While remote work may never be an option for healthcare providers, delivery drivers, manufacturing plant workers, and dining and retail employees; this deskless workforce can still benefit from other methods that provide flexibility, autonomy, and ultimately a better employee experience, writes Sherri Bartels, director of product strategy, Oracle Cloud HCM.
The pandemic paved the way for more workplace flexibility and autonomy through remote or hybrid work for many industries. Employees having the option to work wherever and whenever they please has helped to improve job satisfaction and overall employee experience. However, a large segment of the workforce doesn’t have the luxury of this flexibility and autonomy. This “deskless workforce†includes healthcare providers, delivery drivers, manufacturing plant workers, food service employees, retail employees, and others. While remote work may never be an option for these industries, those workers can still benefit from the recent social revolution taking place in the workplace. The last couple of years have brought about the biggest shift in employee expectations that I have seen in more than 20 years of following HR trends, and there is no reason deskless workers should be left behind.
Labor reports show that despite layoffs in the corporate segment of the workforce, there are still significant pockets of labor shortages, more notably among industries with hourly deskless workers that are needed to meet highly increased demands of serving customers, taking care of patients, or producing and moving goods. Industry leaders for these workers can step up and find alternate ways to prioritize employee experience. The risk of not doing so is that the organization could fall behind in attracting top talent in this volatile job market. The downstream impact is that customer service, patient care, productivity, and quality levels will fall behind too. Here are four ways deskless organizations can adapt their workplaces and remain competitive with other industries.
1. Give Control and Flexibility
Many deskless workers feel burned out from in-person work’s demands and expectations. While many desked workers can work remotely when they need time to recharge or align their schedules with the hours they feel most productive, deskless workers don’t have that luxury. As a result, they may feel stretched thin and anxious at work, which can result in carrying negative emotions into normal work situations. This can harm business operations. For example, negative customer interactions can reduce customer satisfaction and impact revenue.
In order to prevent the buildup of stress and other negative feelings from impacting the workplace, organizations with deskless workers can implement ways to help employees create intuitive and personalized experiences to promote flexibility and control within their day-to-day life. This is a gap for the deskless workforce. A Skedulo reportOpens a new window that found that only 6% of organizations feel their deskless workforce is “very autonomous,†and less than one-in-ten deskless workers have “a high degree†of control over their schedule.Â
Don’t underestimate the impact of letting an employee feel empowered to change their schedule or request time off without guilt or worry when they need to deal with unexpected life events. Even minor changes to workers’ ability to control their lives can significantly impact their perception of their job. Some innovative solutions for managing hourly workforces already offer the capability for workers to access their schedules from any device, including their phone, request shift swaps, and manage time off without waiting for a manager.Â
2. Build Meaningful Connections
While many workers experienced a shift in workplace models and programs that promote a positive employee experience, many of those changes have not yet been implemented for deskless workers. That means many of the problems companies had with employee satisfaction and retention are still present among the deskless workforce. In fact, ​​over a third (37%) of deskless workers are considering leaving their jobs in the next six months, according to Boston Consulting Group’s July 2022 survey of 7,000 employeesOpens a new window . As a result, many of these businesses including those in the manufacturing, retail, and healthcare industries, are suffering from high turnover and are struggling to fill vacant positions due to nationwide labor shortages. To fix this, business leaders need to ensure their employees feel connected and appreciated.
To increase retention, employers should create a culture of trust and open communication to better understand employee needs by giving them safe spaces to share their thoughts and suggestions on improving the workplace. This creates a connection and gives leaders more insights into one of the most important parts of their business: their people. By creating an open portal or facilitating in-person conversations, leaders and managers can collect this feedback and introduce or update policies that ensure that employees’ needs are being met. One of the best ways to promote open communication is by capturing employee sentiment that is contextual and relevant and can affect downstream decisions that impact the employee’s experience. For example, if an employee has just clocked out for the day and worked overtime or worked in a new location, they could be asked whether or not they want to work in that location again and work more overtime hours. Ultimately, if that information is leveraged downstream in scheduling, the employee will feel like they had some input into their work schedule and that their employer cared enough to ask.
Beyond building interpersonal connections and implementing employee feedback, organizations must improve their internal communication when sharing the company’s purpose and vision. People everywhere are now placing greater weight on working for a company that shares their values, and results show in their work. Retention rates are higher when employees connect with their employer’s focus, mission, and brand. For example, a ​​recent surveyOpens a new window from Oracle revealed that 83% of people are more likely to work for organizations that take action on environmental and social issues and can clearly demonstrate the progress they are making.Â
See More: Hourly Workers Want More Schedule Flexibility and Control
3. Promote Opportunity and Growth
Another way to improve employee experience is to encourage career growth from within the organization at every level. While it is normal for new workers to start their careers in roles with tedious and repetitive responsibilities, these tasks could leave ambitious employees feeling drained, uninspired and bored. Furthermore, hourly workers have historically been given less opportunity to advance in their careers. According to the Boston Consulting Group studyOpens a new window , the top reason deskless workers consider leaving their job is a lack of career advancement.Â
Businesses can help give their employees a sense of empowerment and purpose by investing in them with things like upskilling & reskilling programs supported by new processes and technology. These can take the form of networking, mentoring, and training programs that can help employees of all levels and departments and ensure that nobody feels stuck in one lane. A company that offers career advancement and upward mobility can help give workers a reason to stay and grow instead of seeking new opportunities elsewhere.Â
4. Prioritize health and safety
The pandemic has highlighted the importance of health and safety in the workplace, especially in deskless industries. But even after a global pandemic, many employees are intimidated to speak up when they feel their health and safety are in jeopardy. Whether out of fear of risking their reputation or even mustering up the courage to voice these concerns, many stay quiet or feel they have no other option but to leave their job altogether.Â
Organizational leaders must prioritize taking responsibility for staying keenly aware of hazards in the workplace environment and mitigating as many as possible. This can all be aided by technology that automatically detects potential problems and collects ongoing feedback from employees to measure sentiments towards workplace safety. For these technologies to be effective, leadership must be prepared to act on this information and ensure that they provide a safe workplace for all employees.Â
When evaluating how deskless workers can be extended the same flexibility and autonomy as other segments of the workforce, employee feedback and engagement play a critical role. Opening lines of communication from employees at every level and demonstrating that the business is using feedback in decisions that affect the workforce will help improve employee trust. In turn, that will help increase employee retention and overall job satisfaction. The allure of workplaces with increased flexibility and growth opportunities is tempting, so businesses need to hear their employees out and try to meet them where they are before they leave for good. Â Â Â
Do you think the “deskless workforce†is falling behind in adopting new workplace models and policies since the onset of the pandemic? What companies should do to improve employee experience? Share with us on FacebookOpens a new window , TwitterOpens a new window , and LinkedInOpens a new window . We love it when you share!