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Workforce Engagement Through Digital Automation
Author: Sonia Tuner, Sales and Marketing Manager
Published: 29th November 2022
One of the most pressing issues faced by Mining Executives today is staff retention, with many companies suffering from high turnover rates and a lack of specialist talent. With more job opportunities available now than in previous years, companies are just now finding out how important their workface engagement is for increasing employee retention.
One prime example of where workforce engagement is letting down companies is in the initial onboarding process. Employees often start their first day expecting a smooth onboarding experience so when companies fail to meet these expectations, it leaves new workers very underwhelmed and lacking trust in the company.
Employees today expect more from their job than just a pay check, they expect to be cared for and feel like more than just a number. Investing in digital automation software such as a workforce management solution can help bridge the communication gap between you and your workers, helping to create loyalty and make them feel like they are a valued part of the team.
Why is Digital Automation Important for Workforce Engagement?
Today over 40% of the workforce are millennials, a generation raised with broadband internet, social media and a world of ever evolving technology. With a shorter attention span than previous generations they expect information to be delivered quickly and be easy to consume, as well as using software that is intuitive and easy to use. The pandemic has also caused older generations to rethink their work-life balance, with the new phenomenon of silent quitting becoming increasingly more common in the work place, with employees becoming disengaged from their work.
When we discuss workforce engagement with our customers there are three common comments we hear:
- Logistics constrains our production – “Right now production is constrained by people, logistics, and morale. Production should be constrained by the capacity of the plant, equipment, and assets. Better systems are needed to manage our people.”
- Spreadsheets impact our ability to plan and report – “Administrators compensate for fragmented, siloed, and duplicated data by producing a ‘plague’ of spreadsheets, all of which create errors and travel change requirements that impact workers’ FIFO experience.”
- A persistent morale issue – “Persistent morale issues for employees and contractors, created by the inability to accurately forecast the demand for flights and accommodation based on future maintenance and construction commitments. This means changes to agreed plans and flight bookings that hurt our contractors and our people.”
Flip this to the workers perspective and you can see that these issues are not only a company problem, employees also feel the effects of the lack of automation and data:
- One way communication: I feel like there is one way communication with my employer. My employer demands daily reports and checklists from me, but there is little or no response to the safety or production issues I raise.
- Out of date compliance and training records: My employer’s records of my compliances and training are often incomplete or out of date and I must resubmit documents. They are not visible to me and it affects my ability to travel or enter the site.
- Last minute changes to my travel: Flights to and from site are sometimes cancelled or changed at the last-minute, affecting commitments I make to family and friends.
The common denominator in all of these issues is purely data – how it is given, received, actioned and reported back. Employees constantly facing these issues will be more likely to seek other, more streamlined companies.
Our Workforce Management Solution
We have recently invested in a People Management system to fill the solution gap by providing our customers with a tool that encompasses all areas of workforce, people and safety management. The goal of the new solution is to help companies build morale via a system that guides, supports and partners with your workers rather than them feeling cut off, helping to achieve higher productivity and with reduced risk and harm, in turn increasing staff retention.
Our People Management system provides an integrated cloud web client with a unified mobile app to give administrators and manager’s better visibility of issues, allowing them to make better travel decisions, and helps to reconnects managers with their workers by seeing and acting on the issues they raise in a real time format. This will help you support and build better relationships between you and the people that drive your company’s success.
If you want to learn more about how our Workforce Management solution can help you with your employee engagement, reach out to your account manager or contact us via the form below.