Advancement of Mobile Workforce Management

The employment dynamic has been subject to quite a bit of change, this was a long time coming. With the On-Demand segment creating quite a buzz in the economy, it’s not surprising a lot of jobs that exist right now are the result of various On-Demand ventures doing the rounds in the market.  Today’s individuals are more prone to risk-taking and venture capitalism is thriving for the same reason, growth and change go hand in hand with risk-taking involved as a major contributor.

Office bound work is a thing of the past, people prefer being mobile and doing things on the go. There is a soaring desire for the ability to earn from wherever they are if they possess a skill desired by their employer. Organizations and people who understand the value of skilled employees understand this fact and have utilized the man power they can get to move their businesses forward and achieve tremendous growth within a short span of time.
All of this has been possible because of great leaps in technology and mobile work systems. The mobile workforce is escalating with no plans to slow down any time soon. The ease and accessibility today’s generation has gotten used to is all thanks to the mobile workforce that gets the job done and brings you deliverable right to your doorstep. As long as you have a functional internet connection, a smartphone, tablet or laptop to fire up, you my friend are good to go. Stay at home moms and dads are no more titles to frowned upon, people sitting at their homes are making it to businesses conferences and running start ups, micro managing things from their smartphones and managing a fleet of mobile workforce that follows their instructions to the T and making money for themselves and the company. According to the IDC mobile worker population is anticipated to surge over the next four years, and reach a staggering 105.4 million mobile workers in 2020. Furthermore the global market is estimated to grow Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 9.6% from USD 4,880.3 Million in 2015 o USD 7,725.8 Million by 2020, all that at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 9.6%.

Mobile Workforce Management (MWM) is a term mostly used to indicate the presence of field teams and fleets that need a dedicated management solution for daily scheduled tasks. Management is key for the Mobile Workforce since these employees work from outside the office premises and are harder to track. The Mobile Workforce is subject to unpredictable factors that influence their performance and monitoring them is another battle.

There is a multitude of categories that assist in managing and driving productivity across the Mobile Workforce.

• Travel &Expense: Another alternate is “Travel & Entertainment”.  This assists managers and employees with submission and approval of all necessary expenses incurred in conducting company business (e.g. meals, airfare, hotel, vehicle expenses, etc.).

• Scheduling: Allows managers to remotely manage employee schedules without some of the burdens often associated with that task. They also have the capability to create schedules based on skill sets, locations, dependencies and availability.

• Location : Provides for the management of assets, whether people or products. Functions can be divided into the monitoring of workers (in aspects such as productivity assessment, behaviors, safety, and so on) and physical assets (damages, delivery times, etc.).

• Field Activity: Exists to manage and provide visibility into all moving parts a business has operating outside of a central office  

• Time and Attendance: This is one of the most important features, as time and attendance data provide for more accurate payroll processing, labour law compliance and better insights into workforce productivity.

To keep up with the growing trends, corporate leadership invests in Mobile Workforce Management technologies to automate manual tasks, improve productivity/profitability, gain transparency, and reduce risk. However, these technologies end up creating a huge number of administrative tasks, making the lives of mobile workers more challenging and taking time away from their core job functions.

IDC defines office-based mobile workers as those whose primary workplace is an office environment, including both corporate and home locations. This category includes mobile professionals, occasionally mobile workers, mobile non-travellers, and telecommuters. The penetration of workforce management solutions can be widely seen in plenty of sectors such as government, retail, healthcare, delivery etc. Non-office-based mobile workers are those whose primary workplace is on location or in the field, not in an office environment. The two types of non-office-based mobile workers are mobile field workers and mobile on-location workers. The concept of real-time workforce management and workforce analytics is ascending popularity because of the surge in complexity in business activities and rapid change in the conditions of people and the spontaneity of their plans.

Workforce Management Market has been subject to growth due to the support of technological advancements. The fastest-growing solutions in the market as of now are talent management and workforce analytics.

Mobile Workforce Management can include the procurement, deployment and management of mobile devices, mobile apps and PC software.  Related support services may include tracking, productivity management, logging, dispatch and other types of communications.

MWM companies typically have experience supporting different types of companies, each of which may have different requirements for the particular devices, services and software required. Some providers specialize in a given industry, such as the electric grid or a particular utility. That experience and specialization make it possible to provide companies with functional apps for their purposes and get them up to speed quickly.

The increasing prevalence of mobile devices, secured wireless networks, mobile apps and virtual desktops has provided new mobile workforce opportunities for small and medium-sized businesses (SMB) as well as the enterprise. However, a mobile workforce requires tighter controls around acceptable use, security and support, and a strong mobile workforce management strategy.

Workforce mobility means a lot of different things to (and often within) every service organization. Some, taking early steps, learn that mobility is no longer about just dispatching jobs to the field and receiving status updates. No matter how many challenges the mobile workforce management may present, it will still be the most monetized sector of the sharing economy and the one subject to incredible growth potential in the years to come.