has formed: that governance and employee mobility must be a give-and-take relationship. And if risk management is chosen as the highest priority, then it’s seen as acceptable if some end-user capabilities are denied in the name of policy. But what follows is a widening gap between the desired benefits from mobile management and the actual outcomes realized by the company. When too much perceived restriction is placed on the end users through mobile policy decisions, the program won’t measure up to the leadership’s vision.
What if instead of thinking about mobility management and policy from a fixed-perspective, companies switched to one that considers not just the capabilities of the device in use, but the nuances of the employee who will be using that device, where they will be, how they’ll be using it and what applications they’ll need to do their job effectively in various situations across the workday?
To learn more about the future of mobility management for the modern workforce, check out our eBook, Unlocking the Next Generation of Workplace Mobility.
[1] Gartner, Future of Work Reinvented: Seizing this Golden Opportunity Requires 3 Actions, Graham Waller, Alexia Cambon, et al, 16 July 2021
[2] How Capability Building Can Power Transformation, McKinsey & Company, March 30, 2021.