The Shift - April 4, 2024

Hello and welcome to The Shift, your go-to place for the latest frontline news.

Coming up in this issue:

• Frontline employee insights from a recent PwC report on the manufacturing industry 
• The link between patient experience and employee experience (plus the value of real-time data)
• Why 2024 could be the year frontline orgs finally realize their digital dreams

Retention and engagement on the manufacturing frontline

71% of business leaders recently said that employee acquisition and retention is a serious or moderate risk to their businesses in the years ahead.

So when PwC and the Manufacturing Institute conducted a survey in Q3 2023, they wanted to discover how this was playing out in manufacturing organizations.

Here are a few of their findings:

• 36% of manufacturers had frontline employee attrition rates of over 10% during the previous six months
  
  
• Only 48% of manufacturing leaders said that most of their frontline workers were engaged in their jobs. The same percentage rated their employee experience efforts as “average” or “below average”
  
  
• Only 58% of manufacturers regularly run frontline employment engagement and culture surveys
  
  
• Frontline workers have a worse employee experience than their desk-based peers. Their priorities for a better workplace experience include safety, flexible schedules, and development opportunities

In response to its findings, PwC recommends the following six actions:

Get to know your frontline workers and their needs. Run regular engagement and culture surveys. Then, share your findings openly.

Appoint an employee experience leader to track and enhance the frontline worker experience

Work closely with frontline managers to improve the frontline worker experience

Provide scheduling flexibility to better support workers with caregiving responsibilities

Put mentoring programs in place, particularly for new frontline workers

Improve onboarding for frontline workers so they feel confident managing their responsibilities

‍Find out how Blink improves retention and engagement in manufacturing teams. Take a look at our workplace app here.

Happy healthcare staff = happy patients

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The best patient care is convenient, empathetic, and involves clear communication. According to a recent pharmaphorum article, you’re more likely to achieve this standard of care when healthcare staff are happy. 

When your employees feel engaged and supported, they provide better care and they’re less likely to make mistakes. So patient satisfaction scores go up. 

The article also talks about the value of real-time data, made available by smiley face consoles in healthcare settings. Patients can use these consoles to give quick and easy feedback.

This data helps managers to respond to a dip in patient satisfaction as it occurs. They can also identify recurring problems and find ways to address them.

But, because there’s such a strong link between patient experience (PX) and employee experience (EX), it’s not enough to collect and act upon patient data. It’s important to survey your employees regularly, too.

Pulse surveys can reveal the wellbeing support, development, and recognition staff need. You can then find ways to improve their workplace experience.

Read more: Employee engagement in healthcare: How much do you really know?

Getting the frontline online in 2024

Is 2024 the year that frontline organizations finally get the tech they deserve?

According to an article in The European Business Review, we’ve had a long history of underwhelming tech rollouts. And frontline workers still don’t have the tech they need.

An analog approach makes it harder for frontline workers to do their jobs well. It leaves them isolated from their co-workers and even poses safety risks.  

So why is traditional software failing to make the right impact?

Too often, tools are designed for desktop computers. And they may require an employee email address. 

It tends to get pretty complicated, too. Organizations have to use lots of different apps (and passwords) to create the right tech mix for their teams.

Ultimately, many workplace tools simply aren’t suited to frontline work. But the good news is mobile technology is catching up. And there’s a frontline-first rethink underway.

User-friendly super apps are making their way onto the scene. These apps are a one-stop-shop, tailored to the frontline.

With them, frontline workers can communicate with one another, access information, and manage tasks with ease. These apps also achieve impressive performance metrics:

• A 3x increase in employee response rates to company comms
• A 26% reduction in employee churn
• A 46% increase in employee satisfaction

Here’s hoping this tech will transform frontline worker productivity and engagement. And put an end to years of stalled digitization efforts.

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