The challenges of managing a deskless workforce often emanate from a lack of access to company communication information. they can easily be isolated, frustrated and left out, as they don’t have the same level of day-to-day contact with peers and managers that office-based colleagues enjoy. the disconnect raises the potential for inequality and exclusion around benefits, reward and career opportunity.
Andrew Savage, Hr Director Europe – NSK Europe
George Dixon, Team Leader – Mid Market & Enterprise Sales – Perkbox
Simon Gibson, Group Head of Learning – Marks & Spencer
Matthew Collington, Hr Director – (Recently) Pilgrim’s
Mona Akiki, Chief People Officer – Perkbox
Mike Hood, Learning & Development Consultant/People Lead – Hood People Solutions
Divya Shashidhar, Associate Director of HR – LTI Mindtree
Joanne Carlin, SVP HR – Firstsource
Louise Sparkes, Senior People & Culture Manager – Monica Vinader Limited
Hazel Webb, Group HR Director – (previously) Tindall Riley & Co
WHAT ARE THE MAIN CHALLENGES OF A DISENGAGED, DESKLESS WORKFORCE?
Matthew Collington: When you run annual surveys, everyone has a very different personality, a different perspective and that requires good and attentive management and people knowledge. We launched what we called Know Show Grow, which was about engaging people as people, whether that is in the same office or remote workers. In general, we have all become obsessed with hybrid working to a point that it’s become a subculture and that need not be the case.
Joanne Carlin: We have a large population that work from home – for some or all of the time – often working on complex client calls and there’s an intersectionality of different factors affecting people. In the office, if one of the team is struggling, it would be noticed and so remote workers can be more prone to pressure that is not picked up. To mitigate this, we have a rota of team leaders, who have an open line, a virtual comms channel open, so that people can air concerns and discuss and we’ve just implemented a counselling app.
Simon Gibson: I come at the question from a different angle insomuch as, you can have fundamental isolation in a workplace that has 400 staff buzzing around you. Every business is trying to operate in very different circumstances and, in the course of this big adjustment, this highlights any pressures to an even greater degree, because that’s what disruption and uncertainty does. From a business point of view, the reality is working with less resources and that brings more pressure on individuals, because they are generally doing more and have a greater span of responsibilities.
Hazel Webb: It’s all about quality leadership. If you want to improve engagement in teams, it’s about line management capability, with them understanding how to manage remote workers, because that is our reality now.
Andrew Savage: We have a range of manufacturing sites across Europe and disengagement in the UK was noticeably higher than in other countries we operate in. Our main distribution center is based in the Netherlands and has very low turnover rates, compared to some of our sites in the UK that had experienced 50 percent turnover rates. We had to proactively manage that and have changed some leadership teams, but we’re on a journey and we certainly don’t have the solution.
Mike Hood: It’s important to acknowledge how overloaded line managers now are and clearly, there is an engagement deficit and the drivers haven’t changed. Looking at the Engage for Success model, development is key and connectivity and meaningfulness are fundamental, as is voice. HR Business Partners have a significant role to play in this, particularly as line managers have been left with more to do – expanded span of control – as well as HR and IT tasks too. Organisations are going to have to start to think more seriously about creating the time and capability for people management in the line manager role.
Mona Akiki: Indeed, time is key here, particularly associated with giving people the opportunity to discuss issues across teams. It’s also important to give people autonomy and the control to step away from their work and relax a little bit. Our recent research showed that 63 percent of managers are reporting that they have more responsibilities, particularly around wellbeing and helping employees under pressure from the cost of-living crisis. People are also ambitious and they want to have time to develop themselves. We need to invest in our managers. But we also need to realise that these extra responsibilities mean they have less time for the traditional business targets, which aren’t going away. Most businesses get that manager development is important, but how many are actually going to make space for it? This isn’t just an issue today, it’s been this way for decades. This is perhaps an area where we can help influence.
Divya Shashidhar: We have 100 percent desk workers and, post-pandemic, the work rate has changed as people are having to adapt and this will inevitably raise pressures that impact wellbeing. There is also significant change in the workplace, greater ownership and accountability and more focus on outcomes. We need to increase community to mitigate against people feeling disconnected.
