Amanda Ward is the EMEA Senior Director of Technology & Services at Getac, owning and driving end to end solutions through working with key business clients and engineering groups to deliver end to end process and IT solutions.
In recent years, digital transformation has fundamentally changed the way millions of frontline workers carry out their jobs, as organisations everywhere look to boost productivity and empower their employees through the acquisition and implementation of digital technology. According to Statista, global spending on digital transformation technologies and services will reach USD 3.4 trillion by 2026. However, not all workforce transformation strategies utilising technology are created equal. If executed poorly, some digital transformations can leave frontline workers no more productive than they were before, despite their organisations investing significant amounts of time and money in digitising workflows and eliminating paper-based business processes.
For digital transformation efforts to be truly effective, organisations must involve their frontline workers in the entire digital transformation framework, future vision, and journey. Only by securing their buy-in can businesses ensure that what looks good on paper will result in a truly empowered field workforce.
Here are some of the key steps to consider when formulating successful digital transformation strategies for frontline workforces that deliver the desired customer experience and business outcomes.
Field workers are the lifeblood of their organisations. In many sectors, such as transport & logistics, utilities, and public safety, they are also the first point of contact for customers, citizens and patients, often operating in high-pressure environments where fast resolutions are needed/expected. Despite this, many business leaders will view field workers through the same lens as remote-based office workers, deploying the same technology and digital solutions across both groups, despite very different working conditions and expectations.
Rather than adopting a one-size-fits-all approach to digitisation, it’s far better to step back and assess the unique business challenges faced by different groups within the organisation, then work with them individually to find the most suitable digital solutions. For example, field workers are often operating in highly changeable weather conditions and environments, unlike remote-based office workers. As such, they are better suited to leveraging digital technologies and devices that are built for those situations, such as rugged laptops and tablets. Equally, they spend extensive periods operating in remote field locations, away from charging facilities, which means devices with high-capacity batteries that offer full-shift operation between charges can have a big impact on overall productivity.
Taking a more measured, empathy-driven approach to digital optimisation and problem-solving like this will ensure any accelerated digital transformation strategy that’s put in place is greeted far more enthusiastically by field workers than it would otherwise be.
When integrated with rugged mobile devices, technologies rooted in machine learning can impart knowledge and guidance to recruits during their duties, provide real-time direction to teams navigating intricate or complex field operations, and reinforce strict compliance with safety regulations.
Over the last few years, the popularity and uptake of remote collaboration software development tools have grown exponentially. The pandemic was a key factor in this, with lockdown rules driving behavioral change and teaching workers everywhere how to effectively collaborate with colleagues regardless of their physical location.
What started as a productivity driver amongst office workers has quickly spread to the field too, with advances in digital infrastructure meaning frontline workers have never been better connected. Add to these improvements in network speeds and new capabilities of mobile technology and the bar for what’s possible in the field of digital business is now higher than ever.
These advancements in machine learning are powering new generations of digital tools, with emerging technologies like Mixed Reality (MR) and Augmented Reality (AR) becoming more commonplace throughout all kinds of field environments. When paired with rugged field devices, such technology can be used to inform and educate recruits on the job, guide teams through delicate/complex field procedures in real-time, and ensure adherence to safety protocols. For utility field engineers, this same machine learning can mean more first-time fixes and happier customers. For emergency paramedics, it can be the difference between life and death.
Organizations that take the time to understand which collaboration tools will benefit their field force the most and leverage them accordingly will undoubtedly reap the most reward from their digital transformation initiatives. However, failure to do so will likely have the opposite effect, leaving businesses with legacy systems with little, or nothing, to show from their technology investments.
With the global average cost of a data breach in 2023 sitting at an eye-watering USD 4.45 million, data security is now a critical consideration in every digital transformation initiative and digital business strategy everywhere, particularly amongst organizations with extensive field forces, which makes data and devices even harder to protect.
For most, effective security starts with education. Employees need to have a clear understanding of what to look out for when it comes to suspicious emails or messages that may be part of a phishing attack, or other behavior aimed at stealing sensitive company data. The better informed they are, the more vigilant they will be. Conducting regular training is a great way to keep everyone up to date on the ever-changing methods and attack vectors used by cybercriminals.
Next, organizations need to ensure their field devices are kept fully up to date in terms of security patches and OS updates, which protect against zero-day vulnerabilities and the latest security threats from across the digital landscape. This can be difficult to achieve amongst field workers who rarely come into the main office, but fortunately, there are numerous device management solutions available from technology partners that can greatly simplify the process. Getac Monitoring is a great example, offering organizations a simple and convenient way to monitor all deployed devices from one central location, issue software/firmware updates over the air, and track device location and usage in near-real time. Simply put, if organizations know where all their devices are, they will have a much easier time protecting them.
If organizations feel overwhelmed when it comes to security or don’t have the necessary in-house capabilities, they don’t have to do it alone. Working with qualified partners and security experts can be a great way to plug any knowledge or technology gaps, as well as build comprehensive training programs that ensure field teams and their devices remain as protected as possible, wherever they go.
The integration of artificial intelligence introduces a wholly new dimension of functionality, empowering workers to pose inquiries within the transcript and receive instantaneous responses.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has taken the business world by storm over the last 18 months, largely thanks to its enormous potential to drive digital transformation and increase business value across the board. New AI solutions are emerging every day with the power to revolutionise field team operations and deliver real-world benefits like never before. For example, AI can now be used by field workers to record and transcribe conversations with customers, citizens, or patients, in multiple languages, giving them a clear and concise record of what was discussed and agreed upon. While transcription tools themselves are nothing new, integrating AI adds an entirely new layer of functionality, enabling workers to ask questions within the transcript and receive immediate answers. What’s the customer’s address? What parts will be required to solve their issue? What is the traffic like on the route to the job site? Not only do these kinds of new digital capabilities help to optimise workforce productivity, but they also improve the customer experience by empowering employees to solve tricky problems and achieve faster resolutions.
When it comes to the digital business model and investing in new digital technologies, some organisations can be reluctant to do so because of upfront costs or perceived issues with implementation. Indeed, adopting new digital technology just for the sake of it rarely yields positive results. However, failure to embrace new digital technologies when there’s a clear business case for them can be just as damaging, if not more so.
Successful digital transformation starts with taking a problem-driven approach to technology adoption, working closely with those on the front lines to identify where new technology can make the most difference and investing accordingly. Too many organisations still go about it backwards, committing to a new technology investment and then looking for a problem to solve with it, which simply isn’t effective. Instead, they should take the time to understand where current barriers or inefficiencies are in existing technology, from those that use it every day, then adopt new technology as needed to solve those issues as efficiently as possible.
Digital transformation isn’t a one-time act, but rather a continuously evolving journey that is neither linear nor predictable. Sometimes, digital solutions and strategies that work at one point in time may no longer be effective a few years down the line and need revising or even replacing. For this reason, soliciting regular workers and client feedback throughout the organisation’s digital transformation process is vital. The most valuable feedback almost always comes from the people who are out in the field, using the solutions in question, day in and day out, as well as those on the receiving end, be it customers, citizens, or patients.
Business models focused on digital transformation absolutely must give frontline workers the means to feedback directly on their experiences, all the way up to the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) if necessary. If those at the top controlling the spending and direction are too disconnected from those on the ground executing the new business models and strategy, success will always be much harder to achieve.
All too often, digital transformation strategies place too much emphasis on technology and not enough on the people using it. At the end of the day, it is people who sit at the heart of every business. While technology can be used to improve operations, it is no substitute for a well-trained, highly motivated workforce. The best digital transformation outcomes and strategies focus on the strategic use of technology to augment existing skills and optimise human performance, from automating time-consuming tasks and digitising manual processes to simplifying knowledge exchange and much more. Finding the right balance between technology and human-centred approaches is key, not simply throwing technology at a list of business challenges in the hope that something will stick.
Every organisation’s digital transformation journey is unique, but successful process transformation strategies nearly always have common threads running through them. This article highlights some of these key strategies and how they can be used to form a great framework for organisations looking to transform their frontline workforce and operations smoothly and efficiently. Not all digital transformation journeys are pain-free, but taking the time to formulate an effective approach, set the right business priorities, and secure buy-in from key stakeholders at the outset of process transformation ensures organisations are starting on the right foot, which always pays dividends down the road.
Amanda Ward is the EMEA Senior Director of Technology & Services at Getac, owning and driving end to end solutions through working with key business clients and engineering groups to deliver end to end process and IT solutions.
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