On the move

By Chris Morley, Herman Miller Dubai

Over the past ten years, the workforce has been shifting steadily towards a new model, one borne out of collaborative work, the need for multiple venues, and most of all, the demand for mobility. The worldwide mobile workforce is growing fast: from 676 million in 2004, it is expected to reach 878.2 million by the end of 2009.

From the numbers alone, it seems that the traditional workplace is facing a major shift, one that could be as profound as its transition from the cubicle to the present mix of open-plan and private offices, conference rooms and shared spaces.

Defining the mobile worker

Is there a broad and simple way to define the mobile worker? The IDC categorises them into three subgroups: the office-based mobile worker is someone who spends most of their time in a company-provided office, but who also sometimes works at home or in a third place; the non-office-based mobile worker is in the field, such as a salesperson, or working between buildings on a corporate campus, such as an IT professional; and the home-based mobile worker is the former ‘telecommuter’. This employee spends most of the work week in a home office, but comes into the corporate workplace for meetings or collaborative work sessions.

No holds barred

With a laptop and a mobile phone, workers suddenly have a level of freedom that 15 years ago was unimaginable. The main types of mobile worker were traditionally telecommuters and a company sales force.

Salespeople in particular are thoroughly familiar with a no-boundaries, mobile work style; they were its pioneers. Today, however, it is knowledge workers who represent the most rapidly growing sector of mobile workers. Knowledge workers may be found across a variety of information technology roles, but also among professionals like lawyers, architects and doctors.

As businesses increase their dependence on information technology, the number of fields in which knowledge workers must operate has expanded dramatically. Creative workers tend to prize autonomy, which is the feature of mobile work that they appreciate the most.

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FEATURED COMMENT I enjoyed reading your article Chris, interesting, reliastic and inspiring. I am pleased to see global companies like He   1 Comments Read more comments »

It might be expected that the cost savings to be reaped from this trend would come mainly from reduced office space. But in fact, productivity savings far outdistance facilities savings when a mobile worker programme is implemented.

An average company invests about 8% of its annual operating costs in its workspace, but 78% in salaries and benefits. So, improving the performance of workers has the potential to far exceed gains made in facilities savings.

These productivity gains are due to several factors. First of all, mobile workers suffer fewer interruptions at home offices, guest offices or third places. A more surprising gain comes from the fact that mobile workers actually put in more work hours than they would if they were still tethered to a traditional office.

Bottom line benefits

A second category of cost savings is found in premises and facilities management (FM). Moves to smaller buildings, the termination of some facility leases, reductions in utility costs, and the elimination of satellite offices can all result in cost savings. Additional savings may come in the form of reduced FM costs as on-site demands decrease.

The perfect office environment?

As a company shifts from tethered to mobile work, the landscape of the corporate facility may need to change on an ongoing basis. As always during a major shift in work style, a facility redesign will be required to serve the needs of a workforce in transition.

As a result, companies need equipment that is cost effective, comfortable for everyone and suitable in a variety of settings. To meet this need, Herman Miller designed the Setu family, which brings work chair flexibility, motion and ergonomics to the multi-purpose chair.

Multi-purpose chairs are excellent resources for spaces where people sit for shorter periods and frequently move, such as conference rooms and touchdown workstations. However, these so-called ‘temporary’ spaces are now less temporary. For mobile workers, the places they sit are short-term as they move throughout the day.

As the number of mobile workers continues to rise, more provision must be given to their needs. Every aspect of a business, from FM to IT, must realign its approach and priorities to put mobile workers at the centre of their focus if a business is to embrace this change.

Chris Morley is the regional design manager of Herman Miller Dubai. For more information, please visit www.hermanmiller.com/research.