Jenni Field: Focus on people before you do anything else!

We are looking forward to interesting keynotes again at the IOM SUMMIT 2019 and have interviewed some of our speakers abo--ut their planned lectures in advance! This year, the first of our several keynote sessions, which starts on September 17th in Cologne, begins with Jenni Field, who is Co-founder / Director of The IC Crowd. In her keynote, she will introduce us to her research on "What Remote Workers Really Want From A Digital Organization" and will enrich us with her results and recommendations!

(1) Jenni - you will be speaking at our IOM SUMMIT in Cologne this year.

What are your three key topics that your talk will be about?

I will be talking about my research into communicating with remote/deskless workers. The talk will cover the reasons why the research was needed, the results and advice/recommendations to help communication teams overcome this challenge.

(2) So - your talk’s focus is on the research you have done regarding what remote workers really want from their internal communications team. Who do you count into the group of remote workers?

These are workers who don't have much access to email/computers etc. we also call them deskless - people like bus drivers, train drivers, café workers etc.

(3) What makes this group so special to think about in the context of the internal communications strategy and the digital workplace approach?

They are traditionally disconnected so reaching them has always been a challenge. When you look to create a digital workplace they are often overlooked or ignored. This shouldn't be the case but the research also confirms that technology is not the silver bullet we hoped it would be.

(4) What is the key insight you gathered from your research?

There are two really - the concept of third space and the line manager - the data really surprised us!

(5) In former discussions we always concluded that we need to digitize the “water cooler talks” in order to get the employees more connected and engaged. Isn’t this also the core need for the remote worker? And why is this so difficult for organizations?

Definitely not. We have to be respectful of the tribal element of remote workers and ensure that we don't encroach that. I'd go as far as to say that these former discussions are completely flawed and have contributed to the engagement issues we see in the workforce today.

(6) So - what are your recommendations for the perfect settings to integrate and engage the remote worker in your organization?

Focus on people before you do anything else.

(7) What are your expectations for your participation at IOM SUMMIT?

I'm looking forward to meeting new people and hear how they are tackling some of the communication issues we face today.