Communicating with deskless workers in 2024: what you need to know

How well do you communicate with the deskless workers in your organisation?

Keeping this hard-to-reach audience up-to-date and on board is one of the toughest jobs for any communications team, which is why we think our latest research report is so important.

The Remotely Interested report , launched last week, takes an in-depth look at the challenges of reaching deskless workers and provides a wealth of practical solutions to make communicating with them easier.

The report covers our two studies in the UK and Ireland – one in 2019 and another in 2023 – to look at what’s working, and what’s not, when it comes to communicating with this group of workers. Researchers talked to over 350 staff from 16 different organisations, and the results were extremely interesting.

In this report we look specifically at deskless workers – those whose job does not require them to be sitting at a desk or permanently in front of a phone or a computer. It’s healthcare workers, shop staff, factory workers, drivers, hospitality staff… around 80% of the UK workforce, in fact.

We wanted to find out how well these workers – who spend on average 90% of their time “doing their job”, rather than admin tasks – felt they were being communicated with, and whether this had changed since the pandemic.

We fully expected that communication with this group would have improved since the pandemic, with advances in technology making it easier to keep in touch. But, spoiler alert, it’s safe to say that was not the case and our assumptions were challenged.

You can download the full report here, and in this edition of the Leadership Fix we want to give you a flavour of the findings and the key themes that really stood out.

There are eight areas of focus that arose in the research, and communications managers and leaders should pay attention to each one in order to gain maximum impact when communicating with deskless or hard-to-reach workers:

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1.???? Relevance

Deskless workers needs content that is relevant to them and their location. They don’t need the ‘noise’ that comes from lots of irrelevant communication. Keep messages tight and tailored.

2.???? Line manager skills

Line managers are the key source of information for most deskless workers, as they simply don’t have time to access written or printed methods of communication. Invest in the communication skills of these line managers.

3.???? Third space

Be very careful which information you display in ‘third spaces’ – that’s an area that’s not work and not home; a canteen or a locker room for example. Don’t bombard people with unnecessary information in areas where they want to relax. Pick the right messages and the right methods.

4.???? The type of worker: solitary, mixed or team

Deskless workers can not all be treated the same. The type of deskless worker someone is determines how they get their content and how often they can have conversations with those they work with. Be clear on who you are talking to and the best methods for each type.

5.???? Employee motivation: Task or brand

Knowing what motivates your workers is a great way of knowing how to tailor your communications. We identified a broad split – between those motivated by the tasks they carry out and those motivated by their affiliation to the organisation or brand.

6.???? Getting the right digital tools in place

The range of digital tools on offer has changed greatly, even in the four years between our studies. WhatsApp is the area where we saw the biggest rise in use, which comes with significant risks alongside the benefits.

7.???? Communicating with a verbal culture

Deskless workers will rarely communicate using written methods. They need to be able to share content verbally, and as quickly as possible. It’s really important that any information designed to be shared within these groups is created with this in mind.

8.???? Content for engagement

Being really clear on what engagement means and looks like for your organisation is crucial. This will help you define the purpose of each piece of internal communication and make sure you’re communication for the right reasons.

The full report contains lots of insightful data around each of these eight themes and practical advice on how to implement each one within your own organisation. You can download it here .

I’d love to know if these themes resonate with you and what your experiences are in your own organisations? Which of these would you say is the biggest challenge? Or is it something else entirely?

You can always get in touch with us directly if you'd like to fix this challenge once and for all!