Louise Sparkes: I wouldn’t necessarily say that productivity is being negatively impacted, but our challenge is more about helping colleagues see that their team or location is an important part of a bigger operation and that what they’re doing matters on a macro level and is an important element of the contribution. Through surveys and anecdotal feedback, there was a sense from our deskless teams that there was a hierarchy within head office, so we try to provide context for how they fit into the wider business objectives.
Mike Hood: There is a legacy issue for the deskless worker from the pandemic, whereby many continued on the frontline, while previously office-based staff were able to work from home. Now the focus is on office workers and designing approaches to hybrid working and there never really been a similar focus on flexibility for the genuinely deskless workers, particularly manual workers out in the field.
Simon Gibson: I believe there is a hangover from the pandemic but, rewinding back to productivity, that has been flat-lining at a macro level since 2008 and the financial crash. The UK is not running at the same speed as some of other countries we benchmark against – Germany, France and Japan for example – and the rate that they pay their people has also increased exponentially in line with that, which is in turn mitigating against the rise in the cost-of-living. This all has to be connected with wellbeing, engagement and productivity.
Jo Carlin: What we’re chasing here is a sense of belonging and purpose to deal with the layers of pressure and expectation.
HOW INFLUENTIAL AND EFFECTIVE DO YOU THINK HR HAS BEEN DURING THIS PERIOD OF GREAT CHANGE AND DISRUPTION?
Matthew Collington: HR as a profession during COVID rose in prominence – keeping people safe and connected was a key leadership role – but post-pandemic, I think we’ve lost the belief that this new world of work is the future, as reality bites. Now many business leaders are demanding people return to more conventional work patterns. During this time too, I think there was a perception that tech would replace the number of HR people in teams, which has further exposed line managers to the pressures of supporting employees through this time of change and pressure.
Mike Hood: In the process of bringing employees back into the physical workplace, the more thoughtful organisations are adopting a pull rather than push approach, more developing hybrid working policies than replacing them. But this has largely ignored the situation of the deskless worker, particularly those on the shop floor or out in the field. Another important piece of the puzzle is the four day week – and I’m surprised the unions haven’t pushed for this harder – because that’s the potential flexible working quid pro quo for the deskless worker.
Mona Akiki: For many deskless employees, if they work four days, they are likely to be paid for four days and this will not help and misses the point of valuing these employees, many of whom don’t have the advantages that office-based workers receive. If we keep offering zero-hour contracts and differentiating benefits, that is a big equality issue. Frontline employees are often the face of business, dealing with customers or patients, staying professional and expected to smile, even when they’re treated poorly. Meanwhile, business leaders are asking; “how can we squeeze more from them?” We in HR need to push harder for fairness, recognition and celebrating their contributions and successes.
George Dixon: There was a Gallup statistic that around 80-plus percent of managers stated they are doing well in appreciating their teams, set against just 24 percent of employees feeling that they are appreciated. That difference in opinion, I believe, is telling.
HOW DO REQUIREMENTS, NEEDS AND EXPECTATIONS OF THE DESKLESS WORKFORCE DIFFER FROM OFFICE-BASED EMPLOYEES?
Louise Sparkes: The word that jumps out is ‘expectation’. Deskless workers can have a perception that those working in a hybrid setup are gifted complete autonomy and what that can lead to is having expectations that aren’t realistic. This comes back to the point on communication and not necessarily seeing things from a perspective outside of their own team or location. We are conscious that not everybody takes on information in the same way, so we do try to use a mix of methods. There is a significant percentage that prefer being told in person, which isn’t always practical in big workforces. Nevertheless, I concur that feeling that you have a voice and influence is fundamental and there’s a lot we can do to move towards the majority of people feeling engaged and included, but there isn’t going to be a one-size-fits-all solution that engages and informs everybody.
