Deskless employees are essential members of any team. Keeping this part of your workforce in the know is vital for their development and engagement with the company.

Therefore, deskless employees need different access to resources and communication than desk workers.

But how can you ensure they stay connected, informed, and included? Before we look at some best practices that work when engaging with deskless employees, let’s take a closer look at the deskless worker.

Types of Deskless Employees

Deskless employees can vary greatly in terms of roles and responsibilities within a company. Examples of deskless employees may include:

• Delivery drivers
• Hotel housekeepers
• Warehouse workers,
• Nurse practitioners
• Grocery store clerks
• Manufacturing staff

In today’s work landscape, about 80 percent of  employees are deskless – an issue requiring unique strategies for effective internal communications. A well-crafted plan can ensure deskless employees stay connected, informed, and empowered in their roles within a company.

Here are five things you can do to connect and engage with deskless employees.

#1 Prioritize Onboarding New Staff

Onboarding new staff is vital to employee engagement. It ensures employees get all the information they need to feel included and connected with your organization.

Provide deskless employees with a comprehensive onboarding package that consists of a welcome package sent to their home, an introduction to the team, a calendar of upcoming events, and materials about the company’s strategy, mission, and culture.

#2  Establish an Ambassador and Mentor Program

Empower your deskless employees to thrive with an innovative ambassador and mentor program. Give stakeholders the resources they need to share clear internal communications.

Creating a mentorship system ensures those employees have timely access to helpful advice or support while reinforcing organizational loyalty and furthering their personal development.

#3  Recognize Wins

Everyone works better when they’re appreciated. Acknowledge accomplishments by clapping at the end of virtual or in-person.meetings.  Praise a worker’s hard work – even if it isn’t directly related to their job description. This will show that you value their contributions and encourage them to keep working hard.

#4  Reach Deskless Employees through Apps

An employee engagement app is software that ensures employees stay connected regardless of location or device type. It allows employees to receive notifications about policy changes or process updates and sends feedback directly from their devices without having to navigate multiple menus or screens first.

Below are a few examples.

Workgrid

Workgrid allows employees to quickly access important information, such as vacation requests and payroll details, in one easy-to-use hub.

DeskAlerts

DeskAlerts is an efficient way to keep your employees connected, no matter where they are. With this communication tool, you can push notifications directly onto their phones and even send surveys or polls for instant feedback. Easily schedule messages in advance and install them on both mobile devices and computers.

Blink

Blink is the perfect tool to unlock your frontline team’s potential. With many features, including employee feeds, secure chat communication, and mobile access, all without company emails.

Plus, Blink helps you maximize satisfaction within your staff by analyzing their happiness – plus integrating with other tools for an even better experience.

PoliteMail

Are your communications being heard? Are you sure deskless employees, stakeholders, and partners are seeing what you’re sending? With PoliteMail integrated into Microsoft 365, now it’s possible to measure the success of your communication strategy.

Real-time metrics like open rates, read time, and click-throughs provide valuable insights into how well deskless employees engage with what you’re sharing.

#5 Collect Feedback

Connecting with deskless employees is key to understanding how they feel about their work and the company. Utilizing employee feedback apps helps businesses take into account everyone’s ideas while keeping communication open across all channels of an organization.

This way, you can get a comprehensive overview of where things stand and areas that need improvement within the workplace environment.

Final Thoughts

By following best practices, such as providing onboarding packages, using digital workplace platforms, and employee engagement apps, you can ensure that all team members stay connected and engaged.

These tips give you everything you need to create a thriving remote workforce environment. However, if you need help with your internal communications, let Constant Communicators help.

We specialize in helping organizations create cohesive, effective communication plans that engage everyone – even deskless workers.

Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you improve your internal communications.