If you're an HR Director, Communications Director, or Talent Acquisition Specialist who manages a mobile workforce, you know how challenging good communication can be.

Deskless workers often work in remote settings or visit different locations throughout the day, so you may go long stretches without seeing or verbally communicating with some of your employees. 

Because of this, communication channels that work for office and onsite employees aren't practical for mobile workers.

Employee engagement is one of the most important indicators in gauging satisfaction in work. This is especially true amongst Front Line Workers. People are looking for more than just a 9-to-5 job these days. They crave to be involved in their work, and want to be enthusiastic about the organization they work for and to be committed to those they work with.

Communication in the workplace has changed drastically over the last decade — most notably, in the previous few years, thanks to the pandemic. 

During the pandemic, the world learned that frontline workers are the backbone of our economy as we watched them leave jobs en masse. Now we know that if organizations want to succeed, they need to improve interpersonal communication for all employees, not just those who occupy a desk.

Despite making up 80% of the global workforce, frontline employees have consistently been excluded from company-wide communication. But, thanks to an influx of much-needed HR technology, things are changing. 

Whether you operate a single retail location or a chain of stores, your retail employees are your best asset. They are the ones who interact with your customers daily and can create a positive or negative association with your brand. 

But, with a 69% employee turnover rate in retail — 12% higher than the U.S. national average — it can feel like most of your time and resources are spent on hiring and training new staff rather than nurturing existing employees to be your best brand ambassadors. 

With an approximate price tag of $3400 to replace one employee, a retention strategy should definitely be on your radar.

Deciding to place a beloved family member in a senior care facility is challenging. It's a decision no family member wants to make, but they trust you and your staff to offer them the best care possible when they do.

However, if employee communication in your long-term care facility falls short, it can be a chaotic and frustrating experience for your senior care staff, residents, and their families. This can lead to families moving their loved ones to a different facility and employees leaving their roles to find work elsewhere — and in a worker shortage, it's unlikely you can spare staff right now.

Effective communication is the foundation for any successful relationship, and your assisted living facility is no different.

If your favorite vegan ice cream flavor has been out of stock at your local supermarket for the last few months, you may be the victim of a labor shortage.

Current labor shortages are affecting supply chain issues from picking crops, manufacturing, and transportation to stocking shelves, and there’s no end in sight. Thus, that persistent empty shelf is where your ice cream should be.

As a business owner who employs frontline workers, this reality is a heavy weight to carry. Your profits hinge on hiring and retaining enough workers to keep business cruising, customers happy, and cash flowing.

When your ‘help wanted’ ad gets nothing but crickets, and you receive resignation letters regularly, it’s hard to remain hopeful. But, rather than focus on the frontline employees you don’t have, it’s better to focus on keeping the ones you do.

At the start of the pandemic, organizations scrambled to get online, set up curbside shopping, and restructure how to get work done and stay in business. It was like everyone was in fight or flight mode.

Those who fought (mostly) survived – and this fight to stay alive, forced companies to find new ways to do business. 

Many of these changes ended up being for the better. Namely, how the world views frontline employees. Before the pandemic, frontline workers were often considered expendable and easily replaced. But now, businesses know better. 

There’s nothing like a global pandemic to highlight poor employee communication. Especially in industries where workers need to physically show up for work.

Frontline and hourly workers make up 80% of our global workforce, and for industries like restaurant, retail, and manufacturing, they represent the largest percentage of the workforce. 

Communicating effectively with a large team of desk-less workers has its challenges. But the pandemic did an excellent job of highlighting just how critical frontline workers are to a company's success. And the mass job walkouts have taught us that frontline employees are no longer interested in being treated like second-class workers. 

The work world has experienced drastic changes over the last few years. The pandemic has influenced how businesses operate, from hybrid schedules to company policies, practices, and procedures.