Mobile-Optimized Work Environments Drive Measurably Higher Employee Engagement and Business Performance

Singapore – May 11, 2016 – A new global study, “Mobility, Performance and Engagement” by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has established a measurable link between more mobile-first working environments and an increase in employee engagement, proving that CIOs can drive increased business performance through well-developed and executed mobile strategies.

Sponsored by Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company (NYSE:HPE), the study showed that companies rated by employees as “pioneers” in how they support mobile technology saw a rise in productivity (16%), creativity (18%), satisfaction (23%), and loyalty (21%),when compared to organizations that were poorly rated at supporting mobile technology.

“Today, most companies and employees understand that a mobile-first approach can be good for business, but if you can tell a CEO of a Fortune 500 company that their organization can achieve a 16% increase in employee output, or tell HR directors that they can increase loyalty by over one-in-five, we believe they would make mobility an even greater investment priority,” said Chris Kozup, Vice President of Marketing at Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company.

“While past studies have recognized the impact of increased mobility on employee engagement, establishing the business outcome has been a missing link. This report quantifies it,” he added.

The report, which surveyed 1,865 employees globally, demonstrates that many workers recognize the benefits of mobile-optimized work environments. In fact, six in ten (60%) employees said mobile technology makes them more productive, while more than four in ten (45%) believe it causes their creativity to rise.

The EIU’s analysis looked to define how the wide adoption of mobile technology was impacting business outcomes by defining the key dimensions of a mobile-first employee experience, then demonstrating how each dimension contributes toward business performance. A number of key trends stood out:

“Think about downtime at the airport or on the train – there’s not much dead time now,” said Kevin Melton, sales and marketing director at medical insurance provider AXA PPP International. “You always have access to an iPad, and especially in Asia, to Wi-Fi.”

“The opportunity and the challenge here is to marry employee demands for remote working with team collaboration,” Kozup said. “The rise in mobile collaboration tools presents new ways for businesses to keep teams together and working effectively, even if they are physically apart. It’s clear that companies who are able to do this are in a better place to attract and retain the best employees.”

“Work has to happen on people’s own terms,” said Holger Reisinger, senior vice president, and head of the New Ways of Working Initiative at audio technology company Jabra. “We need to offer as diverse a choice as possible. You want it to be personal; to be more productive. The more you try to control that, the more you risk people being turned off work.”

The EIU study found that a respondent’s age was not a factor in how mobile technology impacts their performance and engagement. In fact, it dispels the popular notion that mobile working is the domain of the younger generation, making it even more critical for organizations to place mobile technology as a top priority.

The distinctions were made between respondents who consider themselves early adopters of technology – those whom Aruba defines as #GenMobile – and those who consider themselves as laggards. Early adopters are significantly more likely to report that mobile technology makes them more productive (72% of this group agree with this statement, compared to 50% of laggards), satisfied (59% versus 48%), creative (52% versus 40%), and loyal to their employer (44% versus 31%).

However, these #GenMobile respondents are also more demanding. 40% say they would never work for a company that did not allow them to use their own mobile devices for work, compared to 22% of all employees.

Said Kozup, “This reaffirms that #GenMobile employees are a demographic not defined by age but who are better described by their reliance upon and affinity for mobile devices, rather than the year they were born. Not only are early adopters more valuable employees, the views they hold today may well become the majority view in the future as mobile technology becomes even more widespread. CIOs would therefore be well advised to take note of and address their concerns.”

Pete Swabey, senior editor at The Economist Intelligence Unit concluded, “This report proves that CIOs have the opportunity to use their mobile technology strategies to influence the employee experience – and therefore the productivity, creativity, loyalty and satisfaction of their workers. This is a departure from the usual target outcomes of efficiency and cost optimization, and allows IT to make a more meaningful contribution, both to the strategic ambitions of the organization and to the lives of its workers”.

To guide CIOs on how to think about mobile-first working in ways that can positively impact revenue, Aruba has developed a CIO blueprint for creating profitable mobile environments.