Blue-collar frontline workers new target in comms drive
Online workplace communication has increased during the Covid-19 lockdown, but this was aimed mostly at white-collar staff
For those of us with cushy office jobs who began working from home when Covid-19 hit, managers and owners of the firms we work for have many ways to reach us.Overnight, Zoom transformed into the premier pandemic social network. Workers, students and even yoga teachers no longer arrange a meeting on a video call. That has been replaced with "I’ll Zoom you", as the app becomes the latest product to become a verb.Yet communication platforms the world over serve mostly white-collar workers. What about blue-collar workers, for whom video conferencing or even e-mail are not options?The pandemic gave us all a chance to celebrate and appreciate the work of frontline health, agriculture, transport and retail workers. But how do employees in sectors such as these stay engaged with managers and employers?Already, many corporates are not good with communication. In SA, where volatile labour relations are an unfortunate reality, the trend is no different. Ralph Hamann, a professor at the Univers...
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