There are many exciting technologies out there with the potential to improve your workplace environment and employee morale. Knowing what your blue-collar workers need from that technology will help you optimize their experience and productivity.
Here are nine ways to implement technology into your company to improve blue-collar worker engagement.
Communicate on Digital Channels
In any relationship — professional or otherwise — communication is key. If you have a large, hybrid or remote workforce, digital communication is essential to making your team run smoothly. Having a digital communication channel will allow your employees to alert you to safety issues from wherever they are. In turn, it will enable you to inform them of changes to their schedule or request updates on a project’s progress.
Digital communication channels are great for building community. Your employees can communicate with one another — whether to share resources or stay in touch with remote team members. Healthy workplace relationships are essential for employee well-being, and digitizing communication allows you to foster connections and enhance productivity.
Automate Repetitive Tasks
Advances in automated machinery impact many industries, including construction. For instance, automated technology can precisely cut material with little need for human intervention. Computer numerical control (CNC) technology, used in manufacturing to create metal and plastic parts, improves worker safety by minimizing the chances of accidents and human error.
The manual labor associated with blue-collar work can be hard on the body. Automating repetitive tasks can prioritize your employees’ health and safety. It also frees them up to focus on more complex issues and saves their energy for tasks requiring more significant effort.
Advocate for Predictive Maintenance Tools
Using adequately maintained equipment is essential for the safe functioning of any work environment. Technology — such as predictive maintenance software — can help ensure tools work at full capacity. It saves you money by avoiding potentially expensive repairs and reducing downtime when employees cannot do their jobs. It also decreases frustration and resentment. A poor or inoperable piece of equipment can ruin anyone’s day.
Predictive maintenance software uses sensors to monitor a machine’s function or parts. These sensors notify the machine’s operator when a replacement is needed. This is especially helpful when working with large or complex machines whose components are hidden unless taken apart. For instance, many complex machines contain hard-to-see elements like screws, but maintenance software has the ability to predict when replacements are needed in these machines.
Implement Digital Onboarding Platforms
Use technology to engage your employees from day one by digitizing the onboarding process. New hires will have easy access to training modules and materials, and seasoned workers can quickly consult their past training when needed. Digitizing onboarding also allows them to track their progress, incentivizing continued learning.
Employ Performance Tracking Tools
Gamifying your performance-tracking methods is a great way to drive employee engagement. Workers are motivated when they can see their good work for themselves. Tracking tools also let them monitor their progress and create new goals.
Gamification works because it triggers three aspects of the human motivational system — autonomy, competency and relatedness. Autonomy makes you feel in control of your life, while competency represents and rewards your desire to do well. Relatedness involves the desire to connect and share interests with a community.
Offer Online Professional Development
Investing in your employees’ development makes them invested in your company. Today, people increasingly value a workplace that offers professional development opportunities. If their job did not provide these opportunities, 58% of workers said they would seek work elsewhere.
Offer professional development opportunities on a digital platform to engage your employees and keep them invested in their industry. It allows them to put time into professional development from anywhere. You can offer online test-based certifications or even a lineup of industry-specific podcasts and audiobooks to advance your workers’ skills and knowledge.
Mechanize Time Tracking and Payroll
Giving employees access to time-tracking technology empowers them to maximize their workday. Integrate it with your payroll software to assure your workers that you accurately count and compensate them for their time. Automation is vital for blue-collar workers since they typically work hourly.
Digitize Safety Checkpoints
Workers are motivated when they know management values their well-being, so digitize checkpoints to prioritize workplace safety. New hires have a lot of things to learn, making it easier to misplace important safety information. People who have been at your company for a while may have internalized safety measures, but that can make it easy for them to unintentionally bypass essential steps.
Digitizing your safety checkpoints will allow your employees to constantly have instructions on hand, helping them feel safer while performing their daily tasks. It will also allow you to easily update them, immediately alerting everyone to important changes in guidelines.
Simplify Incident Reporting
Digitizing incident reporting saves you and your employees precious time during an accident. An injured worker or other team members can alert you to a problem and file information as soon as possible from wherever they are. Digitizing and archiving incident reports also builds goodwill between you and your staff because it allows everyone access to the same information. This is essential as you move through the process of ensuring safety protocols were appropriately followed before, during and after any workplace incident.
Use Technology to Improve Blue-Collar Worker Experience
Successfully integrate these technologies into your workplace by training employees to use them. Education empowers workers to solve technological issues on their own when possible. The technology should also be customized to your industry and workforce’s needs and work offline if needed.
If employees must upload personal information, ensure strong security features are implemented so they feel safe. Keep an open line of communication so your workers can inform you of their day-to-day needs and provide feedback they have on the technology. Together, you can ensure everyone makes the most of it to improve their workplace experience.
This post was written for HRTech247 by Eleanor Hecks. Eleanor is a business and hiring writer and researcher who is passionate about sharing physical and mental health resources with the SMB community. You can find her work as Editor in Chief of Designerly Magazine as well as a staff writer for publications such as HR.com, eLearning Industry and Training Industry.
