A frontline worker is anyone who works directly with customers. They are typically an organization’s human connection to the public and work in a variety of industries, including retail, healthcare, manufacturing, financial services, transportation, and hospitality. Frontline technology includes all the digital tools and solutions that help frontline workers perform their jobs effectively. This technology helps these employees access information quickly, complete tasks efficiently, and stay connected with your company culture—whether they are at a desk or out in the field.
Eight ways to drive frontline technology adoption
Benefits of technology adoption for frontline workers
With the right tools, your frontline staff helps your company stand out in a competitive market. Frontline technologies streamline work for employees that interact frequently with customers, offering many tangible benefits, including:
- Gains in productivity. The best frontline technologies simplify and automate redundant processes, empowering workers to finish tasks quickly and efficiently, giving them more time to focus on more meaningful work.
- Higher worker engagement. When employees have everything they need to do their jobs effectively, they feel more connected with the workplace and are more likely to stay. Frontline worker engagement leads to greater fulfillment, more trust in leadership, professional growth, and a stronger focus on safety.
- Superior customer service. With easy access to productivity tools, frontline workers are able to quickly answer customer’s questions, resolve potential issues, and track down products and services that will meet a customer’s needs.
- Better teamwork. Online chat, file sharing, and other collaboration tools make it easier for team members to share ideas and work together effectively.
- Increased profitability. Companies that have better workplace experiences tend to have better business outcomes than those with poor workplace experiences.
Types of modern frontline technology
The types of technology that you’ll need for your frontline will depend a lot on unique factors of your business, including your industry and the roles in your company. Employees that work in a retail shop will likely need different tools from sales teams that spend much of their time on the road or healthcare workers in a hospital or clinic. A few technologies to consider are:
- Mobile devices. Many frontline employees either don’t work at a desk or are frequently away from their desk. Mobile devices, such as phones and tablets, allow them to access email, the internet, and digital tools no matter where they are.
- Wearable technologies are great for people who need to use their hands a lot for work. A digital watch can send appointment reminders and notify people of important messages. Digital glasses allow workers to easily attend video calls or review digital information while they’re away from a computer, and digital gloves allow people to use a hand to scan into a building or unlock a door.
- Data analytics and reporting tools. Analytics and reporting tools help workers monitor their own performance and adjust as needed. For example, sales teams often want to know how much business they’ve closed in a given month.
- Augmented and virtual reality. Augmented and virtual reality technology creates either an alternate 3-D simulation of reality in the case of virtual reality or overlays an image on the real world in augmented reality. One of the best use cases of this technology is training. The immersive experience makes it more likely that people will retain what they learn and apply it effectively on the job.
- Communication platforms. Communication is crucial for almost any role in today’s workplaces. Whether workers are collaborating with each other or helping customers find a product, it’s important to make it easy for them to talk, text, chat, and video conference.
- AI and machine learning. Advances in AI technology can make a huge difference in productivity and employee satisfaction. Many modern software solutions incorporate machine learning to automate routine work. Frontline AI generates insights from huge amounts of data. And most recently, generative AI solutions, like Copilot for Microsoft 365, function like digital assistants that help employees write emails, find relevant information, or create reports.
- Internet of Things (IoT) technology. Devices and sensors that connect to the internet also help simplify work for frontline workers. These tools collect and analyze data about machines and appliances to uncover potential issues, identify usage trends, and predict maintenance schedules.
Proven strategies for fostering technology adoption
Frontline technologies have the potential to transform your business, but they won’t work if people don’t use them. To ensure that your investments in frontline workforce solutions are successful, it’s important to be thoughtful about how you select and roll them out. The following eight best practices will help encourage frontline workers to adopt your new technology.
1. Understand frontline worker needs
The people best equipped to know how technology will make frontline work more effective are the ones currently doing the job. As you develop requirements for new software or hardware, get input from the people who will be using it, such as:
- Learn what their biggest challenges are.
- Ask about opportunities that they think new technology could solve.
- Find out what obstacles might prevent them from using the tools you are planning to buy.
Once you begin evaluating software solutions, invite frontline workers to presentations and demos and solicit their opinions and questions about the technology you’re considering.
By engaging your frontline workforce in decisions about technology, you’ll not only ensure that you’re selecting the best solutions to meet your goals, you’ll also build a more inclusive culture, which will help encourage them to adopt the new technology.
2. Invest in easy-to-use technology
Digital adoption is much more likely if your technology is simple to use. Nobody likes software that’s clunky or hardware that’s slow. As part of your evaluation process, be sure to get a demo of the features that your company is most likely to use and ask your frontline workers if it looks intuitive given the unique circumstances of their jobs. For example:
- Can employees access the most critical features directly from the home screen?
- Is it easy and secure to sign in and out of devices and platforms?
- Does it incorporate AI for collaboration?
- Is it easy to switch between tasks because tools are well integrated?
- Are there AI productivity tools to help streamline workflows?
