New research shows the positive impact mobile optimised working has on finance workforce 

Nearly a third of workers (31%) in the financial services sector report that the use of mobile technology in and out of the workplace increases their loyalty to their employer, according to research conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and sponsored by Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company.

The study also found that mobile optimized working leaves financial services workers feeling more satisfied (50%), creative (42%) and productive (56%) in their work. To underline the popularity of mobile technology within the workplace, 27% of financial services employees state they would not work for a company that would not allow them to use their mobile devices for work.

The desire to be more mobile appears to be related to business benefits – over four in ten (42%) of workers within financial services claimed that they were more productive when working from home, and a quarter (24%) of finance employees already do so at least twice a week.

When asked about their drivers for being mobile enabled, three key trends stood out within the Financial services sector:

• 57% rated the ability to work anytime, anywhere, as having the greatest impact on how productive they are at work.
• 38% of employees said that the ability to collaborate effectively has a significant impact on how creative they are at their job.
• 32% place the freedom to work anywhere in the office as the greatest impact to loyalty closely followed by the ability to collaborate effectively, 30%. A clear insight into the effect mobility has, even within the workplace.

Interestingly, half of finance workers rated their company’s use of mobile technology as ‘good’ or ‘pioneers’. However, the research suggested that there is still room for improvement.

Over eight in ten (83%) of finance organisations do not offer training on how to use mobile devices more effectively for work and over 60% do not offer employees digital collaboration tools for mobile devices, such as Slack or Google hangouts.

Ammar Enaya, Regional Director, HPE Aruba, Middle East & Turkey, commented, “These findings suggest that finance CIOs now have the opportunity to leverage mobile technology to influence the employee experience – and therefore the productivity, creativity, loyalty and satisfaction of their workers. However, there is still work to do with companies not always balancing the tools, skills and policies to help employees make the most of mobile first work environments. By embracing new ways of working, IT is then allowed 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. To find out more please go to: www.arubanetworks.com/genmobile2016