Josh Bersin takes a closer look at the ‘forgotten’ deskless workforce

It’s not lost on me, or thought leader and global analyst, Josh Bersin, that the deskless workforce has been largely ignored for a long time and it has become more and more prevalent throughout the pandemic. Question is – how? How can a percentage of the workforce that makes up 80% – that’s 2.7 billion-person strong of the global working population - who don’t sit at a physical desk be overlooked?

It was fantastic to sit down with Josh again to dig deeper into this question and talk about ways we can empower the deskless workforce with the tools they need to be their most productive and engaged selves. And that is what matters – people want to do well at their jobs, they want to contribute in a meaningful way, they want to have control over their careers, time spent on the job, and so much more that contributes to living their best work life!

When we think about the pandemic and the shift to remote work that was unprecedented in so many ways, there was a big focus on communication technology to enable video meetings to build a connection that felt more supported, encouragement to take time for a better work-life balance with an understanding that consecutive hours at the computer wasn’t expected, while tools and programs to help manage mental health were readily available. But if you were one of the ‘forgotten’ workers that didn’t sit at a desk with a computer all day, or even have access to a computer, how would you even get access to any of this?

This seems to be the ongoing theme for 2021 - transformation – from digital entertainment, cloud computing, online retailing, and low touch customer and even patient-service, it all circles back to how people interact with technology. People who are leading in uncertainty and change, people longing for belonging and inclusion, people demanding an employee experience that focuses on well-being and safety, and an unwavering need for communication.

In this session, Josh highlights four companies who are doing some interesting things to not only keep their people happy and engaged, but they are also doing it with deskless workers at the forefront by:

• Enabling people to access and act on workforce data anywhere, anytime with intelligent mobility

• Aggregating more and better data with broader labor models and deeper flexibility

• Providing auto-scheduling and shift swapping capabilities

• Maintaining compliance with geofencing for clocking in and clocking out

• Integrating all major HR services into one platform

• And more

Now this is getting fun, the more we focus on this topic, the more we can do to empower people in your company that have felt forgotten but whose time has come.

Watch the video and let me know what you think. Connect with me on LinkedIn – would love to hear what strategies are working for you and your company.

Matt Bragstad, VP, Head of People Solutions Vision & Strategy, Infor