Sometimes conversations about employee engagement can seem divorced from everyday business realities.
It’s easy to fall prey to thinking employee engagement is something sentimental or unnecessary. Engagement is just a ‘feel good’ metric, right?
Wrong!
Engaging deskless employees is the right thing to do. But it also makes smart business sense.
This article highlights four key ways that engaging your deskless workforce can drive results and improve your bottom line.
4 ways that engaging deskless employees will improve your bottom line
Decreased turnover and improved employee retention
Have you been having trouble with employee retention? You’re not alone.
The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) says that 2021 was a historic year for voluntary employee turnover.
The “Great Resignation” has been a major headline over the past few months. That’s bad news for most businesses, since hiring is expensive and turnover hurts the bottom line. But while this employee exodus may seem overwhelming, there’s good news: it doesn’t have to be this way.
Many of the reasons for the rise in employee turnover are within your company’s realm of control. The key factors driving employees to look for new jobs include things like:
- Inflexible scheduling
- Feeling unheard from the headquarters and the larger organization
- Poor communication from leadership
- Lack of growth and development opportunities
While you may not be able to solve these kinds of problems overnight, you can solve them. And it all starts with finding ways to better engage your deskless employees.
By focusing on establishing communication channels, you’ll uncover issues earlier and be able to solve them before they become major problems. By focusing on building trust, you’ll understand what matters most to your employees. By getting to know your deskless workers more, you’ll understand their goals and find great training opportunities
In short, you’ll improve your employee retention and decrease your hiring costs. And if you use a tool like Anthill, you’ll be able to get started on all this faster than you might think.
Attract new talent easier
Of course you’d like to keep your existing employees happy and engaged. But what if it was also far easier to attract great new talent?
If you could attract new talent easily, odds are you’d be more profitable now and better positioned for future growth. That’s compelling. What executive would say no to that?
Do you realize that engaged employees are one of your greatest recruiting assets?
By engaging your deskless employees with technology, you’ll activate this asset. Make your employer branding work for you, not against you.
Instead of reluctant employees, you’ll have a group of engaged brand ambassadors who preach your company’s benefits to their friends. You’ll have an easier time sourcing new applicants. You’ll also get a wealth of positive reviews and engagement data that will help convince candidates that your company is the right place for them.
Your employees are already talking to one another about their experience at your company. Give them reasons to rave about how great your company is, and your new glowing reputation will act like a magnet that draws in new talent.
Reduced workload on your HR team
We’ve been experiencing a global pandemic for two years. Everyone is tired, but no one is more exhausted than your HR team.
The pandemic brought many changes for companies: new policies, safety concerns, quarantine issues, increased turnover, and more. Who was at the forefront of making these changes happen? Human resources.
If you don’t already know it, hear it now: Your HR personnel are the unsung heroes of your organization.
Supplement your HR team with the right technology and you’ll increase their ability to accomplish things that matter. They’ll be able to focus on projects that drive your company forward, enabling you to be the type of organization you’ve always hoped to become.
Smart technology investments will also reduce your need to grow your HR staff for relatively low-value work, like answering frequently asked questions.
Besides all this, making strategic technology investments can help maximize the ROI of investments you’ve already made. For instance, your organization probably already has an HRIS and benefits software in place. But are you confident you’re getting the right ROI from them?
If you have a large deskless workforce, chances are you’re not.
These tools often underserve deskless employees, who are on-the-go or in the field. Supplementing existing tools with software that enables easy communication and access for deskless workers will supercharge your HR team’s existing efforts and maximize the ROI you receive from your existing technology investments.
Proactive about solving problems
One of deskless employees’ most common complaints is feeling isolated from your company.
In fact, 74% of employees feel that they’re missing out on important company information. For deskless workers — who often don’t have access to tools like Slack or even company email — the challenge is even more acute. No wonder they’re often disengaged.
The right technology will enable easy two-way communication with deskless employees. You’ll be able to deliver information that enables them to be more productive. You’ll also be able to listen better and to understand what problems you should prioritize.
Think of it like an early warning system.
No more surprises or misguided attempts to solve the wrong problem.
Through consistent two-way communication, you’ll always have your finger on the pulse of how your deskless workers are feeling. As you get proactive about solving problems you uncover, you’ll create more trust with your team, driving up employee satisfaction and employee loyalty. This trust and clarity will enable you to move forward with confidence that you’re headed in the right direction.
Engaging a deskless workforce takes intentionality, but it shouldn’t feel insurmountable. If you’re ready to get started, schedule a demo with a member of our team today.
