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March 15, 2022
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5 Minutes
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How a Workstream Collaboration Platform Can Empower your Frontline Workers

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For decades, companies have focused their enterprise communication attention on office workers, rolling out increasingly sophisticated tools that make collaboration easier, smarter, and more intuitive.

In the process, most companies have unfortunately left out the 2.7 billion people who make up the world’s frontline and deskless workforce. Differences between the needs of office workers and frontline workers can become a significant factor for leadership teams to address.

While organizations may have strategies in place for remote work and hybrid work, efforts meant for traditional office workers may not apply for frontline workers when it comes to employee communications and engagement.

Push the Needs of the Frontline to the Front

Frontline workers need carefully considered applications that bring communications and information together within their digital tools to create more efficient ways to work. Typically, frontline workers are often given second-rate technology that fails to address their needs and doesn’t properly integrate into an organization’s broader communications ecosystem.

As a result, deskless and frontline workers within the same organization operate in silos. Limited communication prevents speedy and effective decision making. Frontline workers feel culture and communication have not been prioritized, doubt stress will improve, and feel underserved by tech and training.


Frontline Challenges - An Uphill Battle

Frontline workers can feel isolated, particularly if they are based in remote locations and may be more disconnected from the typical type of support and continuous information access that a traditional office environment contains. While more effective communications can be valuable, there are also notable benefits to group interaction.

Frontline workers may have personal or company-provided mobile devices, but not all devices may be used for enterprise communications. Personal devices used by frontline workers can present their own barriers if they are older devices or if work-related use is perceived as encroaching on personal time.

Let’s take a common form of communication like email. Email is not a practical form of communication for frontline workers. Emails are often overlooked or missed. Its effectiveness of relaying important updates or information has been proven to be limited, especially for frontline workers. Frontline staff cannot rely on a mode of communication that isn’t accessible to them at all times.

The Frontline Connection to Customer Satisfaction and Revenue Growth

Customers determine the success of every business. In any organization, the only group that interacts with customers on a daily basis and provides memorable customer experiences is the frontline.

Every company must engage and motivate frontline workers properly to enable them to take good care of their customers. There are serious repercussions for companies that don’t take into account the wellbeing and engagement of their frontline employees.


Empowerment Through a Workstream Collaboration Platform

The challenge remains, how do you empower frontline workers in a way that creates autonomy for them and proper controls within the organization. Companies must ask themselves if their current technology delivers the needed access to high-quality information and insights or, is a new solution  needed to connect HQ right to the frontline?

Frontline employees must be empowered at the point of need. This requires equipping employees with the right data, insight, and technology to enable faster, more distributed, and higher-quality decision making.

Frontline workers need carefully considered applications that bring communications and information together within their digital tools to create a more efficient way to work.

Businesses want to stay competitive,  increase success and become more efficient. To meet these needs, companies are increasingly leveraging workstream collaboration platforms. These platforms, like Workplace from Meta, help bring together chat, knowledge sharing, calls (including audio, video, and screen sharing), bots, search and discovery functionalities, and top it all off include some very useful integrations.

Workplace is the Workstream Collaboration Platform for the Frontline

Until recently, companies that wanted to empower their frontline employees to work more autonomously haven’t had the necessary tools or platforms to make it happen. There are numerous business benefits when leaders invest in their frontline employees. There is a clear increase in not only employee engagement and satisfaction but also customer engagement and satisfaction as well.


Increase Frontline Engagement

Groups and chat

Tremendous value can come from having purpose-driven communities.  Employees can share stories, embrace peer support for reassurance, and gain moral support for their well-being. With Workplace from Meta, companies can leverage groups and chats to increase employee engagement and collaboration among dispersed teams.

Live Streaming and Live Video

Enterprise-sponsored events, content and Q&As with leadership representatives add value to sustain engagement. At ServiceRocket, one way our CEO shares his strategic vision with the company to achieve alignment throughout the organization is by using Workplace’s live streaming feature.  He can broadcast time-sensitive communications about new company-wide initiatives, or for fun engagement activities like “Ask Me Anything (AMA)” where employees ask Rob about whatever is on their mind. People watching live can comment in real-time and those who could not watch it live can watch it later.  
Chatbots and Whatsapp

Workplace from Meta offers native chatbot/bot capabilities and has integration partnerships with third-party vendors (like Whatsapp) that can notify frontline workers of certain tasks or information updates. All video streaming features on Workplace can be saved for later viewing, allowing both synchronous and asynchronous communication from HQ to the frontline.

Knowledge Sharing and Accessibility Features

Workplace reduces the time it takes for information to reach frontline employees by 34%, while frontline feedback gets to management 21% faster.

It’s Time to Step Up for the Front Line

Workstream collaboration platforms like Workplace include important features that help leaders promote engagement and productivity in the workplace and helps to achieve alignment, from HQ right to the frontline. Some of the key benefits of Workplace include a breakdown of company silos, connecting remote workers, elevating workflows, and improving engagement that drives ROI. Your frontline deserves the right tools, technology and platform to enable them to be the best at their jobs. Your organization deserves a workstream collaboration platform that delivers when communication and collaboration is critical.

Foster employee collaboration, innovation and productivity through Workplace from Meta by partnering with us.

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