It’s also important to make sure your hardware and software are compatible. If you deploy new software, you may also need to upgrade your operating systems. New mobile devices may not work effectively with older software. As you plan updates and enhancements to your technology, make sure you consider the entire system. Software and hardware that works together seamlessly will help foster adoption.
3. Incorporate technology into daily workflows
One of the best ways to encourage software adoption is to effectively integrate it into the daily routine. This is another reason why it’s so important to include frontline workers in the buying process. If you know when and where employees are most likely to use the new solution, you can make it easier to access in those circumstances. For example:
- Empower your employees to quickly look up product information while they’re on the floor talking to a customer.
- Make it easy to review work schedules while signing in or out.
- Create intuitive links, so it’s simple to switch between different apps and systems.
- Incorporate frontline AI that reduces alerts, provides valuable insights, and reduces busywork.
4. Effectively communicate benefits
Your team will be more receptive to new technology if they know how it will help them and your company be more successful, which is why frontline communication is a key driver of technology adoption. Use the information you gathered during the requirements phase to remind them what challenges the technology will solve and how it will make their workday easier.
People also like to understand the larger strategic goals of company initiatives. Will this solution help the company become more efficient or improve customer service? Share your expectations for the new technology and how you will measure results.
What you say is important, but it’s also critical to deliver your communication in a way that your team will understand. Here are a few ways to make sure your frontline workers understand what is happening and why:
- Use several different channels such as emails, posts to your intranet, and verbal announcements from managers.
- Be positive about the benefits and your vision for new solutions.
- Empathize with people’s discomfort with change.
- Let your team know that your company will support them throughout the process.
5. Provide clear and concise training
If your employees are accustomed to working in a certain way, they may struggle to learn something new. Simplify digital adoption with good training.
Frontline training will be more effective if you tailor it for different roles and deliver it on employees’ devices, so they see it in context. Depending on the complexity of the app or the features you’re rolling out, you may want to use videos or simulations to demonstrate how to use the new software. It’s also helpful to encourage people to practice using a new feature within the training.
Your team will also need training every time you introduce new hardware. Make sure they know how to turn their devices on and off, connect to wireless and Bluetooth, and use features specific to their role, such as a barcode scanner. For frontline AI, develop policies on when and how it should be used and make sure employees understand the guidelines.
Use analytics to track if people have completed training and send reminders as needed.
You’ll also want to incorporate technology training into the employee onboarding process so that new hires learn right from the start how to use all the hardware and software associated with their role.
6. Offer ongoing support
Learning new technology is an ongoing process. Even after excellent training, people will forget some of what they learned after a few weeks. This is especially true for tasks that they use less frequently. Make it easy to access training and help documentation so people can troubleshoot issues as they come up.
After new features are released, send out training to the appropriate teams to help them understand how the new capability will make their jobs easier. You may also want to send out feature-specific training if your analytics data indicates that employees aren’t using a tool effectively.
7. Lead by example
Digital adoption is about more than just a single piece of software or device. It represents a shift in the way companies do business and interact with customers and employees. A leadership team that embraces digital helps demonstrate how important it is for the company and encourages employees to be excited about it too.
Leading by example takes many different forms depending on who the leader is. An executive may not use all the same tools as a frontline worker, but if employees see the CEO posting to Microsoft Viva or using a video conferencing solution, like Microsoft Teams, they’ll intuit that your company is comfortable with technology. Managers and team leaders who work directly with frontline workers should model effective use of frontline AI and other digital tools. And, ideally, those managers should be empowered to help their teams overcome any challenges with adopting the new technology.
You may also consider recruiting technology ambassadors to help shift culture. These should be people on the frontline (not managers) who are already excited about using technology in their job and are interested in helping their coworkers get over their fears of a new way of working.
8. Offer incentives
Another way to encourage technology adoption is incentives. To do this effectively, you’ll need to track technology usage and associate it with specific goals. There are a variety of ways to reward employees. For example:
- Consider providing gift certificates when employees complete certain milestones, such as downloading a new technology, completing a training, or using a feature for the first time.
- Offer a bonus at the end of the year if you have evidence that the team is meeting your technology adoption goals.
- Create a fun competition between teams by setting measurable goals and offering small rewards for the team that meets them first.
Empower your frontline
Your frontline workers are the heart of your business. They’re your face to customers. They build your products, and they make sure your operations run smoothly. Rolling out new technology won’t just help you grow your company; it will also help you retain this critical group of employees. Frontline technologies, such as communication tools, AI, and mobile devices drive greater productivity, increased profitability, and better employee engagement.
Facilitate greater communication and flexibility with Microsoft 365 for frontline workers.
If you’re interested in learning more about how to motivate your frontline workforce, Microsoft conducts regular research, which is available through the webinar: Unlock the Power of Your Frontline. Watch it on demand to hear the latest insights from the Work Trend Index and explore how the Microsoft 365 platform can help you build a digital frontline.
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