Champion Diversity: Essential Policies for Deskless and Frontline Teams

Remote and frontline workers are prevalent in every industry. While the limited face-to-face contact between employees and managers continues to take a toll in the case of this segment of the workforce, organizations still have the power to streamline operations and empower these teams. As their businesses evolve, they can better accommodate and support these teams

To address the disconnection experienced by both deskless and frontline workers and their managers, business leaders are finding effective ways to ensure their employees can thrive in a primarily distributed workplace.

Scaling Up Inclusion for Deskless and Frontline Workforce

Here are four powerful ways to stay connected in a (physically) disconnected workplace.

  1. Promote Peer Recognition

When leaders allow teams to recognize each other's achievements, they create a sense of community among otherwise disconnected employees. Consider a scenario where a customer support executive sends a note of appreciation to the delivery person for prompt and on-time delivery. Empowering your deskless employees with forms of peer recognition, such as appreciation messages, can be a great way to boost morale and overall job satisfaction.

2. Solicit Input and Feedback

Deskless workers need to feel respected and cared for by the organization they work for. Empower them with the ability to modify their work schedules or working hours. Additionally, you can design policies and systems that allow them to easily change their schedules when personal needs arise.

Have conversations with your staff; listen to their ideas. You'll come up with some easy, "just do it" ideas and some that require real work and support to move forward. For the difficult ones, which may require investing, try to work them out. See if and how they will impact operations, increase productivity, and reduce churn. The potential value involved starts to add up fast.

3. Keep Them in the Loop

Poor communication has been identified as one of the main reasons for this attrition rate.

Frontline workers operate in the field, frequently on the real frontlines of their businesses rather than in an office or corporate setting. As a result, they can often feel out of the loop, which can be demoralizing and have an impact on their ability to perform effectively.

There are many simple ways in which front-line workers can be given the resources and knowledge they need to stay in touch. One such approach is using an employee intranet, which can include an internal mobile application. It can provide targeted groups of people with specific company data and act as a centralized portal.

4. Regular Upskilling and Reskilling

Training has always been a powerful tool for increasing employee engagement. However, in the case of deskless and frontline workers, the administration of training needs to be as flexible as the workers themselves. Rather than letting training become a barrier to productivity, deskless employees would prefer to complete their training on the job, fitting learning around their schedules. That's why it's important to ensure that your training is accessible anytime, anywhere. 

Choose a platform that allows learners to access relevant information when they need it. The easiest way to do this is to choose a mobile learning solution that allows you to create and deliver content directly to employees’ mobile devices.

Keeping the Connect

The engagement of a distributed workforce presents a unique set of challenges, but building a strong remote culture does not require complex technology or organizational upheaval. By adopting digital tools, constantly communicating, and acknowledging each other's contribution, deskless and onsite teams will be well positioned to address the unique challenges of cultural building—be they across town or around the world.