Top Three Workplace Mobility Trends For Small And Mid-Sized Businesses
Just as the COVID-19 pandemic has affected people differently, small and mid-size businesses (SMBs) also feel the impacts in disproportionate ways. For some, customers and revenue dropped significantly and suddenly. For others, the drop was less intense and was followed by a slow but steady rebound. And for other SMBs, the pandemic was and continues to be a boost for business.
This unevenness of SMB resilience to the pandemic was due to a variety of factors. Those with more success had put in place a business model that embraced the digital technology needed to serve their customers and connect with employees making sure that they had a reliable, secure network to support the tech they needed.
As we assess the months of pivoting to stay afloat, three trends have been identified that provide a guide for what success looks like for SMBs moving forward. Let’s look at what these trends are and why it matters for your business.
Trend 1: A new hybrid mobile workforce is redefining the business environment.
An SMB group study conducted in July 2020 shows that in the wake of the pandemic, 67% of businesses surveyed had established work-from-home programs for the first time or had expanded modest work-from-home programs put in place prior to COVID-19. Post-pandemic, a 2021 Gartner survey found that 80% of businesses intend to maintain remote work at least part of the time, with 47% of companies allowing it full time.
What this means
Put simply, the trend toward flexibility is here to stay. The evolving workforce environment has compelled small business owners and leaders to rethink their mobile workforce models and the policies that govern how, where, and when employees work. Organizations are beginning to allow employees to choose whether to work from home or somewhere else, based on position roles. For example, work-from-home arrangements may better suit workers who typically operate out of an office versus field technicians or in-store sales associates.
Why it matters
Prior to COVID-19, the ability to work from home was a “nice to have” for employees. Now it’s a “must have.” When it comes to employee satisfaction, SMBs that can offer this flexibility will be able to attract better talent. Better talent fuels innovation, which is the foundation for business success.
How to respond to the trend
To support the hybrid environment, organizations will need to explore technologies and solutions that improve connectivity, collaboration, and security. They will need to focus on wireless connectivity options to ensure they have reliable connections and collaborative tools that allow employees to work together no matter where they are. SMBs will also need to adopt and support broad hybrid working models where remote and on-premises workers receive equal priority with IT when it comes to enabling secure access to corporate data.
Trend 2: The shift to mobile workforces intensifies the need for mobile security.
In 2020, more than 60% of small to mid-size businesses experienced a cyberattack, according to IDC.
What this means
As more people work from locations outside their central office, the opportunities for hackers to gain access to a company’s main network to steal data and wreak havoc grows. While a business may have strong security protocols in place at their main offices, many assume this security extends to the employees as they work in other locations. It does not. Cybercriminals are aware that many small and mid-size businesses have not taken the proper precautions to protect their remote workforce with additional security measures and are happy to take advantage of the situation to gain back door access to company networks.
Why it matters
In order to meet the needs of a hybrid, mobile workforce, you’ll need to respond to the trend by providing greater flexibility in where and when work gets done. But moving to this model opens up your business to an increase in cyberattacks. Understanding the risks and recruiting partners to help build a more secure mobile working operation is a good first step.
How to respond to the trend
SMBs must adopt a zero-trust mentality to guard against potential threats. This means embracing a proactive approach to how you monitor the people, systems, and services that use your networks. Make sure to educate employees about the risks to watch for, such as phishing and malware. On the IT side, setting up multi-factor authentication, creating password and PIN restrictions, and maintaining Virtual Private Networks (VPN) are minimum security measures.
Trend 3: 5G helps bridge the connectivity gap for remote workers.
70% of business leaders plan to increase investment in IT infrastructure to secure virtual connectivity.1
What this means
Given the trend toward remote and hybrid work, business and IT leaders are prioritizing budget allocation to support the shift. According to a study by PwC, 72% of business leaders are planning new investments in tools enabling virtual collaboration and 70% plan to increase investment in IT infrastructure to secure virtual connectivity. 5G has emerged at the perfect time to meet the needs of the mobile workplace.
Why it matters
While 2020 saw the adoption of 5G within limited geographies, 2021 has fully ushered in the era of 5G, with nationwide coverage and networks that provide significant speed and capacity advantages over 4G LTE.
5G offers compelling near-term advantages for SMBs, particularly in enhanced mobile broadband that provides a higher data access rate across a wide coverage area—which brings speed and cost improvements and more reliable performance in and out of the office.
How to respond to the trend
The list of possible 5G applications is endless, with many SMBs looking forward to improving operations across asset tracking and management, fleet management, driver safety, connected equipment, and smart meters, among other applications.
In the future, 5G is poised to bring many advantages to SMBs, for example supporting mission-critical apps requiring low latency and ultra-reliability.
Get ready for the hybrid workforce
Successfully negotiating the logistics of a new hybrid workforce with some workers in the office, some remote, and some in the field—with a high likelihood that there will be a combination of all of these—is key for businesses as they manage the increasingly mobile environment.
For more information on the key workplace mobility trends small and mid-size businesses should be aware of help their business be more competitive, connected, and collaborative, read the full report. The 2021 Small and Mid-Size Business Workplace Mobility Report from T-Mobile for Business.
5G: Capable device required; coverage not available in some areas. While 5G access won’t require a certain plan or feature, some uses/services might. See Coverage details, Terms and Conditions, and Open Internet information for network management details (like video optimization) at T-Mobile.com.
