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The Malta Independent | Thursday 26 February 2015
Why companies should offer their employees the opportunity to work remotely Surveys suggests increased morale and retention are greatest benefits Have you ever wondered whether you would prefer working from home, if ever your employer would give you the option? Some professionals are already benefitting from this option. It seems that North American countries are investing more in what is called remote working systems as both the employer and employees are benefitting from such a system. A remote system is one where the employee arrives at the office without ever leaving the house. A recent study suggests that working remotely benefits employers and employess by 77%, and there’s also a 52% increase in productivity. The study by ConnectSolutions also shows that employees who work remotely are less likely to take time-off. “Our Remote Collaborative Worker Survey suggests there are significant benefits to be gained by both remote workers and their employers with off-site employees motivated to work harder and more efficiently to protect
both the personal and professional benefits of working remotely,” said Michael Fitzpatrick, CEO of ConnectSolutions. “Even the personal benefits workers experience can be viewed as employer benefits since workers tend to be happier, less stressed out, and healthier, thereby bringing down the costs of turnover, absenteeism, lower productivity, and other issues.” The study clearly highlights the employer benefits, among which of the 39% who work remotely at least a few times per month, 77% report greater productivity while working off site with 30% accomplishing more in less time and 24% accomplishing more in the same amount of time. 23% are even willing to work longer hours than they normally would on site to accomplish more while 52% are less likely to take time off when working remotely - even when sick. On the other hand, employers reported greater savings, more balance between work and personal life. Other findings indicate that remote workers are getting more sleep (45%), getting more physical exercise (35%), and eating healthier (42%). Moreover, remote work-
ers have shown to have a more positive attitude (44%), reduced stress (53%) and spend more time with their significant others 51% - all of which adds to a greater job satisfaction. Of the digital communication and collaboration tools available, email is the most used at 88% with instant messaging (47%), video conferencing (36%), VoIP/Skype (32%), and presence functionality (30%) also commonly relied upon by remote
workers. 28% of those surveyed use an enterprise unified communication solution. Mobile devices with growing desktop-like functionality are also doing much to empower workers remotely - at home or in the field, including cafes, parks and other non-traditional locations - with 40% of those surveyed able to conduct at least half of their total workload on a smartphone, tablet or other mobile device. “What we found is people who
work remotely often feel a greater need to perform,” Fitzpatrick added. “But ultimately, successful remote work requires collaboration, and collaboration depends on relationships and frictionless communication.”Another survey, this time amongst chief financial officers (CFOs), shows that remote working opportunities are on the increase. 11% of respondents have said that the number of work-fromhome and other remote working opportunities in their organisation have increased in the last three years. Only 2% have seen a decline. The survey, developed by Accountemps (a company focused in specialised staffing service for temporary finance related professionals), was based on interviews with more than 270 CFOs in Canada. The study also found that some of the top benefits of offering remote working options include: Improved retention and morale by promoting work-life balance (35%), increased productivity by reducing commute time (28%), saves money by requiring less office space (15%) and provides access to a broader talent pool (10%).
83% of consumers want to be recognised across channels and mobile devices
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hat most consumers are online all the time is no secret. Trends seem to be shifting from conventional shopping to shopping online. Whether it’s clothes or accessories or a mobile, many are those who are turning to the web to make their purchases, one of the reasons being time and convenience. A intriguing study shows that not only is there a vast amount of shoppers online, but that 83% of them are happy to be recognised across channels and mobile devices by the retailers. According to this study - commissioned by MyBuys (a display ads company) - consumers saw added value in being recognised in order to receive personalised and consistent shopping experiences. Only 23% completely agreed that the retailers where they shop do this consistently on all devices. “The study provides evidence of what we at MyBuys have long known: consumers expect and desire personalisation throughout their online shopping experience, and further, that personalisation increases online sales,” said MyBuys CEO Robert Cell. Key findings help retailers and brands build marketing strategies: Understand where consumers buy and recognise them across devices • All demographics, even grandparents, are making purchases with their mobile devices • 75% of 18–34 year-olds use more than three devices to access the Internet vs. 1-out-of-2 for their 45+ counterparts • 52% of shoppers have used multiple devices when completing a purchase
• 60% of men and 54% of women make purchases on their mobile devices Know everyone and personalise on all marketing channels • 83% see value in being recognised with personalised experiences across channels; yet, 77% do not think retailers recognise them across devices Be everywhere to acquire and convert more customers • 52% of shoppers realise that they buy more with cross channel personalisation • Consumers want and expect personalisation: • 70% on websites • 68% via email • 42% on display ads • 39% via social ads What about Privacy? According to this same study, even though consumers are aware that personal data is being taken from them, they do not seem to give too much thought to their privacy as long as the information is being used to market to them more effectively. With the
