Insights · October 29th, 2019
How Technology Can Give Your Employees Freedom
This archive futurist.com article was written by Glen Hiemstra, Futurist Emeritus.
Glen Hiemstra founded Futurist.com in the 1990’s and is now Futurist Emeritus in the Think Tank. An internationally respected expert on creating preferred futures, long-range planning and assessing future trends, Glen has advised professional, business, community, and government organizations for three decades. He is available to work with incredible clients on futurist keynotes and foresight consulting projects.
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The future of work is a topic of constant interest to Futurist.com readers and we have regularly addressed the subject, for example, what your office might look like in 10 years. These days, employees want freedom more than ever before. So many factors contribute to a lack of focus in the workplace, i.e. managing a family, personal commitments, and generally hectic schedules. It can be difficult for modern-day workers to manage these commitments, while performing their best at work. Today’s workforce wants the freedom to get work done when it makes the most sense for themselves and their schedules. This is why employees favor the availability of working remotely either full- or part-time.
Business owners may be apprehensive about the possibility of allowing employees to work from home with some regularity, as they worry this will reduce daily productivity. Additionally, working from home would prove difficult for managers to keep track of the work their team members are producing. Fortunately, with the availability of the latest office technology, employers don’t have to worry about losing progress. Efficient remote work is made possible with new, innovative workflow technology.
Work With What They Already Know
Keeping up-to-date with modern technology is extremely important to keep employees happy and comfortable with the tools they use. Employees prefer that the technology they use at work is similar to the tech they use in their personal lives because they are already familiar with the way these tools work. When employees already know how to use these tools, they are able to get more work accomplished, as less time is wasted learning how to use the technology their job has provided them with.
This is why implementing a mobile phone policy at work has proven to be a success for many businesses. Whether your team’s work requires them to go door-to-door acquiring new sales leads or your team wants greater flexibility with work from home privileges, enabling a mobile-powered workforce starts with the proper changes to your employee handbook. Having a standardized and widespread policy in place can help ensure that your company receives all the benefits that come with mobile accessibility while mitigating the risk of personal distractions
