Page 33 - Managing the Mobile Workforce

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12 � mAnAgIng the moBIle workForCe

Mobility Makes Sense for Both Workers and Managers
For an individual, learning how to join the mobile workforce
can be a smart move. Mobility provides a flexible lifestyle
that is highly valued by most mobile workers. If you want
to work from a small village in Italy, you can. If you want to
walk into any cafe in Toronto and connect to colleagues and
clients, you can. If you want to wear your pajamas to work
every day, you can. You can even moonlight simultaneously
if you want to work part time with companies headquar-
tered in Bonn, London, Santa Fe, or just about anywhere
else on the planet.
For a manager, mobility means having access to a global
talent pool. If you want the best engineers in the world to
work for you, it doesn’t matter if they live in India, Cleveland,
or Buenos Aires. Need to have a talented graphic artist? No
problem. How about someone living in Paris? Or Lithuania?
Or Hamburg? Does your business strategy call for a flexible,
distributed sales force situated throughout Europe, South
America, or Asia—or all of the above? The solution lies in
the palm of your hand.

` deVelopIng A moBIle workForCe strAtegy

Developing a high-level mobile workforce strategy can be broken
down into four specific steps.

step one: evaluate for strategic Fit
Some organizations are going to be more likely candidates to move to
a mobile work environment than others. Some parts of an organiza-
tion may be better candidates than others. Here are some factors to
take into account when considering a move to mobility: