Struggling to Connect With Workers? Try Texting.

Did you know that an engaged workforce can actually lead to higher profitability? Recent research by Gallup has also shown that companies with engaged workforces have higher earnings per share (EPS). Not only that, but the data also suggests that organizations with engaged workforces have recovered from the 2008 recession at a faster rate. 

Beyond profitability, Gallup’s meta-analysis (now in its 10th edition) shows clear evidence that engagement leads to better outcomes across nearly a dozen categories, including customer loyalty and engagement, productivity, turnover, shrinkage, absenteeism and more. 

Of course, actually building and executing an engagement strategy can be a tall order. For frontline workers in particular, engagement can be a challenge, as these workers are completing their jobs from the field, on the production floor, on the road and more. 

If you’re struggling to reach your workers and capture valuable feedback, it might be time for a new approach. And it might be closer than you think. 

The Power of Text Messaging for Employee Feedback

Data shows that, on average, it takes about 90 minutes to respond to an email. But when it comes to texts, 95% of all text messages are read within 90 seconds. And most of those are read within 5 seconds! When you want someone’s attention, text messages are one of the most effective ways to get it. Aside from efficacy, text messages offer a few other clear benefits for employee engagement. 

• Accessibility:

  Meet your workers where they are. Whether they’re driving trucks, packing loads, helping patients, shipping goods, or on the production line, most frontline workers are completing their duties without a desk. Emailing workers or expecting them to log in to specific platforms or apps is asking a lot, and will likely not return much in the way of engagement. With texting, you can interact with employees in a way that lets them respond whenever they are ready.

• Easy, Fast Way to Capture Feedback:

  Feedback from the field can be truly transformative for modern businesses, but with tools like surveys and emails, collecting it can be cumbersome for both the company and the worker. Surveys take months to write and organize, and while emails can be faster, they still require formatting, copywriting and design. With texting, you get a supremely simple output that produces clear-cut answers — and it doesn’t take more than a few seconds of your employees’ time. 

• Honest and Personal Feedback:

  Text messaging is a nearly ubiquitous form of communication at this point. We all text our families and friends on a regular basis, using the short-form communication to make plans, tell stories, laugh at jokes, share news, or just say hello. So, for most of us, texting is a very natural way to engage. And when we engage naturally, we tend to engage honestly. 

Adding Anonymity to the Mix 

When you add a layer of anonymity, the dialogue can deepen even more with text messaging, giving workers a chance to express personal thoughts without fear of personal reprisal. This level of honest engagement can be incredibly illuminating, bringing problems to light that managers and leadership boards would have otherwise never known. 

At WorkHound we chose text messaging as our exclusive mode of communication because we know it’s the single best way to capture helpful, honest, authentic worker feedback in real time. 

For more information about how WorkHound works, or to schedule a free demo, contact us any time.