7 ways to better engage your non-desk employees

We know that employees who are engaged in their work are more productive.

Unfortunately, most employees around the world are not engaged.

According to a 2021 Gallup’s report, roughly 7 in 10 employees are struggling or suffering, rather than thriving, in their overall lives. 80% are not engaged or are actively disengaged at work.

Given that non-desk workers make up the vast majority of the workforce (80%), these disengaged employees are often non-desk or frontline workers.

One main reason for this is that non-desk employees often feel left out of the loop. Many believe that they don’t get enough information they need to do a good job. In addition to that, they feel that their voice is not heard or ignored by the management.

And when people are not cognitively and emotionally engaged in their work and workplace, they will do the minimum required, but will quickly leave the company for a slightly better offer.

So how can organizations increase the engagement of non-desk employees? What should be done to make them feel more connected to the company culture and shared values?

Here are some ideas to help you increase employee engagement.

Keep them in the loop.

To drive the company forward, it’s important to keep all desk- and non-desk employees aligned with the company goals and values. Employees want to know what their team is working towards.

Ensure that your non-desk workers always receive all information they need and want to know. Establishing one centralized communication platform can help to keep every single employee in the loop with company news and updates, department targets and performance data.

Establish two-way communication.

Naturally, employees will be more engaged and motivated in their job when their voice is heard, and their opinions are valued by the higher-ups. As a manager, you should encourage employees to freely share their thoughts and suggestions. They can bring you great ideas for improvement as well as valuable insights on customer experience if their job involves working directly with customers.

📄 Read also: Drive innovation within your organization with Involv Ideation

Streamline the employee onboarding process.

New employees easily feel neglected and overwhelmed. Organizations need to create a thoughtful onboarding experience, making new employees feel welcome and supported. Introduce them to your company culture, let them know who is in their team, show them all the documents and training materials they need to do a good job. The company intranet is an effective tool for this as it  allows employees to access everything they need, when they need it.

Engage your managers.

Managers and supervisors in particular should live the company culture and lead by example. They play an important role in stimulating engagement among employees. Your organization can take steps to engage managers by providing adequate training on leadership and managing people. Remember “Employee engagement starts at the top”.

Acknowledge and appreciate their work.

According to a HubSpot’s survey, 69% of employees say they’d work harder if they were better appreciated. Make sure you take time to regularly acknowledge great work. For your non-desk workers, being recognized and appreciated can mean a lot, as they often feel left out. Two simple words “thank you” can really make a huge difference – especially when done publicly.

Provide the necessary training and tools.

Engagement is not merely about making employees happier at work; it is about empowering and bringing out the best in people. Ensure that your employees always get sufficient training and tools that support them to be more successful at their job.

Use mobile-first communication tools.

Non-desk workers are often hard to reach. Because of their job characteristics, they may not have access to a computer or laptop, and sometimes even don’t have a company email address. So it is necessary to incorporate a more comfortable and familiar channel for non-desk employees in your internal communication: their mobile phone.

An intranet mobile app is an effective tool to reach and engage your non-desk workers. It enables your employees, no matter where they work, to access the company intranet via their smartphones, with the same ease as if they were using a computer. Features such as push notifications, audience targeting, people directory, analytics and many more make the intranet mobile app a centralized platform for all the above-mentioned activities.

Summing up:

It’s no secret that having an engaged workforce makes a significant impact on the overall performance of the organization. But most organizations struggle with keeping non-desk workers informed and engaged because they’re hard to reach through common communication channels.

Fortunately, you can overcome this challenge by providing your employees with a good intranet mobile app. For example, the Involv mobile app is designed to connect and engage with all your employees, no matter where they work, in the fastest and easiest way.

Would you like to learn more about the Involv intranet mobile app and how it benefits your organization and employees? Schedule a free demo with one of our intranet experts.

(Photo: Freepik)