Andrew Savage: We have some real challenges because we have some sites where we have co-located manufacturing employees, warehouse people and white-collar staff in back office functions. We also have other office sites that are completely independent and have no manufacturing distribution sites at all. So, we decided we would go site by site, because we didn’t want to create two tiers of employee.
Jo Carlin: Where there is difference to access – information, promotion and benefits for example – there is always the potential for disquiet and so, for me, equal access is very important, but not always easy to achieve and so you have to become really creative and adaptable.
Matthew Collington: We must become more mindful, understanding and supportive of frontline workers, most of whom have been through an incredibly challenging past few years. We in HR talk a big game around wellbeing and welfare. Our focus can linger too much on technology, or on this cohort of white-collar hybrid workers, often at the cost of the people that we are talking about today.
Simon Gibson: We’ve spoken of flexibility, adaptability and the possibility of a four-day week, but human capital management systems were designed around everybody being in the same place, doing repeatable tasks.
Mike Hood: Indeed and it is easier to build social connections when everyone is together regularly. Employees identifying with business brand and so for remote workers and deskless workers, finding the ‘meaning’ equation presents a particular challenge. That is where autonomy is a double-edged sword, because if people are too independent, that connection diminishes.
Mona Akiki: Increasingly, we can expect employee tenure to decrease and expectation to rise and so we need to be making sure that people know that their experience is valued and that their potential is recognised. We might not be communicating enough about why their role matters, how we support training and developing them on the job. So providing access to information is one way to increase this value, encouraging them to use their curiosity to build knowledge and feel more included in the organisation.
DOES MANAGEMENT PLAY A MORE OR LESS IMPORTANT ROLE FOR DESKLESS EMPLOYEES THAN DESKED? ARE LINE MANAGERS COPING WITH THE DIVERSITY ACROSS THE WORKFORCE?
Matthew Collington: When we look at most aspects of engagement, it’s about being intentional as a line manager. Whatever the form of communication, it’s the intent that will lead to engagement – which might be clarification of role, ensuring somebody has the right tools and equipment to do their job. It really comes down to the perception, “does this manager care about me as a human being above the capital asset”? It’s about acting in a conscious way, inclusively and intentionally.
Divya Shashidhar: The simple answer to this is yes, managers hold space to help workers engage better with the company and its values. It’s about how they experience culture and can they relate to what the organisation is trying to do for its stakeholders. It’s also about managers enabling interactions, creating opportunities for engagement within the team or with the larger organisation network. So, we need to consider how equipped and comfortable managers are to handle diverse and neurodiverse teams and make it psychologically safe for them, relatable to the organisation’s ethos and culture.
Louise Sparkes: The big issue is, what is expected of them now. Our deskless managers in store are selling, doing operational tasks, processing returns, engaging with customers, supporting teams and managing multi-functional locations. There’s a whole number of complex and energy-consuming elements that fill their day, so sometimes they do have to be able to rely on their teams taking on information when it is shared. It’s no surprise that there is a potential for disconnect. The question is, are we equipping them sufficiently?
DO LEADERS HAVE THE CREATIVITY TO SAY TO THEIR LINE MANAGERS, “WE’RE NOT JUST TALKING ABOUT THE BOTTOM LINE HERE, WE’RE TALKING ABOUT THE MORE HUMANISTIC ELEMENTS OF RUNNING A BUSINESS”.
Andrew Savage: Years ago, most companies valued their managers on what they delivered – that was hard, factual and based on revenue – nobody really considered soft skills. Even now, HR professionals have the challenges around a salesperson that is outperforming every year, but treats people appallingly. How many look away or make excuses for the high performer’s lack of people management acumen? A Korn Ferry survey last year showed that 91 percent of CEOs thought they were excellent communicators and 80 percent thought their employees liked them. The actual two figures were 37 percent and 25 percent respectively.
Jo Carlin: It’s about basic human interactions, if a manager asks an employee, “why did you do that?” people go into defense mode, but if you ask “what led you to that decision?” People go into solution mode. It goes back to equipping line managers to be able to cope with their widening remit in people management.
