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Redefine The Office

lA Mobile Culture is a Must

l Productivity With Mobile Apps

l Expense Reporting in 5 Steps

1REDEFINE THE OFFICE

A Mobile Culture is a Must

Few employees would disagree that the ways in which they work have changed in the last few years, in some cases radically. Tasks that previously required employees to clock in and spend hours at their desks making phone calls, shuffling paper and physically meeting with colleagues can now be done anywhere in the world on a mobile device at any time. The “office,” as we have thought of it in the past, is being redefined.

This is not to say that a physical “office” space where associates meet and collaborate is no longer necessary. There are benefits to in-person interactions that cannot be replaced by a simple text message or a video chat. But, the ability for employees to integrate their work with other aspects of their lives is changing the typical way we “work”. It’s a good move, as a more engaged workforce positively affects an organization’s overall performance.

Today, technology, particularly social media, mobility, Big Data and the cloud, all play an important role in the end-user experience and employee engagement. Organizations that understand how useful these technologies can be for their workforce have the advantage of retaining skilled talent, at a time when there is a need for specialized proficiencies. Employees can now be unchained from their desks and still attend to tasks by using a mobile device, increasing their happiness and overall satisfaction at work.

Yet, many organizations continue to stick to what are increasingly being viewed as old-school work flows. This, in part, explains the findings of a recent survey of 3,000 hiring managers and HR professionals in diverse industries—43 percent of the survey respondents said they had dire concerns their organizations’ top talent would depart for greener pastures.2 (See Figure 1.) Many CFOs share these same worries. According to a survey by Duke University and CFO magazine, the “ability to attract and retain qualified workers” was ranked one of their five major concerns the past two years.3

What is an Office?

2REDEFINE THE OFFICE

43%

70%

Regardless of these anxieties, only a few companies excel at providing a work experience that is personally enriching for their employees. According to the June 2013 State of the American Workplace Report, seven out of ten US workers dislike the work they do.4 (See Figure 2.) Employers can easily change this stat by simply redefining their concept of “the office” to help their employees feel both intellectually and emotionally connected with what they do and contribute.

Figure 1.

Figure 2.

Hiring managers and HR professionals have dire concerns that top talent will depart for greener pastures.

Seven out of ten US workers dislike what they do.

3REDEFINE THE OFFICE

This was a key finding from Gallup’s meta-analysis of 1.4 million employees, released in 2013. Workers in nearly 200 organizations across 49 industries were interviewed about their levels of engagement and then compared to company’s HR metrics. The results indicate that engaged employees positively affect nine different performance outcomes. (See Figure 3 above.)

Figure 3.

Engaged Employees Positively Affect Performance Outcomes.

“Companies with more engaged employees have better odds of achieving the outcomes their organizations desire, such as revenue, profit, customer engagement, safety, quality work, and employee retention.”1

10% 21% 22% 25% 28% 37% 41% 41% 48% 65%

Higher customer metrics

Higher productivity

Higher profitability

Lower turnover (in high-turnover organizations)

Less shrinkage

Lower absenteeism

Fewer quality incidents (defects)

Fewer patient safety accidents

Fewer safety incidents

Lower turnover (in low-turnover organizations)

4REDEFINE THE OFFICE

There’s a huge competitive opportunity for organizations that incorporate tools to increase employee engagement, especially with utilizing cloud-based solutions that everyone can access from a mobile device. Employees can use these tools at their convenience, freeing them from their desks. They can access and share information in real time.

Many companies are just now beginning to understand that giving employees the tools they need to more effectively perform their tasks offers real financial value through employee satisfaction. According to a May 2013 survey of 930 CFOs by Accenture, 79% of respondents stated that access to information was a key factor that would make their organizations more agile. (See Figure 4 below.) The survey further indicated that mobility is the top technology investment priority for CFOs in the next three years.5 In another survey of more than 500 IT and business executives by CompTIA, the key driver selected for adopting mobility was “productivity gains,” cited by 62% of respondents.6 (See Figure 5 below.)

The bottom line is clear: Companies need to redefine what it means to have an “office.” Interestingly, the word has come to be thought of as a room, yet its Latin root, “officium,” means “service, duty, function and business.” Rather than a physical space, an office is a virtual place where engagement in both a business and personal context occurs. Organizations can increase the level of employee engagement by providing a best practice user experience via easily accessible mobile business apps.

Figure 4.

Access to information is a key factor that makes organizations more agile.

Figure 5.

The key driver for adopting mobility is “productivity gains.”

79% 62%

Companies need to redefine what it means to have an “office.”

...the key driver selected for adopting mobility was “productivity gains,” cited by 62% of respondents.

5REDEFINE THE OFFICE

Productivity With Mobile Apps

In his widely admired article in the journal Personnel Psychology, called “The People Make the Place,” Professor Benjamin Schneider at the University of Maryland started that the “attributes of people are the fundamental determinants of organizational behavior.”7 In other words, if people dislike their work, their aversion will come to define the organization itself.

Certainly, this is no way to run a business, especially if you want the business to last. Now, imagine an employee whose daughter is playing in her town’s Little League championship game. Let’s assume this employee has work that simply must be performed the same day of the game. Her previous employer would have insisted she be in the office at her desk attending to these tasks. Fortunately, her new employer has just introduced a suite of cloud-based apps useful to the worker’s job. When her daughter is at bat, she hoots and hollers. Between innings, she successfully attends to her business responsibilities all from her mobile device.

