It would be an understatement to say that the world today is connected. There’s more tools than ever before to communicate, we’re always online, and the ‘ping’ of a notification is never out of ear shot. With that said, communication should be easy, right?
Yet, still, businesses struggle to communicate with their employees - especially the deskless workforce - in an effective way.
Figures from our new report The State of the Deskless Workforce 2020 show 80% of the global deskless workforce are contacted by their employer when they aren’t working. The numbers are particularly high in the US, UK, and Netherlands while Denmark is the exception to the rule with only 36% of workers contacted off-hours.
The report also found the majority of global workers were contacted by their employer via text, instant messenger, or phone call. While this is an easy form of contact, it disrupts employees’ personal lives and makes it harder for them to achieve a work-life balance. Those in the Nordic regions were the least likely to be contacted this way, while those in the US were the most likely.
Moreover, the events of 2020 highlighted the inherent communication problems businesses have. As CEO at Concrete Platform, Tristan Rogers said in his webinar for our recent Virtual Summit:
“Many employers realized very quickly when COVID-19 hit that they had a means of communicating with staff when they were at work, but they sure don’t have any means of communicating with their staff now they’re at home.”
Here are three ways you can make your communication more efficient.
1. Use admin-busting tech
Picture the scene… it’s an hour before you’re about to open, and you get a call from a member of staff saying they’re sick and can’t work. What are you going to do? While in 2010 it might have seemed sensible to pick up the phone to search for a replacement, there are more efficient ways of doing it now.
A WFM solution makes the process smoother. When the scenario above happens, you open up the shift through an app, and employees who match the criteria and are available will be notified and can fill the open shift. Not only does It save time, but only the employees who actually can work will be notified.
But it doesn’t stop there.
The same app can be used for messaging and task management, gathering everything in one place. It’s maximum results for minimum hassle - both for you and your employees.
It’s incredibly simple yet our report found, on average, only 10% of employees in the tech-savvy Nordics are contacted through a company app. The figure falls to between 5-7% for the US, UK, Netherlands, and Germany.
By delivering an outstanding mobile experience from a dedicated app, everything the employee needs can happen in one place and you can revolutionize your communication. It also becomes invaluable in a crisis.
2. Keep your finger on the pulse
It’s always important to check on how your staff is feeling and offer two-way communication, even more so during a crisis.
Not only does research back this up, but results also show measuring satisfaction, understanding key improvement areas, and acting upon them have a positive effect on the level of employee engagement. This leads to higher productivity, reduced employee turnover, increased profitability, and increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Pulse surveys are a great solution to measure employee engagement. They allow you to get live feedback from your workforce, drive engagement across your organization and identify trends and challenges in your workforce before problems arrive.
3. Reward and recognize
On the same note, great communication is a prerequisite to better recognition. Reward and recognize your deskless workforce and you’ll have happier, more engaged, and more productive employees - alongside a more profitable business.
A fun feature in our engagement module gives your employees the ability to reward peers with virtual badges - Super Colleague, Problem Solver, and Always on Time.
It might seem like the tip of the iceberg but it’s a big step forward in improving recognition and engagement in the workplace.
In short, better communication in the workplace improves happiness at work. Happy employees are more productive, take fewer sick days, provide better customer service, and are more engaged.
Download our report on the State of the Deskless Workforce for more insight and analysis.
