Why are you leaving your mobile frontline out in the “digital cold”?

You could have picked me up from the floor. A major oil company (not a DWG member of course given the lessons here) was upgrading all its digital workplace services – but only for the “knowledge workers” in their offices. “What about the guys in the field? Are they not in the mix here?” The reply was a rather tame confession that the hard grafters out on the oil rigs and driving the trucks were not to be part of this digital overhaul.

But this company is not rare. Too often I see large-name organizations who seem to regard the frontline as second in line for the “digital gold” as if they are lesser workers in the organization’s mind. My reply is always along the lines: at some point you will bring powerful, intelligent knowledge and services to everyone in your company, so why wait?

And when everyone is included – as they are at the likes of Verizon, Burberry, Nike and IKEA – it not only brings extra firepower to where it is most needed but also sends a potent message across the organization. We are all in this together and there is no “centre” and “field” but instead one collective workforce trying to make the whole thing as successful as possible. This powerful message shapes the culture while the new services enable efficiency.

Sure, it is not easy. Cost, security and governance are all required, but imagine if you decided to leave one major subset of your key customers cut off from the digital services you offer due to a reluctance to overcome such challenges? Run that one past the head of marketing or sales!

So, if the mobile frontline is inevitable and it’s going to happen at some point – then now is as good (or even better) a time as any.

And on a semi-related matter, if you would like to listen to my conversation about “being yourself at work” with two great guests from Adobe and Riot Games, then do subscribe to my podcast and listen to Episode 1 of Digital Workplace Impact.

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