How Mobile Workforce Management Impacts the Employee Experience

The need for mobile workers continues to grow in industries ranging from home healthcare, to telecommunications, to utilities, to construction, to hospitality, and more. Mobile workers provide care, make deliveries, perform installations, maintain products, and deliver services in customers’ homes, offices, and wherever else they might be.

Customers are 2.4 times more likely to stay loyal to your brand when their problems are solved promptly. Mobile workforce management (MWM) ensures their expectations are met by efficiently scheduling, equipping, and empowering workers to deliver excellent customer experiences. 

But employees are more effective when they feel valued, and 1 in 3 deskless workers say they feel unappreciated at work. More than half of deskless workers have considered quitting, and 4 in 10 did quit in 2024. It’s crucial for businesses to support frontline workers with the technology, mobile-friendly workflows, and communication they need to be successful.

Read on to learn how mobile workforce management impacts employee experience, and how to choose the right software to streamline workflows and satisfy frontline workers.

The benefits of mobile workforce management for deskless workers

To optimize workflows it’s crucial to understand the needs of your business, customers, and employees. Do your frontline workers need mobile workforce management software or a field service solution? Let’s review the difference: 

• Mobile workforce management (MWM) streamlines operations and improves the employee experience for companies that need to schedule, monitor, track, or analyze the performance of mobile workers to drive business outcomes.
• Mobile workers are workers whose fundamental job responsibilities do NOT take place in an office. We also use the term frontline workers, field workers, and deskless workers.
• Examples of mobile workers include home health care providers, on-site trainers and service providers, general contractors, and trade workers.
• Field service management (FSM) is the process of overseeing and optimizing the workforce, equipment, service, and operations in the field—especially for companies that install, maintain, or repair products that they own or sell. Industries like telecommunications, utilities, and logistics are commonly associated with field service.

Mobile workers are the face of your company to customers. A highly motivated, satisfied, and well-utilized worker is more likely to present your brand in its best light. A great employee experience reduces turnover and the associated costs of recruiting, hiring, and training new staff. Satisfied, engaged workers also influence their colleagues’ perceptions of their employer—which drives worker sentiment more than internal communications or company statements do. 

Businesses that invest in MWM and FSM tools see improved workforce utilization, streamlined field operations, better communication, and more data-driven business insights. That’s because mobile workforce platforms: 

• Generate smart schedules for mobile employees and adjust in real time
• Dispatch mobile workers more efficiently to new jobs
• Match workers to jobs based on business priorities and best fit
• Enable high-volume capacity planning
• Offer mobile worker-friendly communication tools
• Optimize workers’ travel routes and and monitor via GPS for safety
• Log response times, job duration, service details, and travel time
• Track employee performance KPIs for easy review by managers
• Integrate and interoperate with CRM and other key systems

Mobile workforce management can make or break the employee experience. Let’s take a closer look at how MWM impacts workers. 

1. Better communication in the field

Communication (or the lack of it) is a major pain point for frontline workers: 63% of mobile workers report that communication doesn’t consistently reach them. More than a third of the mobile workforce doesn’t feel their voice is heard within their organizations, and 62% of these workers feel disconnected from leadership and culture at work.

How the right mobile workforce management software can help:

• MWM software connects deskless workers to each other, dispatchers, their supervisor, and the main office.
• Mobile workers can share a status update, let the next customer know they are running behind, or facilitate a last-minute change to the schedule at the press of a button.
• Real-time notifications on workers’ mobile devices reduce downtime, delays, and traveling to canceled or rescheduled jobs.
• Workers can review job details and customer histories for upcoming appointments so they are prepared to communicate effectively and get the job done.
• A simple and centralized communication tool replaces inefficient paper schedules and time-consuming (and/or dangerous) phone calls while workers are in transit. 

The advanced, mobile-friendly communication tools available in MWM software help workers feel more connected to their teams and more able to get support when they need it, which nurtures inclusion and job satisfaction.

2. More streamlined tasks and workflows

Collecting and reporting data from the field—customer signatures, job details, site photos, customer preferences and feedback, and more—is a key aspect of mobile work. But 73% of field technicians report they’re spending way too much time on paperwork. Plus, relying on manual data capture methods like paper and spreadsheets leads to lost, incomplete, and inaccurate data entry.

Frontline workers also need quick access to training guides, equipment specs, policy documents, and company announcements. Companies that enable digital access to these resources are heading in the right direction—but if it requires toggling between several different apps, workers are still wasting valuable time they could spend with customers.

How the right mobile workforce management software can help:

• Automating straightforward processes, like sending invoice details to Accounts Payable upon job completion, reduces administrative burden for frontline workers so they can focus on customer service.
• Workers can document job notes and next steps in the MWM platform in real-time, even when out of range of cell service.
• Integrations and interoperability with other key systems, like ERP, CRM, and HRIS systems, centralize information from multiple platforms to a single source of truth.
• Workforce scheduling is a faster and more effective task when MWM tools match workers to jobs based on worker skills, business priorities, customer needs, real-time availability, and dozens of other factors.
• Data analytics help identify outliers and trends in service data, so operations teams can address points of friction in the field service workflow. 

Before implementing a mobile workforce management solution, Easterseals Bay Area used a large and elaborate spreadsheet to track complex scheduling needs. After implementing MWM software, their deskless workforce was able to spend more time interacting with customers and less time on paperwork, which significantly improved employee experience by reducing stress and improving work-life balance.

