Managing deskless workers like security guards is a challenging task. Keeping your employee morale high is essential to achieve higher productivity levels. At the same time, you need to make sure your team is fully prepared to meet ever-changing consumer needs and deliver impeccable results.
The best way to achieve all these goals is to make the most of modern tools and technologies. Besides, companies should reinvent traditional workforce management practices for maximum efficiency and improved performance. From enhancing communication to optimizing schedules, equipping your deskless team with the right tools and strategies can make them more productive.
Hence, we bring 5 proven strategies to help companies make their deskless workers more productive and remain competitive.
Let’s get started!
Who are Deskless Workers?
Deskless workers refer to employees who do not work in a traditional office setting. Instead, they spend the majority of their working hours in the field or a non-office environment. Common examples of deskless workers include security officers, facilities management staff, construction workers, and field service technicians.
Often called frontline workers, deskless personnel play a key role in business growth. However, given their unique characteristics, they require specific tools and technologies to support their work. Maintaining seamless communication with these employees is critical to improving their work performance and getting desired results.
How to Make Deskless Workers More Productive?
Companies take several steps to empower deskless workers and achieve their productivity targets. Explained below are a few proven strategies that can enhance the performance of deskless teams and help companies satisfy their growing consumer base.
1. Establish Clear Goals and Objectives
First of all, you need to establish clear goals and objectives and determine your direction to make deskless workers more productive. Make sure to define your objectives clearly and communicate them with all your team members. This step will help you stay on track and guide you to reach your destination.
- Clearly outline the purpose of each task, so everyone understands the desired outcomes.
- Set realistic deadlines and monitor performance accordingly.
- Establish clear goals for each project related to team productivity, cost efficiency, customer satisfaction, etc.
- Provide your deskless workers with the necessary resources they need to complete tasks on time
- Celebrate successes together to motivate outperformers and encourage them to further improve their performance in the future.
2. Use Digital Apps and Software
Technology drives team productivity and efficiency, and there’s no doubt about it. With the right set of digital tools, you can increase the performance of your deskless workers and achieve your desired objectives. Besides, technology adoption amplifies business growth at a rapid pace and leads to long-term sustainability.
However, when it comes to choosing digital tools, the question arises of which technologies can be more productive and generate better results. Here are a few digital apps you must use to optimize the performance of your deskless employees:
- Workforce Management Apps: Cloud-based workforce management apps are essential to effectively manage teams operating remotely like sites. The software offers powerful features like automated scheduling, time tracking, leave management, and incident management. Some applications like Smart Workforce also offer exclusive features like automated control room management, patrolling management, and BS7858 staff vetting.
- Virtual Communication Apps: Effective communication is the key to success, particularly when it comes to managing onsite personnel. By allowing deskless workers to get in touch with their managers and colleagues, you can overcome potential challenges and make remote teams more productive and efficient.
3. Training and Professional Development
Before you think of equipping your deskless workers with modern tools and technologies, they need to learn how to use these platforms. This is why proper training and support are essential for professional development and performance improvement. Otherwise, they won’t be able to effectively utilize new technologies in their routine tasks.
Hence, start initiatives to make your deskless workers tech-savvy. Introduce them to new tools and technologies and tell them how to use digital platforms to become more productive. For this purpose, provide them with necessary resources like step-by-step tutorials, user guides, and professional trainers. Once they complete the basic training, follow up with additional exercises for further improvement.
Moreover, give them period check-ins along with technical assistance whenever needed. This will make them feel more comfortable while using modern tools and encourage them to ask necessary questions. All these steps will significantly increase overall team productivity and help your company achieve your desired goals.
4. Use Actionable Insights to Make Informed Decisions
Once you have implemented modern tools and technologies, you’re now ready to evaluate staff performance based on actionable insights. Digital solutions provide valuable real-time insights into trends, interactions, and opportunities. As a manager, it is up to you how you can use these insights to make informed decisions and make your teams more productive.
Similarly, you can use employee feedback surveys and digital forms to identify areas that need more support. Data acquired from these tools can also be used to track workflows, evaluate performances, and make data-driven decisions.
Moreover, team leads can also analyze their team’s work patterns so they know what works best for each employee. Based on this data, they can analyze work patterns and create schedules while meeting demanding business objectives.
5. Use KPIs to Track Performance
Finally, set specific Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to track the performance of deskless workers and make changes accordingly. You can use different data-gathering tools like workforce management software to identify patterns and monitor staff performances in real time. This information can also help leaders get the most out of their frontline team without sacrificing quality or service.
By leveraging specific KPIs and gathering data, you can track the performance of your remote employees in real-time. This will also make it easier for managers to coordinate with deskless teams and regularly check in with them on their progress.
Final Words
Unlike in-house teams, deskless workers are difficult to control due to the lack of face-to-face interaction. Teams operating in remote sites require consistent monitoring and seamless communication to deliver impeccable results.
This is only possible if companies use modern digital solutions like workforce management software or collaboration tools. These cloud-based platforms have powerful features tailored to the organizational needs of modern businesses. Companies can use these tools to make their deskless workers more productive while keeping their expenses in control.
Moreover, team leaders can use high-tech solutions to gather actionable insights and make data-driven decisions accordingly. This allows them to take full control over their teams and achieve long-term sustainability.