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by Aware
Business decisions are made in the board room, but they’re felt by front line workers.
Employees on the front lines are the first touch point to customers, the engine in the production line, and the personification of the brand. However, communicating effectively to every member of an organization can be difficult for enterprises with thousands of employees across various geographic locations.
The failure to recognize the importance of an open line of communication to and from frontline employees not only threatens business sales, but also company culture.
The Entrance of Collaboration Tools for the Front Line
In the past, email and phone were king. As technology has evolved, these forms of communication have become sluggish and overused.
The average person spends 28% of the workweek reading and responding to email and overflowing inboxes have become a norm. Collaboration tools offer a solution to this antiquated system.
Collaboration tools like Workplace from Meta, Slack and Microsoft Teams offer unified communication channels for leaders to connect with every tier of the business.
Executives, managers, and individual contributors can communicate in real-time on the same platform. Information from the front lines can reach the boardroom in seconds—eliminating delay and information silos.
The Incredible Potential of Collaboration for Customer-Facing Workers
Frontline workers are often the first public touchpoint, and receive immediate feedback from any brand’s most key critic—customers.
This can happen in a wide spectrum of roles, from retail clerks to nurses to baristas.
For example, employees at Countdown Supermarkets used Workplace to communicate an avocado shortage to their 18,000 employees, giving ample support to staff to identify substitutes and prepare for customer inquiries.
Common Barriers to Rolling Out Your Collaboration Program
If your organization is investigating a frontline digital workplace initiative, effective change management is key. Below are common barriers that organizations encounter that can be easily alleviated.
Employee Training
Frontline workers seldom have as much experience with digital workplace tools as office workers typically do. As a result, there may be a need for increased training for customer-facing employees. Communicate clear goals, direction, and guidelines to employees so that they can leverage the platforms effectively.
Inappropriate Employee Behavior
Access to a chat tool can lead to toxic activity from untrained or malicious employees poisoning company culture and health. Make sure to communicate clear guidelines for proper usage of the chat tool and consider implementing an employee listening solution to prevent a human resource or PR nightmare.
Insider Threats
As with any new technology, security is something that should be considered. In a collaboration environment, there is a risk of employees sharing sensitive information—maliciously or out of ignorance. Unless properly coached, employees may share passwords, company information, and other personal identifiable information.
Aware empowers organizations to deploy frontline collaboration tools safely and securely, and delivers enhanced AI/ML-infused insights that elevate the voice of the employee from the break room to the boardroom. Request a demo to learn more about how Aware can help your organization succeed.
