The Shift | March 2nd

Hello and welcome to March’s first edition of?The Shift?— Blink's fortnightly newsletter for frontline champions. The winter months are almost behind us but, for now, grab yourself a hot drink and enjoy this fresh batch of frontline business insights.?

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Why HR technologies fail (and how yours can succeed)

42% of people surveyed said their HR technology implementations had failed or not been fully successful two years after installation. In most cases, the failure came down to?employees refusing to use the new platform?or?seeing little value?in the features being offered.

The link between implementation and adoption is something we touch on in our recent article?comparing employee engagement tools . And we absolutely echo the comments of Joe Atkinson (vice chair and chief product and technology officer for PwC)?here ?that?when new tech fails at the adoption phase, it's not the fault of the users.

“Blaming employees has been the playbook for many companies for years,” Atkinson says. “But rather than simply mandating [that workers] use new systems, companies should be evaluating whether the new platforms they select and install are making employees’ work lives easier or their tasks more efficient. Workers now look at corporate technology the same way they do consumer technology. They simply won’t use tools that aren’t intuitive or don’t have a great user experience.”

To make sure your next tech purchase is a success:

• Identify the true employee requirements
• Be clear on the root challenge you’re looking to solve
• Understand how the tool will impact every department
• Evaluate your options in terms of integration, culture, onboarding experience, scalability, and cost

Read more about these success factors?on the Blink blog ?today.

"Deliberate calm" for the deskless workforce

Calm isn’t a word many would use to describe the last few years of business, but it’s the central theme of a book,?Deliberate calm: How to learn and lead in a volatile world,?published a few months back.

?The book is the work of an ex-McKinsey team of authors who blend neuroscience, psychology, and organizational design to help empower leaders to manage teams — no matter the external landscape they’re against.

Do the principles translate for frontline teams??The authors certainly think so . Their advice to the leaders of deskless employees would be:

• Improve learning agility?– Managers need to become “active, curious listeners” to better understand what frontline workers need. Armed with a clear understanding of the true frontline employee experience, leaders can act with empathy and provide the flexibility, support, and growth that frontline employees need, especially when the going gets tough
• Invest in emotional intelligence?– “Relational ties” become even more important during times of uncertainty. If frontline leaders can strengthen their EI and practice "emotional self-regulation" then they can lead by example for their teams
• Practice dual awareness?– It’s not enough to only look inwards when external challenges arise. That’s why the third principle is about dual awareness: “Leaders who learn to read the situation while considering not only the performance requirements of the business, but also the needs of frontline employees, can better identify creative solutions that prioritize both.”

1,450 leaders put these ideas into practice for just 30 minutes a day over the course of three months, resulting in?improved performance,?greater adaptability, and?increased optimism and well-being.

This “deliberate calm” can then be channeled into the kind of employee experiences that help frontline workers to thrive.

How, where, and why to use robots in retail and hospitality

Chatbot technology has become a common feature in online retail, but when it comes to in-store shopping, people are not sold on the concept. Only?48% of survey respondents agree ?that robots could improve the in-person shopping experience and?21% do not believe robots can add value?anywhere?in the shopping journey or supply chain.

If we look to the food delivery and fulfilment sectors, however, the figures are slightly different as consumers are more receptive to robot assistance.

Busy hospitality spaces are where robot staff can help make both the customer and the employee experience more enjoyable. For example, Bella (a.k.a, BellaBot) has been deployed in several restaurants to deliver food from the kitchen to the tables and return with dirty dishes to wash — even when the restaurant is fully staffed.

And therein lies the real opportunity of robots in customer-facing roles:?robots can be a value-adding support, rather than a replacement, for frontline staff.

Customer research backs this up. 43% of people say that the use of robots would have no effect on their likelihood to purchase from a business, suggesting that leaning on robotics as a gimmick alone is a plan that’s doomed to fail.

Frontline teams in the social spotlight

Here's a mood-boosting round-up of deskless workers going above and beyond, ahead of Employee Appreciation Day tomorrow (March 3rd)

• Videos made by retail staff in the UK arts and crafts store, Hobbycraft, amassed millions of views — raising the brand’s social media profile while making it look like a?really?fun place to work.?This one ?is hands-down our favorite
• A London bus driver was praised on Facebook for his?‘inclusive’ and ‘gold standard’ service ?helping a partially sighted passenger to board the bus safely
• US travel bloggers Steph and Pete?took to Instagram to thank ?a shop owner who found Steph’s wallet on a train and tracked her down to return it

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