Communicating effectively with a large team of desk-less workers has its challenges. But the pandemic did an excellent job of highlighting just how critical frontline workers are to a company's success. And the mass job walkouts have taught us that frontline employees are no longer interested in being treated like second-class workers.
Frontline staff wants to be a part of the larger organization and feel included in the conversation. And in a time when employee retention is at an all-time low, improving frontline internal employee communication should be a high priority. After all, the quality of communication within a company often determines the organization's health.
What are some best practices your leaders and managers can adopt? Keep reading to find out
Before you can make any significant changes to frontline communication, it's essential to take a step back and reflect on how you currently interact with employees. If you're still only relying on daily huddles or messages on pin boards, your internal communications plan most likely needs an overhaul.
80% of the U.S. workforce work in roles that require them to work in "non-corporate" locations like a restaurant, a factory floor, or transporting goods, and these communication channels don't (or can't) reach everyone.
And, even though frontline workers are often the face of a company, they're regularly left out of essential company conversations.
Developing a communication strategy to ensure everyone in the company is included in conversations is the first step to improving frontline communications.
Everyone has their unique personality, style of performing their work, and emotional needs. This includes frontline workers.
Frontline employees will feel valued and appreciated when you take the time to get to know them. Offering them a way to share their thoughts on things like new menu items, company protocols, and other company-related news will improve engagement and offer you an opportunity to get to know them.
With a tool like goHappy, you can collect feedback from frontline employees in real-time. And with that feedback you can use it to learn more about your employees. You can then use this information to engage them more in their work and show them you care about them as an individual.
From crisis management to engagement surveys to questions about their role, encouraging frontline staff to engage in regular conversations with leaders and managers will improve employee satisfaction.
Sure, you could use social media to update work situations like a stay-at-home broadcast for severe weather or a significant change within the company. But you're putting the onus on staff to check social media and potentially excluding some who don't have social media, smartphones or access to data or wifi.
Ensure all your staff are included in company-wide messaging with a texting tool like goHappy. It doesn't require downloading an app or putting the cost onto your frontline staff. And since 97% of the population have cell phones, they can easily receive text messages.
Knowing they are receiving messages in the same time frame as office workers, your frontline staff will feel like they’re part of the larger company.
Imagine starting a new job as a frontline worker and not being welcomed by a manager, teammate, or HR personnel. This is a real frustration for many frontline staff and why so many end up leaving their jobs after a short period of time. When you're new to a position, you often need to ask for clarification on aspects of your job in real-time, and knowing who to go to is critical to their success.
No one knows everything right away. And to grow and develop in their role, frontline employees need a way to learn policies and procedures, understand the mission, and generally feel connected to the company.
Without this, employees will make mistakes and often get blamed for those mistakes. They will feel undervalued, disengaged, and eventually leave to find work elsewhere.
Successful companies have ditched a top-down approach to communication and embraced technology to encourage frequent communication. A texting tool like goHappy is an excellent way to show your frontline staff you are there for them and you want to hear from them.
Frontline employees want to be digitally connected to the organization they work for. And while many companies have adopted the use of mobile apps, they still leave some workers out of the conversation
Mobile apps are exclusive to those with smartphones, and opt-in rates for mobile apps are a meager 40%, at best. With a text-based platform like goHappy, none of the responsibility lies with your staff.
Our text-based tool also gives your frontline staff a voice. They can quickly and easily provide feedback on any survey or an open invitation to share their ideas or opinions. And with goHappy, you can send out mass texts to everyone in the company, a single message to an employee, or a relevant notification to a segmented group of employees.
Ready to learn more about goHappy and improve your frontline communications? Book your free demo today.