TRAINING & SKILLS FEATURE ENGAGING WITH THREE TYPES OF EMPLOYEE Ultimately, there are four key resources
essential for every type of worker in your manufacturing business: • Knowledge • Processes • Communication • Collaboration Digital transformation allows
organisations to get those resources in front of their workers at the right time and in the right format to meet their individual, targeted needs. In a world in which your employees are
A mobile digital platform can keep the three different employee groups found in the manufacturing industry informed, safe and engaged, says Frank Wolf, co-founder of Staffbase
A
s workforces become increasingly dispersed, employee engagement has
never been more important. 68% of professionals in the UK would like to have work schedules with flexible hours, and in September of 2019, it was reported by the CIPD that over half of UK workers have now been given this opportunity. But what about manufacturing
organisations, where it’s impossible for most production-focused employees to carry out their duties from home? What are their biggest engagement challenges and communication concerns? Non-desk workers in the manufacturing
industry number around 427 million globally. That’s an enormous group of employees who connect to their organisations through bulletin boards and other old-fashioned means of company comms. If they connect at all. And it’s more than just engagement.
Near the top of the list of concerns for every manufacturing company is the issue of safety. Many organisations continue to collect safety information and emergency protocols in the form of printed guidelines that are generally useless in times of true crisis and offer very little when it comes to their preventative capabilities. To keep up with today’s workforce
requirements, the manufacturing industry needs to find more creative and engaging ways of connecting with their non-desk employees and sharing information. The first step is to understand the
different types of employees found within most manufacturing organisations. True, we all have unique needs, but for the sake of tailoring an employee engagement strategy, we can categorise manufacturing workers into three basic groups based around working patterns and needs:
1. Knowledge-Based Workers This group includes employees in IT,
sales, marketing, and management. They are likely to be desk-based — either remote or on site. They are often focused on driving new avenues for the business and rely on high levels of knowledge, communication, and collaboration with other parts of the business. They must use their own knowledge and that of their colleagues develop the business. 2. Process Workers
Process workers are those in areas such
as production planning, HR, and purchasing. They also rely on high levels of knowledge from across the business, and they depend on efficient communication with other colleagues and departments. However, due to the repetitive nature of their work tasks, they do not require the same level of collaboration as knowledge-based employees. Instead, they rely on established business processes. 3. Non-Desk Workers
In manufacturing organisations, non-
desk workers are typically found in production. They rely almost totally on communication from other parts of the business to understand and complete their role. They need elements of knowledge and business processes but they generally do not need to collaborate to undertake manufacturing tasks. They are also the ones most likely to be faced with accidents and safety issues. Once you understand the kinds of
employees who make up your workforce and the nature of their specific roles, the next step in effectively engaging them and keeping them safe and productive is to harness the power of the tools made available by digital transformation.
Whatever the requirement, a mobile digital platform can provide manufacturing industries with an optimal way of reaching every worker type, regardless of their role, location, or category
likely to spend much of their leisure time engaging with mobile technology, digital communication channels can offer a powerful, cost-effective, and flexible way to engage with staff members in the ways that best suit them. Manufacturing businesses no longer
need to depend on notice-boards and kiosks – or even mass emails – to share information with all staff. Instead, they can look to harness the mobile devices an overwhelming majority of their staff carry with them every day. Such native, mobile apps also offer a
clear benefit in the form of push notifications, which provide a good way to share time-sensitive or emergency information. The goal is to get the right messages at the right time to the right employees – in a format that puts their convenience and safety first. Think about the principles of a
traditional intranet — providing a single source of information for all employees, optimally on a platform that allows them to collaborate with each other. Such an option remains viable for your desk-bound employees, but what about everyone else? One increasingly popular option for
meeting the needs of all employees is to develop a mobile employee intranet that can deliver a personalised experience to the smartphones of each worker type. A mobile intranet can give workers on
Frank Wolf, co-founder of Staffbase, says, ‘flexibility, agility, and timeliness are all key in the modern workforce, and the goal is to get the right messages at the right time to the right employees – in a format that puts their convenience and safety first’
the factory floor or production line easy access to their shift patterns, key health and safety information, and upcoming production schedules. Knowledge-based workers will have a collaboration tool that enables them to conveniently share project updates with colleagues from other departments — whether they’re at the company HQ or working from home. Whatever the requirement, a mobile
digital platform can provide manufacturing industries with an optimal way of reaching every worker type, regardless of their role, location, or category. An employee app for manufacturing will keep all of your employees better informed, safer and productive and engaged.
Staffbase
www.staffbase.com
PROCESS & CONTROL | APRIL 2020 23
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