Mona Akiki: I agree, one significant change, whether managers like it or not, is the perception of their role in employee wellbeing. Our recent research showed that 88 percent of managers now believe they are in fact responsible for their employees’ wellbeing and that includes physical, financial and mental health. In the past, that would have been HR’s responsibility, but increasingly it is the line manager’s domain and, even with best intentions, if they are not equipped they might make matters worse. They don’t necessarily need to be the experts, but they do need to be comfortable having these conversations, know where to refer employees to and understand through listening, which is a skill in itself.
Mike Hood: McKinsey research backs that up, where 50 percent of managers said they didn’t think their organisation set them up to be effective as people managers. This is a gap that we need to address.
Simon Gibson: The UK spends huge amounts a year on management and leadership development and yet, in general terms, the data suggest that fundaments such as engagement and productivity are worsening. My question is the obvious one, why is this?
Matt Collington: We haven’t fully moved on from the role of managers driving performance through efficiencies, but there is this societal and generational shift in the expectations of work, that if the boss cracks the whip, that’s not going to motivate anyone. We probably haven’t done enough to support line managers in this change. Sure, it can still be about performance, but it needs to be more employee-centric.
Mike Hood: The acid test is in the calibration session at the end of the year, how often have we seen situations where the right behaviour has trumped mediocre results in arriving at the final performance rating?
SO HOW DO YOU EQUIP YOUR MANAGERS WITH THE TOOLS TO SUPPORT AND MOTIVATE A DESKLESS WORKFORCE?
George Dixon: To rewind a step, one thing that I saw during the pandemic with deskless workers was the rise in platform fatigue, which is, throw tech and tools at it and that will solve the problem. Then came a collective realisation that there was too much tech in front of managers and there needed to be some tech consolidation, because they had the tools they needed, but didn’t know how to use them. This was made worse by the rapid shrinkage of tech support staff in many businesses.
Simon Gibson: It’s important not to bamboozle line managers with tools and take the noise down around tech and make it more clear and cohesive.
Divya Shashidhar: What we’ve done is develop and customise manager enablement programmes to align with changing times. Providing bite-sized bits of information and training, we run monthly sessions – 30 to 45 minutes – on different themes, so there is better focus. After the session, we keep the comms channel open. It’s important to state that managing employees is not solely an HR situation anymore and so building a supportive managers’ network is essential.
Mona Akiki: If we continue to reward just for hitting short-term business targets, we won’t ensure the long-term success of our businesses. If we truly believe that management skills, such as good communication and empathy are important to the organisation, then let us properly equip managers for this, by giving them the necessary time and tools. We must engage with them, ask what they need, find out why certain tasks are more difficult to execute and then find the tools and solutions to address those needs. There’s no point in just adopting what other companies are using without a clear purpose. We have been discussing this in HR for decades – the idea of rewarding managers who do a good job managing people. Many attempt to incorporate it in performance management, but without proper focus, it falls by the wayside. When results are good, everyone has great intentions about managing people well. But when targets aren’t being met, the focus ironically shifts away. We forget that focusing on the right behaviour actually supports the business through tough times.
HOW DO YOU OVERCOME THE TECHNOLOGY BARRIER IF, FOR EXAMPLE, A DESKLESS WORKFORCE DOES NOT HAVE ACCESS TO YOUR REGULAR COMMUNICATION CHANNELS?
George Dixon: When we think about technology for a deskless workforce, there are those that perhaps generationally, do not engage with technology. Then there are those who cannot access technology, because of their remote role or tech devices are not part of their job. So, where we’ve seen success in the deskless workforce space, is where tech has been stripped down to make it easier and attractive for people to want to use, where you start small, bring them on board, measure adoption and engagement and then it can grow over time.
Mona Akiki: Organisations are increasingly expecting workers to use their own devices and lines are blurred. If you’re infringing on personal devices, ensure that they know and understand that they can turn it off when they want to. Also, be smart about it, choose well in terms of tools and apps. I personally want the Perkbox platform on my phone, because it benefits me when I’m out shopping and it makes me feel great when I’m notified that my contribution has been recognised.
