Frontline workers make up the bulk of the workforce. To ensure that frontline operations run smoothly, a connected worker solution is essential. Picture this, you’re on the factory floor, construction site, or even taking orders at a drive-thru, and you need to know your run rate or you need to 86 a menu item. To accomplish that you need three things:
A connected worker software system
Devices for your team
A really good connection
Forget about real-time what’s troubling is that only 23%1 of frontline workers have access to the technology that can improve their productivity.
Who are your connected workers?
We’re skipping the definition of connected workers and we’re going straight to who they are. Connected workers are:
Pickers and packers in the warehouse
Maintenance team on the factory floor
Drivers for your fleet
Associates on the shop floor
Nurses
90% of frontline workers
As of 2023 connected worker technology adoption sits below 30% 3. To achieve predictive and prescriptive business models here are a few tips.
Overcoming digital literacy
Investing in a technology solution means investing in your front-line workers. Fortunately, this is something all businesses can do. Staffing up the training department or bringing in third-party training companies you’re one step closer to upskilling your workforce. To get started:
Do an in-person pulse survey with the team.
We want to get a baseline of our team’s digital literacy. Let’s meet them where they’re at and keep the questions basic and foundational. Bonus if they are incentivized to participate.
Build training modules around the results.
Even if it’s as simple as teaching someone how to turn the device on, logging into their work profiles, or navigating through the apps. Know that this isn’t a one-time learning experience for the team and there’s always room to improve the training
Pick some champions and socialize the experience.
Start small, and get some feedback to work out the kinks. It doesn’t have to be someone in a people manager role, your greatest advocates will come from your front-line workers.
Time to upskill the team(s).
Classroom training is boring, and the information barely gets absorbed. We’re not saying not to do it, but having your front-line technology champions help can improve the adoption rate.
Keep track of the technology adoption and reward your people.
As the software gets updated and the hardware gets refreshed, it’s vital to have an internal communications plan.
We’ve just helped scratch the surface by enabling your workers with technology. There’s a myriad of best practices that some of our customers use for their teams like:
Ongoing professional development
Internal technology certification
Enabling a culture of experimentation and innovation
Encouraging self-learning through tutorials, guides, etc.
Socialize knowledge-sharing
Connected worker software meet hardware
By 2030 the need for connected worker hardware will grow by 45%2. As the adage goes, a software solution is only as good as the hardware it runs on, and the hardware is only as good as the solutions provider. An IoT strategy empowers the connected worker to advance from basic data input to utilizing the systems and tools to predict their output and to be able to adapt to any changes in demand.
Deploying the right IoT devices
We made a cheat sheet to help guide you deploy the right device based on a few scenarios.
Worker safety
Wearables like the Apple Watch or smartphones
Quality Assurance
Smartphones with scanners like the TC7x
Maintenance
Tablets and scanners like iPads and Zebra scanners
Operations
Rugged tablets like Tab Active5 or ruggedized iPad
Field workers
Tablets like iPads
Engineers
Tablets like iPads and Tab Active5
Drivers
Consumer-grade tablets like Tab A9+
Connected worker enablement
For most businesses, enablement starts the moment the worker receives their device. For us, it starts before we procure the devices. Our lab tests every device on the market to ensure that our partners’ systems will work on them. We then deploy our 4-step process to ensure the devices work in the hands of the worker.
Connecting the worker
Stable connectivity be it on the shop floor, out at the drive-thru, at the job site, or in the remote wilderness (true story) is essential. Keeping the worker connected can be done using:
Wireless
Satellite
Over Wi-Fi
No-internet
Deploying technology in the workplace requires a measured approach. We can help plan and deploy any IoT mobile solution across any industry nationwide. Give us a call today!
