Could your Work Tech be the problem?

We are in the midst of The Great Reshuffle with many people changing jobs within the frontline industries.

And too many of them encountered a BIG RED FLAG 🚩:

𝘼 𝙙𝙞𝙜𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝘾𝙤𝙧𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙤𝙤𝙡 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙉𝙊𝙏 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙.

Unisys found that employees are 450% MORE LIKELY to leave a company that has subpar workplace technology.

Could yours be one of them?

While you are pondering that let’s take a few steps back:

The Reality Out There

So the other day, I was visiting a leader of an SME. We talked about how they are communicating with their frontline workers.

They have more than 1,200 non-desk frontline workers.

None of them is given a corporate email account because “during their work, they don’t have access to any computer”.

Me: “So how do you get your message across to your people?”
𝘏𝘦: “𝘖𝘩, 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦? 𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘴𝘈𝘱𝘱.”

Me: “With a maximum of 512 people in a WhatsApp Group how do make sure you reach everyone and that your message is not getting diluted by being passed down?”
𝘏𝘦: “𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.”

Me: “And how do you know whether your people got your message and are aligned with it? What about the feedback loop?”
𝘏𝘦: “𝘏𝘮𝘮 …”

Me: “What is your process to onboard newcomers instantly and remove people leaving from your WhatsApp groups.”
𝘏𝘦: “𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵.”

Me: “So if WhatsApp doesn’t fulfill the core needs of corporate communicators, why is everyone (?) using it?”
𝙃𝙚: “𝘽𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙞𝙩 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙢𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙟𝙤𝙗 𝙙𝙤𝙣𝙚. 𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙙𝙤𝙪𝙗𝙩𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙢𝙮 𝙟𝙤𝙗 𝙖𝙨 a 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙙𝙤𝙣𝙚.”

An Enterprise-Grade Messenger App is a Must-have

Your employee communication platform must be on par with consumer technology and provide a seamless technology experience across all work contexts.

Because a high adoption across your entire workforce is key - I am talking about more than 80%.

Yes, frontline workers get personal messages on their social apps as well, and it easily distracts them from their work. 

There are many companies that have taken to the habit of using popular social apps such as WhatsApp to reach their frontline workers. 

At first, it feels like a convenience — since their employees are already using the app — but it can easily turn into an unprofessional hassle, for everyone involved.

In fact, WhatsApp for Corporate Communications is dangerous. Here are 10 reasons why.
https://blog.6i-communication.com/10-reasons-why-using-whatsapp-for-corporate-communications-is-dangerous

The technology you provide to your frontline teams sends a message

It sends a clear message 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘆’𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀. 

Bad software can sometimes drive away your frontline sheroes and heroes faster than a neon, polyester uniform in the tropical outdoors.

An old, clunky legacy system that’s difficult to use is like nails on a chalkboard for your team.

It’s a slow, agonizing irritation that eventually crescendos into an “I can’t take it anymore” moment followed by a relieving "Bye, bye".

It's the reality that non-desk-based employees in the field, in the plants, or on the shop floor don’t consistently have access to computers.

As a result, simple everyday tasks that traditional office employees can complete in minutes during a quick break — managing time/attendance records, checking a pay stub, submitting a PTO request, or accessing an SOP — become much more challenging.

It can leave non-desk employees feeling frustrated, excluded and unappreciated.

The huge opportunity lies in those pocket computers in everybody's hands - aka smartphones.

A paradigm shift is Underway in Progressive Companies

Why not show your frontline teams that they really matter with a beautiful digital workplace tool built just for them? One that will get them included, involved, engaged and make them feel valued.

Your mission-critical high-social-value frontline workers simply deserve the best tools (#worktech) to perform their work at the highest level.

Shall we do that together?

For 10 years Beekeeper has been helping by connecting frontline workers to their organization, to their manager, to their coworkers and to an ecosystem of integrated tools and technologies.

⏩ Drop me a message to learn more about barrier-free and inclusive technology that connects (no hardware, no user training, no English language skills required).

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗰 𝗼𝗳 𝗱𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗶𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗜𝗧 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁.

In the past, we have thought of technology as purely an IT thing, but the truth is it is a human thing.

When employees don’t have the right tools, technology and resources in place to get their jobs done it causes frustration, anger, loss of interest and disengagement.

Not having the right technology in place could cost you your best employees.

In our own personal lives, we use great smartphone technology ... so why isn’t it the same in our workplace?

✔ Using mobile to interact with the business world is a natural extension of how employees interact within their personal spheres – in both instances, mobile usage offers engagement, flexibility and empowerment. 

✔ Adding mobility to a digital workplace strategy, the true value is about improving the flow and speed of the core business processes, not simply increasing productivity.

✔ Let's go mobile & extend the 'digital thread' throughout the entire operation incl the frontlines.

✔ Start with the endgame in mind and put your employees’ best interests ahead of technology. Digital tools are there to serve the employees, not the other way around!


𝗔𝗻𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗮 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲.

According to a recent report from PwC that surveyed 12,000 executives, managers and staff, 90%t of the executives said that their company focuses on employees’ needs when introducing new technology, but only 53% of their employees agreed. That’s a huge gap that, when left alone, will have negative consequences.

Your employees' digital experience is becoming the key determinant to the happiness quotient or the lack thereof.

A seamless communication App to effectively support multi-party communication, collaboration and agile operational processing are indispensable.

As employers, we have an opportunity to make it easier for our employees to do good work and remove administrative burdens.

Invest in what motivates your people and makes their work lives easier.

"Technology is nothing. What's important is that you have faith in people, that they're basically good and smart — and if you give them tools, they'll do wonderful things with them.” – Steve Jobs