Companies depend on frontline workers to deliver exceptional customer experiences, execute on company strategy, bring products to life and act as the face of the brand. But, according to a new report from Unily found that frontline workers are being severely held back by digital underinvestment.
The report shows that frontline workers across industries are dealing with a critical communications crisis that costs companies a combined $80.6 billion a year. Employees are losing time and missing critical information to perform their jobs efficiently.
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The average frontline worker spends 120 hours per year unable to do work due to poor access to information or resources, 124 hours per year searching for information or resources and 132 hours per year having to redo work due to an initial lack of information or resources, according to the report.
These widespread access issues equate to significant economic and productivity hits across sectors.
“This is more than a productivity issue – this is a strategic blind spot,” said Jenny Shiers, Chief People Officer at Unily. “At a time when agility defines competitiveness, enterprises cannot afford to leave their frontline workers disconnected and underinformed. Every minute lost to friction is a dollar lost to inefficiency.”
Beyond productivity, inadequate access to tools is raising major security risks with 71% of employees admitting to using personal devices or non-company apps to share or access company information.
Finally, the report identifies a clear cultural breakdown as well. Nearly three-quarters of frontline employees (72%) report that they do not have a strong grasp of company strategy and only 24% feel that their feedback ever reaches leadership.
While many companies are facing increased volatility in the market, losing frontline workers could be a costly disruption, and one that could be avoided. The report found that 31% of workers say they would consider moving to a company that has a more modern digital workplace.
While modern-day companies are being pushed to move at faster and faster speeds, the question remains where leadership can draw the line in order to find a balance between efficiency and accuracy.
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