WHEREVER AND WHENEVER. CONNECTING WITH YOUR MOBILE WORKFORCE.

AN MWW GROUP WHITE PAPER JUNE 2012

WHEREVER AND WHENEVER. CONNECTING WITH YOUR MOBILE WORKFORCE.

With the evolution of the virtual work place and employees no longer bound to their desks, companies must now find new methods of communicating with a more globalized workforce. Whether its getting important information out in real time or driving dialogue and engagement, corporate communications strategies must include the one thing that never leaves its employees sides their mobile device.
2012 MWW GROUP, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | WHITEPAPER | JUNE 2012

WHEREVER AND WHENEVER. CONNECTING WITH YOUR MOBILE WORKFORCE.

THE MOBILE-FIRST SOCIETY

We wake up and check our Facebook feed, Twitter updates and email all within 30 seconds or less through a mobile device. This routine is as true for employees as it is for consumers of course, they are one and the same. Mobile is facilitating one-on-one engagement, any time and any place, enabling access to real time information without compliance issues, security, or financial implications. This is certainly not a trend or fad, but the way the world works now that most of us have designated mobile as our first screen of choice. As Forrester Research has asserted: Mobile is a not just another device, but involves a new way of thinking that takes into account the power and immediacy of smartphones and tablets. 1 billion consumers will own smartphones by 2016, with U.S. users owning 257 million smartphones and 126 million tablets.1 To keep pace with this penetration, organizations need to take the same approach to employee communications as they do to marketing a brand or service. The only difference is that their audience is internal and the product or service is the message whether its company news, program updates or crisis initiatives. The rules are largely the same: communications must include genuine transparency, engaging content and a to less than two billion who have a personal computer. Within just a few years more people will access the Internet from a mobile device than from any other technology. In developing nations the cellphone is a tool of empowerment; it has the power to change economic and political landscapes. In developed nations it is disrupting existing business models and introducing completely new ones. Mobile is enabling us to reinvent everything from healthcare to payment systems.2

So while brands have adapted to the new mobile society, why arent companies shifting how they communicate, engage, and receive information internally to align to the habits and preferences of their employees?

CONSUMERS WILL OWN SMART PHONES BY 2016

focus on empowerment for employees that is targeted for their mobile device. As stated here, the scale and reach of mobile is limitless and now accessible by all: Increasingly, many are also using mobile computing for a myriad of day-to-day activities, from purchasing products and services to testing blood insulin levels. Five billion people now use cellphones about 62 percent of the planets population compared
3

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WHEREVER AND WHENEVER. CONNECTING WITH YOUR MOBILE WORKFORCE.

BYOD: BRING YOUR OWN DEVICE

That doesnt mean handing out separate work devices. In fact, that might be counter productive. People are more receptive to behaviors that feel second nature and habitual. They dont want to be shuffling back and forth between two different devices to do the same things and many will use their personal device no matter what, opening the device up to compliance issues. From both a compliance and

cost-savings perspective, allowing employees to use their own mobile devices will be beneficial all around. It also has other benefits. By having employees access a secure mobile site, corporate app or SMS component, it expedites messages directly to the entire company or targeted group. It can also enable a series of miniengagements3 with a concise call to action delivered in real time.

Imagine this from an HR perspective: now employees can receive real-time updates on new changes to company policy or a product announcement. Not only can that text message sent directly to their phones, clicking through the message can bring employees to an internal mobile site to review the information engagement that can be measured by response and participation.

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WHEREVER AND WHENEVER. CONNECTING WITH YOUR MOBILE WORKFORCE.

EMPLOYEE RELEVANCE
I was in a meeting recently where someone mentioned how a Fortune 50 company was hiring 7,000 college grads. The first thing to pop into my head was how mobile proficient these new hires would be, more than any other group in the workforce today. For many, a mobile device isnt just their preferred means of engagement, but their only one. And its more than a device to talk on in fact, its used more for screening calls, texting, or interacting with their social feeds. In the workplace, they will be more receptive to news and information delivered to them directly to their mobile devices, rather than an antiquated delivery system.

