The workforce in today’s fast-evolving business landscape and market consists of frontline workers that serve as the most essential force to ensure the smooth operation and most effective service to customers. They are the workers in direct contact with customers, conduct the most basic and essential operation on a daily basis and contribute the most to the success of the company. To achieve the goals and to stay competitive, the power of your frontline workers is your organization’s survival strategy. There are many ways to empower frontline workers, and one of them is to deploy digital collaboration technology, which will make them more effective, allow frontline workers to drive real-time decisions with peers and teams in additional departments, and improve overall productivity.
The importance of empowering through digital collaboration is increased in the current form of business environment. As the face of an organization, frontline workers are often the initial point of contact with a given customer, thus their interactions are their experiences, and thus a company’s reputation, to the customer. If frontline workers are empowered, it leads to better customer service, higher customer satisfaction, more customer loyalty and thus an improved bottom line. And digital collaboration is an essential tool to make this possible.
Improved Communication and Collaboration
One of the most important benefits of digital collaboration technology for frontline workers is improved communication and collaboration. Traditional communication was based around phone calls, slower still revolving around emails. Through digital collaboration, frontline workers can use real-time communication allowing them to interact with each other and, just as importantly, with other teams or departments. This leads to faster decision-making; quicker issue resolution, better informed workers and work teams and of course, improved overall workflow.
Moreover, it is much easier to share information and updates. With digital collaboration technology, relevant documents, manuals, or training materials are only a click away, allowing frontline workers to ensure they have the most up-to-date information to serve customers effectively. Furthermore, digital collaboration technology fosters seamless collaboration across different teams and departments, whether through shared documents or project management tools, such that frontline workers can work more efficiently together, exchange ideas, and solve problems together.
Enhanced Productivity and Efficiency
With digital collaboration technology, processes can be digitized, and repetitive tasks can be automated, so frontline workers can spend more time on value-added activities—like the aforementioned customer service. Moreover, the fewer manual processes there are, the fewer errors there will be and the less time employees will have to spend correcting them.
Improved access to relevant information and resources is also a big advantage for frontline workers in a digital collaboration environment. Instead of spending time hunting down documents or contacting colleagues who have the information they need, frontline workers can search for information within a digital collaboration platform. In fast-paced, customer-facing environments in which legitimate business decisions often need to be made in seconds, quick access to needed information can make all the difference.
Digital collaboration technology empowers frontline workers by providing them a voice and recognition in their work. Frontline workers are given the tools to make decisions and to have ownership in what they are doing. This empowering process makes employees more engaged and motivated, creating better performance and job satisfaction. Digital collaboration platforms allow frontline workers to be recognized and given feedback in real-time. For example, within the customer service contact center, feedback from a manager or supervisor can allow the worker to know “I did a good job” or “the customer was unhappy with the experience.” These feedback loops allow the worker to know they are doing a good job and for managers to know when a worker needs coaching or training.
Frontline workers also have the ability to be trained and improve their skills within these digital collaboration platforms. A worker can log in and access training materials at their convenience, giving them the ability to improve and learn in their own environment and in a way that fits them.
Moreover, by improving workforce management, managers can better manage and schedule the frontline workforce. For industries with varied shifts or workloads, such as retail, digital collaboration technology makes the workforce scheduling process much easier. With integrated scheduling tools, managers can make and update new shift schedules in real-time. The worker then receives a notification and updates on their phone with the changes to their schedule, thereby eliminating any confusion or the need for a worker to always have to “go back in” to check their schedule. By being able to access their schedule easily, the worker can use their time for other purposes, use their time more effectively, and satisfy any shift scheduling situations that can occur in their lives.
Furthermore, real-time updates and notifications via digital collaboration platforms allow organizations to allocate resources more effectively. If there’s a sudden increase in demand, or there are urgent tasks that need immediate attention, managers can quickly notify frontline workers and reassign resources as required. In this way, organizations can make the most out of their workforce and ensure that the right people are in the right place at the right time.
Employee Frontline App
An employee frontline app is a vital component of digital collaboration technology for empowering frontline workers. These apps come with a variety of functions and features that enhance their capabilities. For instance, frontline workers can access training materials and resources through the app, which allows them to upskill and stay abreast of industry trends.
Moreover, an employee frontline app allows for effective communication and collaboration. Frontline workers can communicate with their colleagues, managers, or supervisors via the app, eliminating the need to go back and forth via phone calls or emails. They can share information, seek help, or report issues with ease, making for a smoother workflow.
Conclusion
Frontline workers and the organizations they work for see a number of advantages and benefits from empowering the former with digital collaboration technology. Better communication and collaboration leads to better decision making, problem-solving and overall efficiency. That efficiency and productivity, in turn, ensures that work flows more smoothly, errors are reduced and tasks are completed faster. That, along with better customer service, such as real-time communications and more information about the customer, leads to happier customers and a more loyal customer base.
Employee buy-in and engagement with their work grows out of their empowerment. Empowerment is furthered through digital platforms through which to provide and be recognized with feedback. Opportunities to develop skills help employees advance personally and professionally.
In no uncertain terms, the contribution of frontline workers to overall business success has never been more important. As it says on the Shiftboard website “In retail and hospitality, workforce scheduling efficiency means getting the right people, in the right place, at the right time, to serve customers.” So the idea of Employee frontline apps, which let frontline workers collaborate as if they were carrying around the comprehensive toolset of an office worker grounded to their desk, plus processed data and contextual data is more compelling than it has ever been. It’s an idea whose time has come.
In summary, giving these workers digital collaboration tech to match that of the rest of the workforce is an imperative for any organization looking to grow. The gains in performance and customer satisfaction that result are matched by the levels of engagement and motivation that comes with an organization that finally recognizes its workforce and positions it to succeed, through its own efforts. For both employees and organizations, digital collaboration tech where it’s needed most is truly a win-win.