Effective workforce mobility solutions are at the heart of the hybrid working environment

Sarthak Rohal, VP – IT Services at In2IT Technologies

As a result of the pandemic, we’re seeing workforce collaboration being harnessed like never before, with teams often becoming more globally distributed. Today’s workforce needs streamlined processes, flexibility, and digital connectivity to support productive outputs. The sudden (and potentially sustained) use of remote work arrangements, evolving business strategies, and a future state that is likely to involve hybrid working, mean that workforce mobility has become essential. Central to this is increased flexibility while containing costs and improving the employee experience.

Any place, any time

One thing that the current climate has proven is that the vast majority of workforces can successfully adopt remote working, and the collaboration landscape is rapidly evolving to accommodate this new diverse workforce and their elevated expectations. The ability to work from anywhere, at any time, via any platform, using the tools of choice, has become key, and this is where workforce mobility solutions are critical.

It has become essential to make use of technology platforms to enable employees to work from anywhere, supporting Best Resource Onboarding, regardless of location and flexible working hours to cater for when employees are most productive. It is also imperative to make use of a cybersecurity framework for securing data and on-demand research and analytics, and transparent digital policies and processes to build and maintain trust.

The future is hybrid

A hybrid workplace model caters to employees working from the office occasionally, while also working from home for the rest of the workweek. It is foreseen that many organisations will have to implement a hybrid workplace model for the long term. A hybrid work environment is likely here to stay, and companies will have to make the shift while maintaining productivity and increasing engagement levels.

In South Africa, a country where a face-to-face work environment has long been the standard, a hybrid work model is a comparatively new concept that organisations will need to adapt to. Becoming an efficient hybrid workplace will involve a significant shift in organisational culture, reshaped goals and objectives, new communication strategies and above all, flexible working hours. The right tools, such as collaboration, cybersecurity and performance tracking, also need to come into play.

Technology to the forefront

Powerful technology platforms lie at the heart of workforce mobility and hybrid and remote working, but importantly, every user should have the flexibility to choose their own workplace devices. Alongside traditional workplace technology, such as desktops, laptops and virtual desktops, portable devices and tablets, and wearables should also be leveraged as primary work devices.

Over and above the hardware, it has become crucial to focus on application modernisation so that productivity applications are accessible regardless of the device being used to access them. Organisations also require an integrated security and device management solution along with platform collaboration. Technology solutions supporting this include virtual desktop infrastructure and virtual application delivery, unified communication, collaboration and end-point management, user profile management, and hardware and software asset management, as well as employee performance and device tracking.

In today’s fast-paced, tech-driven world, employees need work environments that provide a different range of spaces for many work types, with technology that works when they need it. To maintain productivity, technology needs to do the heavy lifting, taking the burden off the end-user. Additionally, a robust workforce mobility technological migration plan is vital to avoid any productivity loss. Holistic integration of process, technology and experiences is the key to successful workforce mobility.