By Theresa Bontempo
Stress impacts every employee differently. For deskless workers, like those at quick service restaurants (QSRs), stress in the workplace can chip away at productivity, engagement and overall well-being. Failing to acknowledge and address these concerns hurt employers, too, often resulting in increased turnover rates and poor employee morale.
Gallup’s 2023 State of the Global Workplace report confirms that workplace stress is at an unprecedented high, too. The US, Canada and East Asia are in a three-way tie for the highest stress levels among employees globally.
Implementing stress and time management training for deskless employees is more critical now than ever. But traditional training models won’t work for these employees — you’ll need a digital alternative to meet their unique needs.
The challenges of implementing an effective time and stress management training program
For stress and time management training to be successful, you need a deeper understanding of what your deskless employees need to perform at their peak. Some of the most significant challenges in this process come from simply not knowing how to support them best and equipping them with the best tools to thrive.
Meeting the needs of deskless staff
Deskless workers tackle diverse job duties compared to their desked colleagues. Many are on the move and often customer-facing or handling any number of operations back of the house (BOH). The nature of their jobs means they don’t have the same access to technology, tools and other resources to manage their time and perform better.
While there is no one-size-fits-all approach to creating an effective time and stress management training program, there are simple best practices you can follow to meet your employees' needs and make the workplace less stressful for them:
- Encourage breaks when appropriate to avoid burnout.
- Practice open communication and transparency.
- Conduct team meetings to build a sense of camaraderie within your staff.
- Give them bite-size time management training opportunities.
- Lean on group activities to promote collaboration and a more robust workplace culture.
- Recognize and reward your team’s contributions and hard work.
Creating accessible and consumable content
Consider what a typical workday looks like for your deskless staff. They’re undoubtedly in go-mode from when they clock in until they clock out. They don’t have time to read a lengthy company-wide update on safety practices or several pages about departmental restructuring. Yet they need to know this information for their safety and well-being.
Traditional practices like assembling a two-inch thick training manual won’t prove effective for them. Deskless employees need access to digital resources and bite-sized content they can engage with anytime, anywhere. To do this, managers are investing in digital employee engagement systems.
Many companies are harnessing digital signage solutions to create and display content relevant to their stress and time management training, such as:
- Short videos on workplace stress management techniques.
- Infographics that highlight practical time management steps.
- Employee spotlights to praise effort and milestones.
- Performance graphs and charts to show growth and areas for improvement.
- Leaderboards to motivate employees as their complete training.
Measuring employee engagement
Consider the traditional ways of assessing and measuring employee engagement. These might include paper or email surveys, feedback forms or face-to-face meetings. But for deskless employees, these aren’t practical, nor will they inspire them to offer in-depth or honest feedback, which is what you need to create a tailored stress and time management training program for them.
To engage your deskless employees and measure their engagement, partnering with a digital employee engagement software solution like Shift will give you a clear and accurate picture of whether they’re engaging with your training materials so that you can make necessary changes in real time.
Effective solutions for getting time management training in front of your staff
Shift is the leading on-premise employee engagement platform designed to get your time and stress management training program in front of your deskless workers. Here’s how it can help your team elevate their performance and tackle burnout.
Use your digital displays
Using your back-of-house digital displays to share your training content ensures your deskless staff can easily access it when time allows. With in-app Canva integration, you can use themed templates and a library of royalty-free photos and videos to make your training program more engaging.
Create interactive content that is on-the-go
Your time and stress management training program won’t take off without first ensuring accessibility for all employees. With Shift’s QR Code campaign creator, you can link your deskless workers to critical training resources via QR-code technology, giving them on-the-go access.
To get the ball rolling, consider using QR-code technology to connect them with interactive training content that could include:
- A link to download your company’s stress and time management materials and resources.
- Connect to learning and development modules.
- Link them to longer tutorials and other educational resources.
- Announce community wellness partnerships and link them to promo codes or special offers that may apply.
- Garner feedback from participant surveys and feedback forms.
Make stress management training engaging
Stress management training should be fun and engaging for your employees, not a burden or like taking on another job. You can use Shift to ramp up the excitement around the launch of your training program and keep them engaged in it for the long haul.
Some of your team members may not share the same enthusiasm as their peers, but with a little bit of an extra nudge, you can get your whole team excited about making progress. Leverage Shift to support their engagement with training by:
- Incentivizing them to access and begin their training by a specific date with a small monetary bonus or prize.
- Creating training progress leaderboards that promote friendly competition.
- Spotlighting their participation, progress and goal-smashing by displaying their testimonials on screen.
- Celebrating participation by rewarding participants.
Make stress and time management training a breeze with Shift
Stress and time management training for your deskless workforce doesn’t need to be complicated or costly. Showing your employees that you understand their unique needs and are willing to invest in their well-being and satisfaction is easy with Shift on your screens.
Contact Shift for a risk-free demo and see how we can make your stress management training stress-free.
Learn About Employee Wellness Program Ideas For Deskless Employees
Learn About Targeting Nurse Stress Management In Your Clinic