3. Higher job satisfaction

When workers are well-equipped with MWM technology, they can arrive with the job details, customer history, and background knowledge they need to be successful. The more prepared and confident workers are, the more engaged they are—and deskless workers who enjoy their work are 62% less likely to consider a new job than those who don’t.

Mobile workforce management also helps balance employees’ workloads, which is a key component of job satisfaction.

On the flip side, low job satisfaction leads to employee turnover. Staff attrition is demoralizing for workers, results in the loss of valuable institutional knowledge, and comes at a huge financial cost to the company. Companies with lower employee satisfaction experience 33% higher turnover than their competitors, not to mention measurably lower productivity. Poor-performing field workers take nearly four times as long and need nearly three times the visits to get the same work done as their top-performing peers.

How the right mobile workforce management software can help:

• MWM software enables a consistent employee experience that assists with timely onboarding, learning, and ongoing employee development.
• Easy communication tools give workers a channel to provide feedback, ask peers or managers for guidance, or request additional training.
• Aggregated performance data and KPIs can be readily incorporated into reviews to highlight employee success and growth opportunities. 
• A user-friendly mobile app makes workers feel more prepared for each job and look up key details (e.g. equipment specs, troubleshooting guides) in the moment.
• Streamlined field service workflows reduce the frustration of repetitive, monotonous, redundant, and manual tasks. 
• Smart scheduling and job matching assigns workers to the jobs that best suit their skills, a key element of employee satisfaction.

With a strong connection to their customers and company, frontline workers experience a sense of belonging that drives up engagement, attendance, and retention.

4. More time with customers (and less travel time)

Mobile workers are more punctual and efficient when they spend less time in traffic and aren’t rushed at appointments—and their timeliness and productivity delights customers. Route optimization delivers the best route every time, factoring in a wide range of data points: scheduling and dispatching parameters, service-level agreements (SLAs), business priorities, fuel expenses, traffic and weather conditions, and more. This improves workers’ safety by reducing the need for cell phone use, and it enables workers to spend less time behind the wheel. 

How the right mobile workforce management software can help:

• AI and API integrations with third-party applications bring in real-time external conditions: weather, traffic, fleet vehicle availability, job site accessibility, etc. 
• Centralized GPS data, communications, and schedules in a single app reduces distractions for workers on the road.
• Smart scheduling minimizes downtime and delays between jobs, prioritizes jobs appropriately, and sequences them to reduce needless travel. 
• Customizable parameters enable schedulers, dispatchers, and managers to account for complexities and last-minute changes to worker availability and customer needs. 
• Easy access to historical data helps ensure optimal scheduling and route planning based on seasonal and market trends.

5. More agile and adaptable to real-time changes

Last-minute cancellations, changes to job details, jobs running longer than scheduled, or external conditions like weather or traffic create drag on operational efficiency. Deskless workers need to pivot in real-time to adapt to changes with minimal impact to productivity and customer satisfaction. 

How the right mobile workforce management software can help:

• Automated real-time updates alert workers when schedules change and alert customers when the worker’s ETA changes.
• Schedulers gain visibility into workforce operations from a single view, allowing them to drag and drop to fine-tune schedules. 
• Smart scheduling creates effective first drafts and matches workers to jobs based on preset priorities and goals.
• Instant messaging, real-time push notifications, and SMS messages centralize communications alongside job details and customer data. 
• MWM software collects performance metrics and displays data in simple dashboards so leaders can track KPIs and work with staff to improve first-time fix rates, customer satisfaction scores, etc.

The ability to adapt to changing priorities is the leading reason businesses cite for bringing AI into their mobile workforce management strategy. Mobile workers welcome the potential of MWM tools and are eager to embrace new tech that can help them be more efficient, productive, and satisfied in their work.

6. Makes customer interactions easier

Mobile workers interact with customers frequently, and the success of these interactions depends on many factors: ease of scheduling an appointment, time between scheduling and service, how prepared and punctual the worker is, how quickly the issue is resolved, and more. When workers are better equipped to be on time and deliver excellent service, their day-to-day customer interactions get easier.

How the right mobile workforce management solution helps:

• Smart scheduling software factors in location, worker credentials, and available resources to create schedules that are less likely to change. 
• Jobs are scheduled and dispatched through on-demand technology, something 89% of customers expect. 
• Travel time, estimated resolution time, and route optimization keep mobile workers moving to and through appointments reliably. 
• Automatically notify customers via their preferred channel (chat, email, texting, or phone call) to share updates. 
• Self-service capabilities that readily integrate into a business’ website allow customers to schedule (and reschedule) appointments at times that work best for them, complete paperwork in advance, and note preferences that inform job matching, scheduling, and dispatching. 

It pays to create an environment that empowers deskless workers. The market is only getting more competitive, and the customer experience is an important differentiator. Almost 75% of companies that implemented MWM tools saw customer satisfaction rates increase alongside worker productivity. When Area Wide Protection (AWP) upgraded their manual scheduling processes to a MWM platform, they increased scheduling and dispatching efficiency by 86%, empowering their mobile workforce to delight more customers and outperform competitors.

What’s next? Find the right mobile workforce management platform

Companies who support their mobile employees with modern solutions reap the benefits of more engaged, productive, and satisfied workers. Investing in the right technology empowers and equips workers to do their very best work in every interaction.

Skedulo mobile workforce management software is built to simplify the frontline worker experience. Manage and balance employees’ workloads with smart scheduling features, and automate straightforward tasks to save time. Communicate quickly and easily from any device with multi-language support.

Ready to learn more? See how Skedulo led Regal Health to better retention of home healthcare workers, or request a demo today!