Mobilising the workforce to drive productivity through collaboration and flexible working
Written by Gill Marcucci, Virgin Media Business
The state of business is changing. Never before has it been so important for employees to stay connected around the clock, whether they’re in the office or working remotely. According to IDC, enterprises across the UK are increasingly investing in workplace mobility solutions in order to keep stride with competitors and drive growth.1 Increased uptake of unified communication & collaboration (UC&C) applications is allowing teams to deliver projects faster and with more cohesion, making small businesses and enterprise departments more effective and more efficient. Flexible working innovations are becoming more accessible to businesses of all sizes. For instance, SMEs can now reap the benefits of cross-platform instant messaging applications, and collaborative documents, while larger enterprises are finding UC&C applications, like Slack, help drive departmental efficiency by keeping teams abreast of project progress, without the need for disruptive meetings and progress reports.
We’ve seen a shift in how people use technology to make their home lives easier too. From ordering the groceries to arranging childcare, organising the family calendar and managing household expenses, people have adopted technology to minimise or eradicate the cumbersome tasks that keep them from doing more of what they love. It’s little surprise then that these behaviours and expectations are now extending into the business world. 75% of the next generation’s workforce reported to Deloitte in 2016, that they would prefer more flexible ways of working; both from home and on the move.2 Further compounding the business case, it was found that 23% of small business employees are most productive outside of regular office hours 3 and 83% of workers believe that technology advances have enabled them to be more productive 4, meaning that organisations that choose to ignore this trend not only risk their growth, but also risk losing their best talent to the organisations that will accommodate their needs better.
As more employees begin to dictate where and when they work, businesses must provide digital architecture that facilitates such mobility, in order to drive growth and attract the best talent. Here at Virgin Media Business, we are perfectly positioned to assist with mobility transformation. And that’s why we have created our new mobile and broadband deals, offering the choice between the iPhone X or the Galaxy S9+, with 6 months of free, ultrafast Voom Fibre broadband, on a 24-month contract, and with no upfront costs. These state of the art Apple and Samsung devices are supremely fast and functional, allowing users to multi-task between apps, without skipping a beat, while also offering employees round the clock access to UC&C applications that drive team productivity to the next level.
Sustained connectivity for phone calls and file transfers is important for rail commuters and those on the move looking to get a head start on the working day, which is why we offer 99% population coverage nationwide. In the office, our Voom Fibre offering features download speeds of up to 350Mbps5 as standard, meaning you can say goodbye to glitchy video conferencing and ensure those important documents are delivered promptly before close of play.
Workforce mobilisation in the digital age is paramount to keeping the competitive edge. For more information about how Virgin Media Business are working to transform businesses to meet these challenges, click here.
More thought leadership
1 IDC white paper, “The Road to the Digital Future of SMEs”, September 2017
2 Deloitte, “The 2016 Deloitte Millennial Survey: Winning over the next generation of leaders”
3 Deloitte, “The 2016 Deloitte Millennial Survey: Winning over the next generation of leaders”
4 Adriana Karaboutis “The Evolving Workforce” 2012
5 Versus major provider’s speeds of 76Mbps. Virgin Fibre areas only.
Originally published at digileaders.com on October 1, 2018.
