Workjam: revolutionising the way HQs and frontlines work together

Can you tell us about your career leading up to WorkJam? 

I have 25 years in retail technology working in the SaaS arena in EMEA and North America, building go-to-market plans and delivering growth to the respective businesses. We are now growing exceptionally fast based on market drivers and Workjams’ readiness. My approach has always been consultative and to focus on delivering value. 

What does WorkJam aim to do for the retail sector? 

WorkJam addresses the largest economic challenges facing the retail industry – not just the current labour shortage, productivity, turnover and re-training – but the significant inequalities that exist between salaried and hourly workers. 

Our solution supports millions of frontline employees in over 50 languages by providing real-time communications, personalised training and development, recognition, scheduling and task management tools to the frontline associates. 

It is unique in that it is fully modular; retail customers can buy one module and then turn on others as their needs grow. Our super app revolutionised the way HQs and their frontline work together, boosting efficiencies and productivity, reducing churn and increasing retention.

Can you give us some retail-specific examples of tools WorkJam provides? 

WorkJam’s app has four modules. Two-way communication, which empowers frontline workers and provides them with a genuine voice. Task management grants a degree of autonomy to employees, helping them to see what needs to be done and giving them the opportunity to manage their own time in the way they think best. 

Meanwhile, flexible shift-swapping tools help frontline workers that are typically at the mercy of whichever manager handles the rota. If they want more shifts or need to be home on a certain day, they have to go through layers of negotiation. With flexible shift swapping, they can manage their own time. 

In addition, e-learning and rewards aim to lessen lacking engagement, which is a common reason for employee churn. Employees become disengaged because they feel unvalued and uninvested in. Offering acknowledgement, rewards, and the opportunity to manage their own development addresses this issue. 

How can technology in retail make life easier for staff?

It can improve two-way communication to boost engagement. Many retailers and brands still rely on clipboards and billboards in the breakroom to communicate directives and updates to frontline staff, yet nearly every frontline worker has a smartphone today and workplace apps offer communication tools that make it easy for associates to communicate with colleagues and management at all levels of an organisation via their phone. Like all people, frontline workers don’t want to just be dictated to – they want their ideas and concerns to be heard and addressed, so empowering them with technology that facilitates two-way communication with leadership can boost engagement, loyalty and workplace happiness.

It also ​gives frontline workers more control over their schedules, while lessening managers’ scheduling burdens. Retailers can provide hourly staff with access to an open shift management platform. The technology enables employees to pick up extra shifts at their own store or other locations and to swap shifts when needed. Whether an employee is simply looking for more hours, wants to pick up shifts at another location where their friends work, or is home from college on a break and wants to work a few shifts at a store close to home, an open shift marketplace makes this easy to arrange.

As mentioned before, it also provides training and career development opportunities by allowing frontline staff to build their knowledge and skills. The app maps exactly how additional training can help them advance their careers within the company and can improve not only productivity and the customer experience, but also employee job satisfaction and retention.

In your opinion, do you think tech adoption in retail is low, and why?

I believe businesses have invested in point solutions and dealt with immediate priorities such as supply chain, logistics, stock and replenishment, and lately going through digital change to address the omnichannel challenges. As a result, the frontline has been left behind and now feel undervalued, disconnected and want to have a mobile-first experience. 

Point solutions have tried to solve individual problems such as task management, communications, learning and shift management, but Workjam provides a connected user experience with one place to go to do everything they need to do and only ever see what is relevant to them. It also joins the dots of the point solutions, offering a mobile layer over existing investments.

WorkJam has developed the world’s leading digital frontline workplace and our super app will enable the market to achieve its communications and engagement goals. Many of our global enterprise customers are a testament to this. Our customers benefit from high adoption – often upwards of 90% – which has enabled them to manage and measure change at scale.

Our target audience capability also makes us different; we create a “noiseless” environment for our customers, so they only ever see information that is relevant to them. This functionality also enables the users to build their profile automatically through identifying interests, skills, attributes and achievements through badging. Staff will only ever need to focus on what is important to them, driving operational efficiencies and cost savings for you, and creating a more rewarding and meaningful experience for them.   

By the end of this decade, what do you think retail will look like with widespread tech adoption?

Building a better, more successful organisation starts at the frontline. The four technology pillars of employee experience — scheduling, communication, task management, and learning — set up both employees and enterprises for success. Success is achieving business goals, including growing revenue, engaging and retaining associates, increasing efficiency, and ultimately, delivering an excellent customer experience. These are the findings of the global survey conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of WorkJam. 

What’s next for WorkJam – is there anything in the works? 

Our primary goal is to continue our international expansion to close the inequality gap between desk workers and hourly workers, so helping more businesses in more countries to empower the frontline workforce. Not only to deliver increased flexibility and financial stability to the frontline workforce, but to enhance the overall success of the business. 

Frontline workers are enormously undervalued. Typically viewed as unskilled and replaceable, most businesses overlook the benefits that a loyal, long-term frontline worker can bring in terms of knowledge, experience, productivity, morale, and customer service. WorkJam’s solutions have been devised to change that perception of expandability and unlock the power of the frontline workforce.