Non-desk based workers, or deskless workers, are those who work in an environment that isn’t office based or whose work doesn’t require them to be at a computer or connected. It includes people who work in hospitality, manufacturing, retail, healthcare, transport, construction, public service and more.
For every organisation that includes this group, the challenge of how to communicate with them has remained top of the challenge list for over a decade.
To help solve this challenge, we carried out two studies in the UK and Ireland – one in 2019 and another, post COVID-19, in 2023 – to understand what’s working, and what’s not when it comes to communicating with deskless workers.
While limited research exists on the number of deskless workers, it’s suggested that around 80% of the workforce is in this category. This is important to remember when the workplace topics tend to focus on things like return to office and hybrid working patterns – neither of which are possible for this group.
Combining our findings from both reports, we’ve identified eight core themes that need to be addressed to really improve how we communicate with deskless workers:
- The content needs to be relevant – If your audience are telling you it’s too noisy, they mean the content they get isn’t relevant. And when it comes to deskless workers, they want really relevant content to their work and their location. This is important because their sense of belonging comes from those around them, not necessarily the connection to the organisation
- Line managers need to improve their communication skills – Nearly all deskless workers rely on their line managers for information. In fact, if they think their line manager is a poor communicator, they think all communication in the organisation is poor. Investing in the communication skills of the line manager will have the biggest impact with this group, despite the belief it’s digital tools that will help.
- Don’t use ‘Third Space’ to communicate with them – This is the space between where they work and their home – think canteen area, locker room etc. Because this isn’t where they do their job, it’s a space they want to use to relax and socialise, and choose if they want to read anything. The correct type of communication channel you use here is crucial in order to balance getting their attention and not being too intrusive.
- How remote workers get work done is important – There are different types of deskless worker and this determines how they get their content and how often they can have conversations with those they work with. You need to know how they work – are they in a team, do they work alone etc. so you know how they can access content. We found that you can segment them into three: solitary, mixed or team.
- They are either motivated by the task or the brand – Deskless workers will be connected to the task they carry out or the brand they work for. For some, they are skilled and trained and where they work is irrelevant – consider healthcare workers who often work where is convenient to home. For others, they have chosen the brand to work because of their values and beliefs – consider retail where the brand values connect with the individual. This means the content they need to feel motivated and engaged in the organisation is different and if you over communicate with brand messages with those who are task motivated, you risk disengaging them.
- Getting the right digital tools in place – Between 2019 and 2023 the rise of messaging tools like WhatsApp has been significant. There are risks here so there needs to be some consideration about the digital tools for this audience and what they actually need to get the information they need. Other digital tools didn’t see a rise in the time between research so it’s the instant messaging element that needs to be a key element of the digital strategy here.
- There is a culture difference between office and deskless workers – Deskless workers need to be able to share content with each other quickly and verbally, often while they work. In contrast, office workers are more used to communicating in writing – emails, reports and presentations. It’s important to tailor the way you write and create content for this audience to reflect these differences. While it sounds straight forward this difference in approach means language, sentence structure and length of content all need to be considered. Things need to be able to be shared quickly and verbally.
- There isn’t an engagement issue with this group – This population are engaged. So when it comes to defining why you’re communicating, engagement might not be the reason. Finding out what engagement really means in your organisation and the purpose of internal communication for this employee group will make sure you’re communicating for the right reasons. Always ask why and remember it must be relevant!
We know that communicating with this group is tough, which is why we created The Deskless Worker Toolkit to help. It includes the two research reports mentioned in this blog post as well as business case templates and digital channel measurement guide.
Why should you purchase the toolkit for just £149?…
You’ve got real data about what deskless workers actually want (straight from the horse’s mouth).
You can back up your plans with insights that make leaders pay attention.
You stop wasting time on channels that don’t work — and start building ones that do.
You starts to feel in control, credible, and connected to the wider business goals.
You move from tactical delivery to strategic enablement — because now you know what works.
If you’d like some help solving this challenge in your organisation, we can help. Whether it’s a workshop with the comms team, helping upskill line managers communication skills or working with you to review your strategy with this population in mind, drop us an email at info@redfiningcomms.com