Mike Hood: The demographic issue is significant and in traditional and industrial workforces, there can be resistance for a number of different reasons and even suspicion about new digital communication tools. For many workers of this type, the part of the organisation they identify with most strongly is their own team and so it’s more feasible for them adopt WhatsApp or Teams chat, so that they can keep in touch. Thereafter, I think there are barriers, because it’s not the preferred means of communication and enforcing it can be counterproductive.
George Dixon: We spend a lot of time trying to make this inclusive for everybody, but for the majority, there isn’t a problem and people are happy to use their own devices. Nevertheless, the minority is significant, so why not, for example, integrate communications through their digital payslips, something that everyone will regularly refer to.
Louise Sparkes: We implemented HiBob as our HRIS last year and we’ve had some success with using the newsfeed, but we also give people the control to change their preferences for what emails they receive. The posts are also interactive for reactions and comments, so it doesn’t disappear into inboxes in the same way as email. For me, thinking about our employees like customers and limiting the number of steps people have to go through, is the way forward.
Jo Carlin: Where tech and particularly AI can help us, is with speedy customisation with people being supported more as individuals. The CDO of Microsoft UK said, “we’ve been taught to search in Google for everything and what AI is doing, is making that a conversation with a digital solution to customise”.
THERE HAS BEEN A NOTABLE MOVE AWAY FROM THE PATERNAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EMPLOYERS AND EMPLOYEES. SO, ARE WE MOVING BACK TOWARDS THAT NOW?
Mona Akiki: It goes back to the point of organisations treating employees like customers. Just as there are customer success groups, we need to view employees through the same lens. When we treat employees as customers, you begin to see things from their perspective. Organisations are increasingly leveraging AI to customise experiences, because what works for one person may not work for another. This is something we’re used to in our daily lives as consumers – from personalised coffee orders to tailored experiences on delivery apps – and we need to adopt this mindset for our employees as well. If we continue to impose rigid systems, without asking our employees and managers what they actually need and want, we won’t progress. We need to ask managers what they want to learn and what will help them and ask employees what is meaningful to them. The reason some organisations are struggling might be because we haven’t helped them recognise the importance of this shift. It’s becoming a critical issue that we need to address.
WHAT’S THE MAIN PIECE OF ADVICE YOU WOULD GIVE AROUND THE APPROACH TO LEVELING UP FOR DESKLESS WORKERS?
Mona Akiki: Every business needs to revisit its objectives and consider how we want our employees to behave. It all comes back to behaviour and, in my view, there should be a way to compensate for both targets and output, as well as for behaviour and good management. Ideally, these would be equally balanced. It’s probably easier for leaders to justify investing more money and effort into output, but that’s likely due to habit. However, we should also see the opportunity and benefits of allocating resources towards good behaviour and good management. This can be done by recognising and rewarding positive behaviour. Rewards aren’t always necessary, simply acknowledging people for their good behaviours is always beneficial. As an organisation, when you have chosen the right platform, you can also start to observe which teams and managers are doing well and which ones need more support. Prior to COVID, the conversation was around employee experience centred around the office environment and the deeper discussions delved into culture. Today, more and more people link it to how employees feel during and at the end of the day. Do they feel good being here? Do they enjoy their work? Are they feeling valued and recognised? Are colleagues making them smile or are they miserable every day? That’s what defines the employee experience and this applies to both deskless and regular workers. It’s about valuing them, giving them access to information, making them feel they make a difference, that they understand their mission and feel empowered and valued.
WHAT DOES GOOD EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE LOOK LIKE AND WHAT IS THE KEY TO ACHIEVING IT?
Mona Akiki: The answer to what makes a good employee experience will vary, but the key, whether through technology or not, is listening. In HR, whenever we put something out, we shouldn’t put it out because HR thinks it’s good. We should be listening, we should read the results of employee surveys and reach out in various ways to ask them what is beneficial to them. We won’t be able to meet every request, but we can make informed decisions based on what we hear, to level up across the diverse workforce.
Our thanks to Perkbox for partnering with us.
