The Shift | August 8th

Hello and welcome to The Shift, Blink’s bi-monthly newsletter for frontline champions. Coming up in this issue:

• The astonishing cost of workplace friction — and how to eliminate it
• Making your benefits package pay with better communication
• Reducing frontline churn: 3 actionable strategies you may not have considered

FRONTLINE EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE

Workplace friction: a multi-million dollar problem

Removing friction from the customer experience is a priority for many organizations. But — argues Christophe Martel in Customer Think — we should be striving to remove friction from the employee experience, too.??

Workplace friction makes an employee’s job harder than it needs to be. It’s often caused by ineffective processes or inadequate tech. And? — for an organization with 10,000 employees — Martel estimates its cost at $20 million to $30 million per year.

By eliminating workplace friction, you recover this cost. You improve operations, employee engagement, and worker retention.?

Martel says that getting employee feedback is the place to start. By asking questions about tasks and processes, you root out points of friction — and can then work to address them.

What else can employee feedback do for your business? Find out by reading our article: Employee voice in the workplace.

FRONTLINE COMMUNICATIONS

Boosting benefits awareness

You may have an excellent benefits package. But do employees actually understand it?

According to a new workplace study from LegalShield, many employers are falling short when it comes to benefits communication.

The study reveals that:

• 45% of employees struggle to get benefits information during open enrolment
• 34% are dissatisfied with the support they receive when they ask questions about their benefits
• 89% say they’d like benefits information curated for their age, gender, and location

To ensure your benefits package has the maximum impact on employee experience and engagement, clear, personalized communication is the way to go.

FRONTLINE RETENTION

3 impactful ideas for frontline worker retention

Frontline retention remains a hot topic. And this week, Food Industry Executive looked at three major drivers of retention in the food and beverage manufacturing industry:

• Pay
• Schedule flexibility
• Meaningful work

They also proposed actionable strategies for improving employee experience in these key areas.?

1. Offer on-demand pay

Give employees greater control over their finances by allowing them to access earned wages before their scheduled payday.?

51% of frontline managers say this would make them more likely to pick up more shifts. 40% said they’d be motivated to work harder.

2. Consider remote work opportunities

Thanks to tech advances, there are ways to make frontline work more flexible.?

Consider whether your frontline employees can access training materials, monitor production lines, or troubleshoot problems remotely. Also, give employees shift-swap tools so they have greater control over their work-life balance.??

3. Use platforms for worker connection

93% of manufacturing workers who use workplace communication platforms say these tools boost transparency and accountability.?

These tools support workplace communication and team building. They give employees access to critical information like production schedules, safety protocols, and alerts. They also put training programs into the palm of every employee.???

Read about Go North West, a transit company that reduced employee turnover by 26% — thanks to Blink’s employee communication app.

LEADERSHIP TAKEAWAYS

Frontline insight from Blink’s CEO

Blink’s CEO, Sean Nolan, was recently interviewed by Management Today about his leadership journey, business trends, and the most common mistake employers make.?

Here are a couple of highlights from the piece.??

Sean’s take on: The mistake many employers make

A lot of companies tell us they have an ‘employee engagement’ problem. They know their teams are disjointed and dissatisfied but can’t quite put their finger on why. Yet when we talk to frontline workers, they don’t ask to be more ‘engaged’. They want to feel more involved, valued, and autonomous. Many employers misunderstand engagement, focusing on cultural initiatives whereas, for staff, it’s usually about how they interact day-to-day with the company

Sean’s take on: The big trend that will transform business

We will see a rise in the status, pay, and demand for frontline workers. As a society, over the past 50 years, we’ve tilted too far towards academic qualifications and desk-based work. The AI-powered productivity gains for desk-based workers — at the same time as a shortage of nurses, hospitality staff, electricians, and such — means many people will be better off financially if they learn a trade or qualification in a frontline industry.

Sean’s take on: The value that guides him as a leader

Transparency. I call that my North Star. Too many leaders focus on what they can’t say rather than on what they can. You have to make everyone feel part of the team, telling them what they need to know to do their job. Transparency also means being honest about who you are, rather than saying what you think is the right thing. If you share your worries, hopes, and expectations and admit what you don’t know and can’t control, it builds trust.

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