Deskless Workforce Training Made Effective with the Right Employee Communication Tools

It’s not just a term—frontline workers are truly on the frontlines of business, involved directly with production, client relations, sales, and deliveries. In order for them to perform at their best, they need the best training and professional development programs. And that means regular seminars and consistent upgrades, to give them the knowledge and the techniques they require to succeed in their roles, enhancing both performance and employee satisfaction.

In this article, we’ll discuss the importance of proper training for frontline workers, and the difference it can make for your company as a whole.

Problems a company can face when it comes to frontline training and development programs 

Because of the specialized skills that most frontline roles require, proper training is obviously critical. But a crucial component of this kind of continuous learning is communication. This can cause a number of challenges to crop up when it comes to ensuring frontline workers have the skillset they need to perform at their best. These obstacles can involve:

• Time constraints

Frontline workers often have a busy schedule and limited time for training sessions. It can be difficult to find the right time for training without negatively impacting productivity.

• Skill variations

Frontline workers come from a diverse range of backgrounds and skillsets, making it challenging to provide training and development programs that are suitable for all employees.

• Lack of motivation

Some frontline workers may not see the value in training or feel that it is not relevant to their day-to-day tasks.

• High turnover

Frontline workers may have a high turnover rate, making it challenging to maintain a consistent level of complete training and development to build a high-performing team.

• Limited resources

Organizations may have limited resources available to invest in training, making it challenging to develop and deliver effective employee training for frontline and deskless workers outside of a traditional office environment.

Proper frontline training is important in every business sector

Will these sorts of challenges actually affect performance and productivity for frontline and deskless workers? Absolutely. And this holds true across the corporate world in general, regardless of company type or sector, or where their global workforce is located. In fact, here are a few examples of just how critical an employee training program can be, and why it’s important to improve training materials whenever possible. 

Retail Industry

In the retail industry, frontline workers are often responsible for sales and customer service. Regular training at their own pace is essential to ensure that employees are equipped with the necessary skills to engage with customers effectively and drive sales. For example, training on customer service, product knowledge, and sales techniques can be used to build a high-performing team.

Healthcare Industry

In the healthcare industry, frontline workers such as nurses and care assistants require regular training to ensure that they are up-to-date with the latest medical practices and procedures. This training can cover topics such as infection control, medication administration, and patient care. Regular training can help build an effective team and improve patient outcomes.

Manufacturing Industry

In the manufacturing industry, frontline workers are responsible for production and quality control. Regular training on equipment usage, safety procedures, and quality control can help to build an expert team that is focused on efficiency and product quality.

How do you improve training for deskless workers in an efficient and effective way? By incorporating it into your internal communication strategy. In the next section, we’ll show you how the learning process can help, improving employee engagement and performance with the proper deskless training and development.

Solutions for effective employee training and development programs

Training deskless workers doesn’t have to be a separate component of employee communication. It can and should be incorporated into the strategy and tools at your disposal, becoming a regular part of a frontline employee’s routine. This can be accomplished for deskless workers via the following training and development techniques.

Centralized training platform

A platform like Sociabble can provide a centralized digital space for training, making it easy for managers to create and share educational materials, and for your deskless workforce to access them from anywhere.

Interactive training modules

Interactive deskless worker training modules that keep team members engaged and motivated to learn should be utilized. This can include gamification, quizzes, and other interactive elements. Plus, with features like Sociabble’s survey engine, it’s easier than ever to create surveys and collect answers and insights, helping to keep workers engaged throughout the whole process.

Personalized training programs

With Sociabble, it’s also easy to create personalized training programs for team members based on their individual strengths and weaknesses, ensuring that each team member receives the training they need to excel. And thanks to Sociabble Enterprise Video, it’s easy to create training videos complete with real-time translation, so they can be used across global offices. 

Surveys for employee feedback

With the smart use of surveys, employers can receive real-time feedback from employees on the training, allowing them to suggest improvements, and as a result, be more engaged in the process. Fine-tuning training techniques to suit employee needs can drastically boost their effectiveness.

Must-read content 

Ensuring that training updates and materials are actually received, read, and remembered is a critical component of any employee training program. For example, Sociabble’s “must-read” feature allows admins to verify that workers are absorbing the latest revisions and additions to protocols, procedures, regulations, and important product information–employees cannot proceed until they’ve read and acknowledged receipt and understanding.

Micro-learning opportunities

These tutorials can come from top-level management or from individuals working in the field, providing an effective way to communicate essential skills and knowledge to deskless workers. Again, with a feature like Sociabble Enterprise Video, creating polished instructional videos is easy, giving leadership the power to generate instructional content with just a few clicks, or even with their smartphone. 

Mobile access

Frontline workers don’t always have a desktop or a professional email address to receive training materials–which is when mobile access becomes key. Thanks to the Sociabble mobile app, for example, employees in the field can access training materials just as easily as their in-office peers, in a secure and compliant way, directly from their smartphones. 

Analytics and reporting

With a platform like Sociabble, you can ensure analytics and reporting on training and development programs, allowing managers to track the progress of individual team members and identify areas for improvement in the overall training development program.

Implementing these elements as part of your employee communication development strategy can ensure that skills training takes place for your deskless workforce, and more importantly, that these critical skills are learned and put into everyday practice.

Sociabble: The communication solution that empowers frontline & deskless workforce training 

Sociabble is the total communication solution that’s specifically designed to keep frontline workers connected, informed, and engaged with company life. With Sociabble, they’ll receive the updates and notifications they need, regardless of if they’re at a desk at HQ, or on the frontlines, relying on a mobile device. Deskless workers will also be able to receive on the job training instruction as needed, with surveys and quizzes to test knowledge retention.

Sociabble has already teamed up with industry leaders like Coca-Cola CCEP, Primark, and L’Occitane en Provence to enhance their employee communications, and we’d love to discuss ways we can partner with your company as well.