John Nicklin, MD of Sorce on deskless workers making up 80 percent of the global workforce, yet organisations are too easily omitting them from day-to-day communications and interactions.
Feelings of frustration and isolation result, leading to growing disenchantment and an increased likelihood of employees “quiet quitting”. But this can be avoided with the right technology and an understanding of what it takes to create an employee experience that has connectivity at its heart.
The term ‘deskless workers’ is used to describe those employees who don’t sit behind a desk to perform their job. Such workers are frontline and field workers who simply can’t work remotely but need to be physically present to carry-out their role, such as health workers, engineers and construction workers.
Ensuring these employees are effectively connected to one another as well as to their desk-based co-workers, is not only important from a workplace productivity point of view, but supports social and emotional wellbeing. In fact, when workers can effectively establish and nurture connections with each other, their managers and the organisation as a whole, they are more likely to feel happy and fulfilled at work, which leads to improved performance and an increased likelihood of them remaining with their employer.
Unfortunately, a BetterUp study reveals that only 31 percent of people are satisfied with the amount of social connection they have at work, and 43 percent don’t feel a sense of connection with their co-workers. It appears that we’re in a connection crisis, with deskless workers experiencing additional connectivity challenges!
Working patterns for deskless employees often run on unsociable shift schedules – day shift, night shift and overnight shift, making communications between colleagues tricky. Plus, deskless workers are unlikely to have access to a work computer/laptop, instead relying on mobile devices such as phones and tablets. If the organisation’s technology isn’t mobile-enabled then deskless employees are less likely to have access to up-to-date information. Collaboration and social interactions are also trickier as well as performing simple tasks such as requesting annual leave. As a result, communications among deskless workers tend to be siloed, such as through What’s App groups, with connections to desk-based staff and the wider organisation weak and fractured.
So how do you turn the tide to strengthen connections for everyone, including deskless workers?
The organisation must focus on how it can create a fair and equitable employee experience for all. As part of this, it must invest in a mobile-enabled IT platform - such as an intranet - that provides a means for everyone to communicate, collaborate and interact. Accessible on every device at any time and from anywhere, it ensures deskless workers aren’t left out in the cold, giving them the ability to access the latest news and opportunities, collaborate with others and provide feedback. Plus, everyday administrative tasks are made much easier.
Providing a means for deskless workers to have their voice heard is crucial here, as this helps them to feel a valued part of the workplace community. Inviting them to contribute blogs about their knowledge and experiences, feedback to leaders on processes and ideas, and to get involved in discussion forums are simple ways to deliver this.
Deskless workers must also feel that their online experience is relevant and tailored to them. If the intranet content revolves around the lives of hybrid and flexible workers, with little thought about the particular needs and job constraints of being ‘in the field’ then deskless workers will quickly feel neglected and ‘outsiders’. Therefore, organisations must tailor the online employee experience accordingly. For instance, some sections of the intranet could be hidden if they aren’t suitable for deskless workers with other areas made more prominent. There could also be specific sections for frontline/field workers and even private areas for specific teams so that they can interact and discuss matters that impact them in particular.
With a ‘crisis of connection’ upon us and deskless workers more likely to feel the impacts, it’s important that their needs aren’t neglected. An agile company-wide IT platform together with a desire to make the employee experience fair and relevant for everyone, is crucial here, helping to rejuvenate existing connections between colleagues, and build meaningful relationships across teams.
