The Shift | June 8th

Hi there and welcome to the first June edition of?The Shift?—?the only fortnightly newsletter for frontline champions, delivered to you by Blink.

This content looks better on email.?Subscribe?to get The Shift in your inbox.

Blue-collar bounce back

“We’re making the whole economy more resilient, and all the workers are playing a vital role in that.”?These are the words of Celeste Drake, deputy director for labor and economy at the National Economic Council, describing?how a blue-collar boom could help strengthen America’s economic landscape.

The Biden administration is investing heavily in projects that focus on frontline employment, while tech and other white-collar industries start to look less stable and secure for jobseekers.

Investments in blue-collar job opportunities could help reduce cost increases elsewhere in the supply chain. If Biden’s team succeeds in bringing semiconductor manufacturing back to the US, then this could stabilize the prices of new cars and computers, for example.

But rebuilding the blue-collar workforce requires more than open opportunities. These opportunities need to be of?high employment, work, and organizational quality.

Treating blue-collar workers with respect is an essential, yet sometimes overlooked, factor for creating quality jobs.?"When those workers aren't treated with the full respect that they deserve, or the recognition of their competence, the recognition of the important contributions they make, it can be a potential dignity threat," explains Kristen Lucas, an associate professor in the college of business at the University of Louisville.

This is echoed in?Gartner’s recent The Future of Frontline Work report:?86% of hourly employees say it's important for their organization to see them as a?person?and not just an?employee.?Only?33% feel it is easy to find an organization that sees them this way today.

Learn more about the employment, work, and organizational quality framework?here.

How to implement a frontline employee app

When employee experience is improved, you also move the needle on retention, productivity, and profit. But?how?can that be made possible?

The Shift LIVE: Ask Me Anything on how to implement a frontline employee app?intends to answer that question. Blink’s Head of Implementation, MJ Moore, will be taking your questions on employee app deployment and implementation:?the how, what, when, and who of a successful software rollout.

Save your space now?and send MJ your question.

Microvalidations for macro cultural change

If you want to make a difference in the LGBTQIA+ employee experience, try embracing the concept of?microvalidations.?

Coined by Harvard Business Review,?microvalidations (small, positive actions that encourage or affirm) are the counter to migroaggressions?(a subtle or unintentional form of discrimination that’s still too often seen in workplaces today).

“Twenty years of research from the?Center for Positive Organizations,?Gallup Institute, and?others?show?that highlighting employees’ strengths and contributions helps them to grow stronger, perform better, and become more engaged, and be happier, healthier, and more connected” Harvard Business Review explains. And yet employees from minority and/or marginalized groups receive less recognition, less useful feedback, and more scrutiny in their roles. This is why microvalidations can be so powerful for creating an inclusive, supportive workplace.

Microvalidations include:

• Acknowledging presence?– Ignoring or minimizing someone’s input is a?microaggression. Acknowledging and giving your full attention to every employee is a?microvalidation
• Voicing your appreciation?– We've all given props to a coworker for a job well done. But did you know that we're also all biased when it comes to showing appreciation — that we're more likely to speak up and share that feedback for people who remind us of ourselves? Check your bias and voice your appreciation for?every?employee
• Holding high standards?– Another bias we should all be aware of: “People in non-dominant groups are often held to lower standards in subtle ways: they are steered towards lower-level tasks; their work is micromanaged…” Make sure you hold all employees to the same high standards and celebrate their contributions to embrace this microvalidation

In case you missed it

??‘Working: What We Do All Day’?is the new Netflix docuseries hosted by Barack Obama, exploring the meaning of work for modern Americans. Follow in a frontline worker’s day as industries including hospitality and home health are assessed to discover “What makes a good job good?”.

??A UK local council is?testing the 32-hour work-week?with 150 refuse loaders and drivers. This move mirrors a similar, successful, experiment with the council's office-based staff. Pay will remain the same and the public has been reassured that service levels won’t drop. Instead, the council hopes that a reduced week will encourage staff to work "more intensely and productively."

??Deloitte has illustrated?the ten ways that AI can make frontline jobs easier. Improving care coordination comes in at number one, but other ideas include predicting bus and subway maintenance needs, speeding up the delivery of information in Emergency Medical Services, and helping firefighters navigate real-time traffic.

Know someone who would enjoy The Shift? Share?this link?and they can join you in receiving the?only?update for frontline champions.?