The Shift | July 11th

Hello and welcome to The Shift, Blink’s bi-monthly newsletter for forward-thinking frontline leaders. In this issue, we’ll be covering:  

• Frontline agility: why it matters and how to achieve it

• How to make manufacturing careers appeal to Gen Z

• How Blink is helping Arriva to connect its frontline workforce

• How to build employee engagement at every lifecycle

FRONTLINE EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE

6 ways to improve frontline agility

We’re living in a turbulent and changeable world. To keep pace, agility is crucial. It makes your company resilient and competitive. It helps you adapt to new challenges and opportunities.

A fundamental part of organizational agility is — say

s — an agile frontline workforce. Your frontline workers are at the center of customer interactions and daily operations. So their ability to adapt and embrace change is paramount.

Cornerstone has some useful recommendations for improving frontline agility:

Offer continuous learning and training

Give frontline workers access to training programs, workshops, and resources. This keeps them up-to-date with industry trends, best practices, and new technologies.

Provide cross-training and skills diversification

Support frontline workers to develop a broad skill set. That way, they can switch easily between responsibilities and roles. This helps your organization adapt to unexpected personnel changes or absences.

Adopt effective communication channels

Too often, workplace communication tools aren't suited to the frontline workforce. Give deskless workers access to mobile-first messaging apps and internal social platforms. This allows them to communicate clearly and efficiently with people across the company.

Applaud ownership

Ensure frontline workers have the tools and information they need to make role-appropriate decisions. Employees who feel empowered are able to solve problems and capitalize on opportunities more quickly.

Encourage feedback loops

HQ and the frontline should be in constant conversation. Seek regular feedback from your frontline workforce. This ensures that your strategies are relevant and responsive to real-world conditions.

Prioritize wellbeing

Frontline workers are more resilient and adaptable when they enjoy good levels of physical and mental wellbeing. So focus on work-life balance and wellness within your workplace.

Cornerstone also highlights the role technology plays in achieving frontline agility. With the right tech tools, you improve frontline training, communication, and wellbeing. You also give frontline workers the resources and information they need to adapt quickly to new situations and customer demands.

FRONTLINE CAREER GROWTH

How to make manufacturing careers appeal to Gen Z

Earlier this year, a National Association of Manufacturers Outlook Survey revealed that over 71% of manufacturers are struggling to attract and retain employees. Now, a recent McKinsey article explores why this is the case.

McKinsey says that Gen Z has negative perceptions of the manufacturing industry. And — while a career in manufacturing could be as exciting as any other STEM profession — manufacturers are failing to communicate this career potential to young talent.

McKinsey suggests that — when pitching to Gen Z — manufacturers should focus on the younger generation’s workplace priorities. These include:

• workplace flexibility

• career development and the potential for advancement

• meaningful work

• a sense of community

But organizations need to do more than reword their job ads. To better attract and retain Gen Z employees, they need to commit to a real manufacturing makeover.  

McKinsey suggests investing in workers, giving them training and job rotation opportunities — and perhaps launching an in-house skills academy. To provide the flexibility that Gen Z craves, an easy-access, shift-trading platform will prove useful.

Developing manufacturing managers is also listed as a priority. Supervisors may need upskilling so they can build meaningful relationships with their teams and coach them to achieve their goals.

They also need to harness developing technology to deliver the recognition, training, and sense of community that the next generation of manufacturers is looking for.

FRONTLINE NEWS

Arriva + Blink for a more connected frontline workforce

We’re pleased to announce that Arriva — a leading transport operator — is now using the Blink app across its UK workforce.  

Thousands of Arriva staff are using the platform to gain digital access to company essentials. With features like news, feedback, recognition, and chat, they’re enjoying reliable communications and better employee engagement, too.

The frontline app also links to HR apps, like MyDrive. So it fits seamlessly into the company’s existing workflow. 

Leaders at Arriva say the app is helping to address the challenging issue of frontline communication and connection — and that it’s been well-received by workers. Lee Coleman, Arriva’s Head of Communications and Engagement, says:

“We have had an incredible reaction to Blink, and it’s great to see colleagues embracing change, actively engaging with posts, and sharing ideas.

“To date, more than 8,500 Arriva UK Bus colleagues have registered on Blink — with 93% of users actively accessing the app on average six times a day — demonstrating that this is already proving to be a core workplace platform.

“We don’t want to stop there though. We are already in discussions to bring uniform ordering into Blink through single-sign-on and are constantly looking to optimize the way we work through Blink to help improve the employee experience.”

If you’d like to see what Blink can do for your frontline organization, book your personalized demo today.

FRONTLINE EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

How to build employee engagement at every lifecycle

The first days in a new job are always a little stressful. There are faces and names to remember, new systems to learn, and a ton of information to process.

A good onboarding program alleviates some of that stress. It gives employees the information and support they need to quickly acclimatize to their new role.

But onboarding programs aren’t as good as employees would like them to be. According to a survey by payroll company Paychex, only 52% of employees say they’re satisfied with the onboarding experience at their current job.

The research also revealed that poor onboarding can lead to:

• Disorientation

• Feeling undervalued

• Losing trust in the organization

• Losing interest in the role

An employee’s first few months at your organization are crucial to employee retention. We know that up to 20% of new hires quit within the first 45 days of employment and that, by 90 days, almost a third of new employees have chosen to leave.   

To prevent your newly hired talent from going the same way, it may be time to rethink onboarding.  

Good onboarding goes beyond orientation. It’s a program of employee engagement that starts before an employee arrives for their first day and continues for up to a year.

At this point, it blends seamlessly with your employee engagement strategy to sustain engagement and retention over the entire employee lifecycle.

In our latest blog, we’ll be looking in detail at what you can do to engage employees — from recruitment to an employee’s first day to their annual review and beyond.

Ready to engage new employees from day one and dive into the employee lifecycle? Read more here!

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