OF ENTERPRISES LOOK TO MOBILITY FOR COST SAVINGS

ARE RESPONDING TO EMPLOYEE DEMAND. BUSINESS APPS WERE THE FASTEST GROWING SECTION IN THE APPLE APP STORE FROM 2009 TO 2010, UP 186%.4

A MOBILE STRATEGY IS NOT AN APP While many companies believe an app is the gateway to the mobile user, an app alone is not a strategy. As with any communications initiative, companies must first define what problem will be solved through mobile and how it can serve as a utility to both the company and employee.
The company should next decide how that experience should be deployed a mobile site, push messages delivered via mobile app, location-based services, texting and video chatting are all added features that could be incorporated, depending on the desired outcome of the experience. If a company does decide to go the app route, a corporate app store7 can be customized to deliver specific business apps to individuals or groups of employees and allows employees to find the specific apps that are relevant to their needs or division. A company can also use this store to measure which apps are most downloaded and encourage user feedback to track and modified app offerings accordingly.

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WHEREVER AND WHENEVER. CONNECTING WITH YOUR MOBILE WORKFORCE.

CONSIDER IT THE TOOL OF EMPOWERMENT Mobile has staked its claim at every engagement and real time social interaction in our lives. From check-ins and recommendations, reviews on entertainment and restaurants, sharing opinions with friends or creating visual documentaries through photography apps such as Instagram, mobile has empowered us through content, convergence and context. Many of the same opportunities exist for empowering our employees:
CONTENT CONVERGENCE CONTEXT

When we think of compelling content for a consumer audience, we think of whats relevant and what will deliver value in a way that inspires the user to take some kind of action. Content directed at employees shouldnt be thought of any differently. Mobile offers a much richer experience beyond the boring PowerPoint slide or email message, delivering up-to-date news feeds, alerts, tools such as surveys, and quick, direct access to HR questions, social channels and blogs. Aggregating all of this information into one central location will be more conducive to the user and the device.

Mobiles inherent nature is to merge all wired and wireless devices that blend voice, data, and media, allowing for a workforce to be virtual and connected seamlessly to all platforms and channels. As a post on e-Week Mobile suggests: Mobility is about minimizing the latency between knowing and doing. You can just do it instead of going back to your desk.6

Context is about when and where people are using a mobile device and how those environments could impact the user experience. As expressed on Gigamon, Mobile apps are increasingly context aware, fed by the cloud, sensors, history and social data. That requires companies to reconsider how they deploy apps for customers, partners and employees around this enhanced form of engagement.1 Context allows employees to address specific tasks or actions at a certain place or time, connect with colleagues, and access information in real time.

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WHEREVER AND WHENEVER. CONNECTING WITH YOUR MOBILE WORKFORCE.

We can longer ignore that our employees are consumers, too and they act, engage, and receive information the same way. Mobile is at the convergence of all of our media, platforms and channels, creating a seamless bridge across social feeds, news, offers and real time access to content, making it a win-win for both employee and company. Companies need to consider, even in the simplest terms, how they can use mobile to better engage with employees. Just as consumers now define how brands communicate with them, employees are in control. Companies will have to communicate accordingly.

2012 MWW GROUP, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | WHITEPAPER | JUNE 2012

WHEREVER AND WHENEVER. CONNECTING WITH YOUR MOBILE WORKFORCE.

SOURCES
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Preparing for a mobile-first world http://gigaom.com/2012/02/13/preparing-for-a-mobile-first-world/ Mobile in the enterprise changes everything http://radar.oreilly.com/2011/01/mobile-enterprise-cio.html How Mobile Transforms Business: Enrich, Engage Entrust http://www.altimetergroup.com/2011/08/how-mobile-transforms-business-enrich-engage-entrust.html Infographic: The Growth of Enterprise Mobility http://www.readwriteweb.com/mobile/2012/01/infographic-the-growth-of-ente.php Your Companies Own App Store http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/06/28/your-companys-own-app-store/ Tablets, Mobile Devices Offer Efficiency for IT Pros, Employees http://mobile.eweek.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/Tablets-Mobile-Devices-Offer-Efficiency-for-IT-Pros-Employees-258795/

Jared Hendler

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Executive Vice President, Global Director of Digital and Creative Services 212.827.3757 | jhendler@mww.com Twitter: @jaredhendler

Carreen Winters Mike Scheiner MWW Group

Executive Vice President, Corporate Communications Reputation Management 201.964.2410 | cwinters@mww.com

Senior Vice President, Executive Creative Director 646.845.4356 | mscheiner@mww.com Twitter: @mikescheiner

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2012 MWW GROUP, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | WHITEPAPER | JUNE 2012