There are a few things organizations can do to improve the employee experience and it starts with understanding that frontline workers need to feel valued and empowered. Not only that, but to appeal to frontline workers, employers need to pivot towards a digitally enabled workforce; meaning providing them with the tools to be more engaged and in control of their work lives—something only office workers have had access to.
Staff who are well informed, trained, engaged, and rewarded will translate to higher employee satisfaction, retention, more efficient operations, and a more productive workforce. So, here's how employers can make this happen:
1. Implement AI-Powered, Automated Scheduling
Giving frontline workers the flexibility to choose their schedules and swap shifts more easily by incorporating AI-powered, automated scheduling to both optimize and streamline labor processes is essential to reducing the stress workers experience with scheduling issues.
Hourly employees need to feel that they have a say in their professional lives to feel empowered and engaged in their work. This means, they also need better tools that allow them to better communicate with their colleagues and management while simultaneously increasing their overall efficiency.
“Employees don’t have standard 9 to 5 jobs here, but we can make schedules that incorporate certain wishes and still meet demand well. Just an example is that we’ve been able to offer shorter and longer shifts than your typical 7 to 8 hour day in some areas, which allowed employees to combine their schedules with their lives better. The general feedback of employees has been hugely positive.”
Iain Thomson, Operations Planning Manager at Roadchef
2. Create Paths for Career Development
From our survey—State of the Deskless Workforce—we know that employees would prefer to stay longer within their companies. But to do this, they need the support of their manager to help guide them in their jobs. They need to understand how their role helps the company, and how their particular skill sets fit into the organization’s success.
The Urban Institute shares that “many people hired into frontline jobs may have training, degrees, or certifications that align with internal talent acquisition needs. For example, a cashier may have studied marketing, or a warehouse stocker may be earning a degree in graphic design or human resources (HR) management. This education and training can facilitate advancement through moves to different parts of the business, such as regional or corporate offices.”
“By assigning talents to individuals, we can ensure that personnel is rostered for only the elements of the business for which they have been trained. Additionally, it has eliminated all complications connected with shift swaps (paperwork and administration) and simplified them to a single-click operation, guaranteeing that they occur only when legally permissible.”
Deborah Y, General Manager, using Quinyx
3. Provide and Receive Feedback
Finally, it’s important that employees receive feedback on the ways they can improve their performance. They need to feel that their management is not only receptive to their suggestions but that their ideas, when relevant, can and will be implemented into the company’s daily routines and structure.
“The communication between our hourly employees and the managers and administration office is much more accessible with the Qmail function than before. The managers get more [self-motivated] and get a better understanding of what aspects that leads to salary.”
Administrator in Logistics and Supply Chain, using Quinyx
As we all walk into the future of work, frontline workers will continue to grow in their desire to be heard, recognized, and feel confident in the knowledge that their skills are in high demand. As a collective, they understand their value and what they bring to the global workforce.
For organizations to thrive and to truly improve the employee experience, they can no longer ignore this simple fact: the deskless workforce is the driving force behind the majority of organizations and their value can no longer be overlooked. Curious to find out how you can improve your employees' experience today?
