Security issues came out on top as the biggest barrier to adopting mobile working technology with nearly three quarters (74%) of businesses saying that security issues were holding them back. 70% were worried about the costs of technology and IT and internet problems were a concern for more than half (53%) of business owners, tying in with the fact that 44% said they were afraid of change.
Most business owners didn’t see the adaptation of managing and monitoring staff as a problem, with just 38% citing that it would hold them back from adopting mobile working.
Workers’ technological capabilities were only a worry for one third (29%) and health and safety was the least of their worries, with just 12% mentioning this.
Despite fears, the research also found that nearly three quarters (72%) of workers already operating as mobile said that they work harder now, compared to when they were not mobile.
Businesses need to overcome these barriers in order to reap the benefits, according to Dr Moneeb Awan, managing director at WorkMobile: “The findings of our research show that businesses are being held back by a number of simple factors that can be easily addressed. Company owners need help to overcome these barriers and in turn they’ll begin to reap the benefits.
“On average it costs businesses £2,103 per year to process paper forms, whereas it costs just £144 to process mobile forms per year. The results show that a staggering £2,089 per employee could be saved per year. This figure doesn’t even take into account the increase in productivity reported by almost three quarters of mobile workers.
“After speaking with more than 200 businesses, we know that they aren’t averse to mobile working. Many are clearly prepared to invest heavily in mobile working and paper-saving processes, but both owners and workers need educating in order to keep up with this ever-changing digital world – either that, or risk falling behind.”