proliferation of mobile, the Internet and big data, everything is more public now. Interestingly, a different study about privacy – this time conducted by TRUSTe (an online security company) - found very different results. In their latest edition of the annual TRUSTe Consumer Confidence Index they found that online privacy is a significant concern in Britain with 92% of Internet users worried about their privacy when using the internet and 1 in 3 (33%) more concerned than a year ago. Most surprisingly, when presented with the statement ‘Personal online privacy is not as
important as national security’, 45% disagreed. As online trust continues to fall, the business impact is significant with 4 out of 5 (80%) moderating their online activity over the last 12 months due to privacy concerns. The top cause of concern is the possibility of companies collecting personal data and sharing it with other companies (48%), a bigger factor than online security threats such as the Heartbleed bug (35%) or Government surveillance through programs such as the NSA’s PRISM (21%). 42% say that companies being more transparent about how they are collecting and using data and more active in enforcement of measures to protect privacy online (36%) would be the best ways to lower their concerns. With the proposed EU General Data Protection Regulation still under discussion, 35% say that passing more legislation to protect personal information online would help alleviate their concerns. Consumer trust continues to fall Just over half of British Internet users (51%) agreed that they trust most companies with their personal information online. This is down from 55% in 2014 and the fourth consecutive year that con-
sumer trust has fallen. The business impact of this is high, as 89% say they avoid companies they do not believe protect their privacy. Concern about online privacy has a negative impact on business. In the last 12 months 80% limited their online activity due to their privacy concerns: • 58% have not clicked on an online ad • 53% withheld personal information they were asked for • 37% have not downloaded an app/product • 26% stopped an online transaction before completing it • 8% deleted an online account 87% have taken active steps to protect their privacy in the last 12 months but more than half (57%) say they still don’t think they dedicate enough time to this. In the last year: • 58% say that they have deleted cookies • 48% have changed their privacy settings on their browser or social media sites • 30% have turned off location tracking • 22% have read the privacy policy on a website or app • 13% have opted out of behavioural ads Businesses can take action to rebuild consumer trust. Of those who worry about their privacy online, over half (54%) say that providing clear procedures for removing personal information could improve the extent to which companies that handle personal data are trusted. 39% would like easy opportunities to stop being contacted by third parties, 26% would like companies to ask for permission before using cookies and offer notice and ways to opt out of targeted ads. 25% would like privacy policies to be written in language that is easy to understand.
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The Malta Independent | Thursday 26 February 2015
Roderick Spiteri
Roderick Spiteri is Marketing and Communications Manager at MITA and editor of Malta Independent ICT feature
The Malta Independent ICT Feature
R
emote working presents a great opportunity to boost productivity and employee engagement but it can also pose challenges to your existing infrastructure. A new study found that having employees who work away from the office (remotely) can prove to be beneficial both to the employees themselves and to the company
too. This is encouraging more companies to change their attitude towards this new reality. Does privacy matter? Ss long as that information is used to provide users with a better experience some don’t seem to care much but others are more reluctant. Whenever we surf the Internet or buy products/services online we are sharing information about our behaviour as cus-
tomers. On another note, little would you believe that many can act as patriots when it comes to their native language. In fact many are those who would want to find games and applications in their native language. Think about it – the possibility of downloading the Candy Crush game in Maltese - one cannot help but wonder whether the name would change to ‘Kendi Kraxx’.
All ICT Features are available on www.mita.gov.mt/ictfeature
Huge demand for games and news apps in users’ native languages
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here is a huge demand for mobile games and news apps in the native languages of users throughout the world. 24.5% say that they would like to see more games apps in their native language and 23.6% responded similarly for news apps. The survey was conducted by OHT-Mobile, the mobile division of One Hour Translation (an online translation agency) and was conducted in February 2015 based on a representative sample of 800 respondents - 100 each from the US, the UK, Australia, Canada, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and Japan. Of particular note, in Japan, a staggering 42% of respondents would like to see more news apps in their native language. In Italy as many as 31% answered that they would like to see more such apps in Italian. A similar picture emerged amongst those who wanted more games in their native language the numbers were especially high in the Netherlands (36%) and Canada (29%). The survey also highlighted a demand for social media apps in the German language with 17% of German respondents answering that there are not enough in their native tongue - almost twice the average across all countries (9.4%). “This survey shows that mobile application developers can win additional users by leveraging localisation,” said Ofer Shoshan, CEO of One Hour Transla-
lar results of a similar survey completed in 2014 according to which 83% of Italians prefer to buy goods and services online in their native language, compared with 80% of Germans, 65% of the Dutch, 74% of French-speaking Canadians, and no less than 90% of Japanese people. Similarly, a report by Distimo (released in 2012) that focuses on
tion. “With the right tools it is quick and easy to localise applications with little effort. Localisation is a simple and effective way
to reach new audiences and app developers should be taking advantage.” The survey results follow simi-
language localisation of iOS apps shows that on average, applications that have been translated into native language experienced a 128% growth in download volumes during the first week after the native language was added. The growth for revenue is lower, but still at a promising 26%. And this is just the increase for one week.