Mobile collaboration tools now used by 56 per cent of UK firms, finds HPE Aruba and Economist report

While 54 per cent of UK businesses now offer hot-desking facilities

Companies rated by their employees as mobile "pioneers" enjoy a higher level of productivity, creativity, satisfaction and loyalty from their mobility-enabled employees, a report by The Economist and HPE-owned Aruba Networks has found, with 56 per cent of UK firms now using mobile-based digital collaboration tools as standard.

Based on the responses of 1,865 employees at a range of global companies, the report found that 60 per cent of workers find mobile technology makes them more productive at work, while 45 per cent believe better mobile connectivity improves their creativity.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the ability to work in any location using mobile technology was said to have the most beneficial impact on employee productivity, with 49 per cent of respondents believing this, while 38 per cent also cited flexible working by mobile as having the greatest impact on job satisfaction. A further 32 per cent said being able to work from anywhere within the workplace (i.e. ‘hotdesking' via mobile) was the single greatest contributor to their personal level of creativity.

The report found that a world-leading 54 per cent of UK businesses give their employees the ability to hot-desk, with Australia and Germany close behind at 53 per cent.

Some 38 per cent of respondents said mobile tech strengthened their loyalty to their company because it made them more creative, while 42 per cent praised their employer for providing mobile collaboration tools.

"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 organisation can achieve a 16 per cent 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.

"While past studies have recognised the impact of increased mobility on employee engagement, establishing the business outcome has been a missing link. This report quantifies it," he continued.

"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 firm 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."

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