This scenario illustrates employee engagement at its best. The employee is “clocking in,” but on her own time. The ease of using a mobile device for business purposes anywhere and at anytime has truly changed how we work. As Apple demonstrated with the introduction of the iPhone, millions of apps are there for taking—easily and inexpensively. Executives now want their business productivity tools to be as simple to use and as efficient as the personal apps that populate their smartphones.

Among the popular apps redefining the concept of an office are Square, a widely popular form of payment; Box, for remote file viewing and sharing; Meeting Mapper, a meeting organizing tool; Docusign, an e-signature solution; Evernote, to synchronize files with mobile devices; TaxiMagic, a fast, reliable way to book transportation; TripIt, an easy way to manage your travel all in one place; Concur, do your expenses on the go; ExpenseIt, turn receipts into reports in a snap; and Mynd Calendar, an intelligent mobile calendar that acts like a virtual assistant.

An early adopter in the world of mobile business is Concur. The company provides a hassle-free way for employees to organize their business expenses. Rather than collect a flurry of cab receipts, dinner bills, airfare and other expenses, then describe each one on a long drawn-out and time consuming spreadsheet for reimbursement, the app makes the process highly efficient and fun. All you need to do is simply take a photo of your receipts, and Concur’s software takes care of the rest. No need to worry about losing your vital

The ease of using a mobile device for business purposes anywhere and at anytime has truly changed how we work.

6REDEFINE THE OFFICE

documents or shoving paper receipts into your wallet or purse, Concur digitally stores them for you in the cloud.

Like many other apps, Concur offers employees the ability to achieve a culture with true work-life integration, as opposed to work-life balance. Now you may ask – What’s the difference? A work-life balance separates the two into different categories while a work-life integration combines them, e.g., watching Sally hit a home run and taking care of business when the opposing team is at bat. Aside from the user’s satisfaction, their employers also benefit, obtaining full visibility into corporate spend for internal planning and regulatory compliance purposes.

As more business solutions are developed in the cloud to enhance the user experience, new ways of integrating these tools have emerged. A good example is Concurforce, a next generation app designed in partnership with Salesforce.com. Both firms teamed up to deliver a travel and expense management solution designed to work with the Salesforce Sales Cloud. The effort combines the best of cloud, mobile and social collaboration for managing travel and entertainment spend for employers and employees. In effect, each solution’s cloud interacts with the other solution’s cloud.

The freedom to work anywhere at any time is a social and business breakthrough, and just in time, too. The Millennial Generation has grown up with smartphones in hand. They did not need to grasp the profound changes these new technologies represented for companies—these were simply the ways in which they regularly communicated, collaborated, and interacted. There were no ties to the old-school ways of work, like submitting an expense report manually on a spreadsheet. Their employers need to heed these new workers, tomorrow’s business leaders, who have certain expectations with regard to their “office”.

Today, the office is wherever one’s feet happen to be.

Endnotes

1 http://www.gallup.com/strategicconsulting/161459/engagement-work-effect-performance-continues-tough-economic-times.aspx2 http://www.careerbuilder.com/share/aboutus/pressreleasesdetail.aspx?sd=12%2F28%2F2011&id=pr673&ed=12%2F31%2F20123 http://www.cfosurvey.org4 http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/70-u-s-workers-hate-job-poll-article-1.13812975 http://newsroom.accenture.com/news/ chief-financial-officers-extend-strategic-influence-and-see-technology-as-increasingly-important-study-from-accenture-and-oracle-finds.htm6 http://www.comptia.org/Libraries/Members_Research/Booklet_-_CompTIA_Research_2012_vFinal.sflb.ashx7 http://psycnet.apa.org/?&fa=main.doiLanding&doi=10.1037/0021-9010.83.3.4628 http://www.kenan-flagler.unc.edu/executive-development/custom-programs/~/media/DF1C11C056874DDA8097271A1ED48662.ashx

For more information, read Concur’s blog:http://www.concur.com/blog/en-us/7-tips-for-travel-time-and-expense-reportinghttp://www.concur.com/blog/en-us/zombies-need-not-apply-7-tips-for-employee-engagement (tip #6)http://www.concur.com/blog/en-uk/claiming-expenses-doesnt-always-have-to-be-painful

For more useful tips, check out a few useful resources from Concur:https://www.concur.com/en-us/fixit

About Concur Concur is a leading provider of integrated travel and expense management solutions for companies of all sizes. Concur’s easy- to-use web-based and mobile solutions help companies and their employees control costs and save time. www.concur.com

About CFOFor more than 25 years, CFO Publishing LLC has produced trusted content for senior finance executives. Through CFO’s magazine, website, and events, the brand reaches 750,000+ senior financial executives worldwide.

The freedom to work anywhere at anytime is a social and business breakthrough, and just in time, too.

7REDEFINE THE OFFICE

Expense Reporting in 5 Steps

With our automated expense management process, companies have the freedom to work from anywhere and gain back hours of productivity. No longer do they need to be chained to their desks, painstakingly doing their expense reports with long error-prone spreadsheets, attaching paper receipts and hoping

that their itemizations are correct. In today’s world of the mobile office with a ton of technology now available in the palm of your hands, there’s a better way to manage your business.

Take the first step towards gaining your freedom from your desk by reading our latest step-by-step guide to expense reporting. Learn how to make expenses easy for your employees, no matter how much they travel. Your employees can truly go mobile and work from anywhere.

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