Without the right communication channels, engaging and retaining your deskless workers can be tough. The lack of communication between businesses and their employees comes with a cost. According to BCG, 37% of all deskless workers and 48% of hourly Gen Z workers are at risk of leaving their jobs.
Business leaders often assume the best place to reach their workforce is on a laptop. But for workers in industries like retail, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing, most of the day is spent on the go serving customers, patients, or working onsite.
One big obstacle for workers in those fields is access to the right technology. Emergence reports 60% of deskless workers aren’t happy with technology on the job. When your day is spent on your feet with customers or patients, a phone or tablet is more useful than a laptop. When workers do have access to technology, things look much better, with employees reporting they’re twice as likely to be satisfied with their job.
The truth is, most people, especially those untethered to a desk, naturally reach for their phone. By leveraging mobile video, employers can share information and updates they know employees will see, upload bite sized training content, and share internal videos employees can play directly on their phones. By engaging workers using the right technology, businesses have a better chance of retaining their workforce.
If you’re curious about how a mobile-first communications strategy can activate and engage your team, read on. We’ve got a few ideas on how to use mobile video to grab your employees’ attention.
5 ways to reach teams with mobile
Here are five ways mobile video can help any team member get the most out of their training programs.
1. Create bite-sized content for mobile
For industries like healthcare and manufacturing, you may need regular training to stay on top of new procedures, technology, or skill sets. By shortening the length of training content into bite sized pieces, employees can quickly grasp complex ideas in less time.
Microlearning, which is a learning strategy that breaks complex ideas into smaller, snackable sizes is perfect for on the go workers. By creating mobile ready training content, your team can get the information they need to get things done.
To start, trainers or team leaders can record simple lessons and use AI tools like text-based editing to trim out unnecessary words and polish their learning content.
Similarly, just-in-time training, which is training shared in the moment you need it, is helpful for deskless workers who need on the spot information. As an example, managers and staff can build their own training content using a shorter video format, a training template, and some quick editing to build a library of bite-sized training content to keep the team in the loop.
2. Prioritize inclusive trainings
To feel energized at work, employees need to see and feel like they’re included in onboarding and ongoing training experiences. Cultivating a sense of belonging through your video offerings is one way to provide a more inclusive experience. Look for ways to produce videos that speak to all learners and share content that reflects your audience.
“Inclusivity is really important. Sometimes it just takes looking at your content and pausing to ask, ‘How am I speaking to everybody?’” says Eric, Media Content Manager at a global coffee brand. “It’s really important to know your audience and represent them in these videos.”
For example, adding closed captioning to your training content gives your team one more way to consume and search for video content.
3. Make trainings available anywhere
Industries that rely on employees who work on the front line (think healthcare, retail, manufacturing, and service industries) may require specialized training or detailed visuals that emphasize accuracy.
For example, Axalta, a global coatings company, needed a video solution to provide high-quality training content for their partner workforce. The technical finesse of using equipment needs had to be translated on screen.
“We found that missing those fractions of a frame was a huge deal for our painters, as they could be missing important learning points,” says Steve Hamaday, Virtual Training Manager at Axalta. Vimeo’s enterprise live streaming platform allowed their team to capture those important frames.
Mobile training that supports high-quality video can help industries improve employee performance, enhance safety protocols, and reduce errors and accidents.
4. Record team updates straight from your phone
When presenters are away from their desks or in different locations throughout the day, it’s impossible to hold live, in-person meetings. Town halls, information sessions, or training can be inherently difficult to schedule.
Using a video platform that allows users to easily record and edit from a mobile device can enable presenters to communicate with their teams, regardless of their location or the time of day.
Retail teams can train workers as soon as the information is ready, directly from the retail floor. Healthcare workers can get up-to-speed on new protocols faster.
A platform that supports mobile video creation and delivery allows team members to receive immediate and practical training without the restrictions of time and place, which can improve their performance, increase sales, and enhance the customer experience.
5. Measure performance and optimize your programs
Teams in any industry can benefit from continuous learning to improve and refine skills. However, measuring the effectiveness of a training program can sometimes be a challenge. A dashboard of relevant video metrics can help surface trends, areas of opportunity, and most frequently viewed content.
By identifying training objectives and tracking the engagement of training content using video views, interactivity, and direct feedback, businesses can create more targeted instruction, improve engagement, and, ultimately, help support their teams when and where they need it most.
The right technology can keep your team connected and productive wherever they do their work. If you’re struggling to engage a deskless team, a mobile-first training and communications strategy may be the right solution.
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