Digital literacy and adoption: Preparing your frontline workers for new systems and technology
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What is digital literacy?
Digital literacy is not a skillset — it's a mindset.
It refers to the person's overall ability, confidence, and motivation to successfully navigate and use digital environments to achieve their desired goals or outcomes. These may include interacting with systems to access resources, synthesising information to create new insight, or even simply communicating with peers. When new systems are rolled out, whether it be a digital tool, software, or resource, the majority of people begin with little experience in using it.
However, the introduction of a new system can prove both daunting and exciting, especially for frontline (deskless) employees. According to Deloitte, frontline workers have historically been underserved when it comes to digital tools and solutions — just 23% claim they have access to the technology they need to be productive, and 80% say they lack access to connection opportunities at work.
While many frontline workers would be interested in learning how to use new technology or software, others may see the impending training and learning curve as inhibitive to their work. Generally, frontline workers work long hours, may have limited time overlap with their direct manager due to shift work, are frequently on-the-go, and juggle several responsibilities at once. The Deloitte report poses a scenario where this could occur: if a hospital introduces a new electronic health record (EHR) for nurses without designing the experience specifically for the way nurses need it to work, both the workload and potential for data entry errors would increase.
Ultimately, digital literacy acts as the differentiator between adept and gradual learners. It acts as the differentiator between those who can adopt and implement these new tools into their daily workflow. Managers need to acknowledge this, and tailor implementation strategies to bring everyone up to speed and avoid incurring potential productivity costs.
The cost of poor digital literacy
Poor digital literacy can prove costly, both emotionally and financially. Employees who lack adequate digital literacy may find it difficult to pick up new technology and carry out their daily activities, causing them to disengage and become less willing to learn new tasks or use new tools. The business may also suffer financially due to a lack of productivity, as well as the costs associated with ineffective implementation and training.
In frontline workplaces, preparation is key. Ensuring your frontline employees are ready, willing, and able to interact with (and adopt) new digital tools or resources is key to maintaining worker wellbeing and business productivity on a go-live day.
How to improve digital literacy when rolling out a new system
Planning to introduce a new tool, platform, or resource into your organisation (e.g., HR or workforce management software)?
To ensure learners are prepared to interact with it and ensure sustained use, there are a number of strategies that should be used together:
Start with motivation: Adult learners must want (or at least need) to improve their abilities when it comes to using a specific tool or resource. Highlight the benefits of being able to get the most out of the system from their perspective. E.g. does it make it easier to perform their regular tasks or faster to find information? In doing so, you use the potential benefits of learning as an incentive for motivation.
Know where they are currently at: Understand whether they have used similar systems before and identify any gaps in their knowledge. This information could be obtained through a pulse survey or group listening meetings. Once the general level of knowledge is understood, you can better tailor the training and onboarding process, focusing more time and detail on the lesser-understood areas.
Provide help to get them up to speed: Most online tools have their own “getting started” online content resources, specifically designed for new users. (Humanforce, for example, provides users with a range of guides, both online and within our mobile-friendly solutions to help new users get acquainted). You can recommend they visit the page, or share direct links to relevant how-to articles.
Get peers involved: Allow new users to see another person using the tool or resource well. This could be a live walkthrough with an experienced user, or a recording, as long as it makes the process seem easy and highlights the benefits of effective use.
Encourage practice: Where possible, give learners early access so they don’t have to juggle completing the task and learning the mechanics of doing so simultaneously. In some cases, a sandbox or demo is a good option if possible. It allows the person to practice privately and without being worried about breaking anything important.
Set clear expectations for engagement: Coming back to the first point on the list, the user must be motivated to engage. Communicate that using the resource is not optional — not in an authoritarian way, but in a way that emphasises the benefits of using it versus legacy software (or no software at all). It’s also important to communicate that they are expected to use it to the best of their ability.
Learning requires a combination of adequate motivation, confidence, and ability. If your target group has low digital literacy, you may need to put in extra effort to get them up to speed — using the guide above as a starting point.
Be prepared to give extra guidance and support for those who are struggling — and perhaps encourage your tech advocates (those who are quick to learn and adopt, and clearly see the benefits) — to work closely with those who need some extra assistance. Once the stats begin to tick upwards and the positive feedback rolls in, that extra work you put in will all have been worth it.
About Humanforce
Humanforce is the all-in-one platform for frontline and flexible workforces, offering a truly employee centred, intelligent and compliant human capital management (HCM) suite – without compromise. Founded in 2002, Humanforce has a 2300+ customer base and over half a million users worldwide. Today, we have offices across Australia, New Zealand, and the UK.
Our vision is to make work easier and life better by focusing on the needs and fulfilment of frontline workers, and the efficiency and optimisation of businesses.
To learn more about how Humanforce’s solution can help automate people processes in your business, please contact us.