MICROSOFT STAFFHUB: Don’t Forget About The Deskless Workers

Microsoft StaffHub...

...don't forget about your deskless workers!

Is StaffHub For Your Business?

When it comes to implementing IT solutions within companies there is a common problem of not knowing how best to accommodate ‘deskless workers’. These workers are just as important as everyone else and should not be overlooked.

What are deskless workers?

Deskless workers are the people that don’t tend to work from computers or laptops and have different schedules week to week such as in retail, hospitality, restaurants and other industries. These workers could be on the frontline and will most often be the first – and in some cases only – contact that potential customers will have with your company. Think about that for a second!

We’ve all probably been deskless workers at one time or another. During my student days I worked in retail…

We used to check our schedules from a handwritten note pinned up in the manager’s office. Company updates were in a ring binder in the kitchen that no one checked because it usually had bits of other people’s lunch stuck to it. Trying to track down another member of staff to swap shifts was also an epic task involving phone calls and text messages.

I’ve not worked in that environment for a number of years so I’d hope I’m sure it’s changed a lot since then – or has it?

Maybe the handwritten schedule has just been updated to be a fancy, colour coordinated spreadsheet that someone who thinks they are an Excel genius spends 3 hours creating each week.

Maybe all the company updates are now on an intranet site that the deskless workers haven’t been trained how to use, don’t know how to find, or would even have access to.

Maybe there are ‘What’s App’ groups set up by the deskless workers to help them swap shifts which at least nowadays would be a cheaper option than when I had to spend 12p per text message!

It’s still not great though – is it? Here’s where StaffHub by Microsoft could transform this completely.

“There’s half a billion frontline staff workers in the world,” “Most companies, though, haven’t actually provided digital tools for these folks…but companies are starting to recognize the benefits of moving some of these offline processes and taking them online.” Office 365 General Manager Bryan Goode

What is StaffHub?

StaffHub is designed to help frontline staff workers manage their work day – with schedule management, information sharing and the ability to connect to other apps and resources.

StaffHub takes the old way of doing things in this work environment i.e. paper schedules, bulletin boards, phone calls, texts and other manual processes and puts them online…but it’s way more than just a ‘calendaring’ application. Not everyone has a computer/email at work these days but most people have mobiles so StaffHub utilizes that and then some!

How much time do you have right now? Choose wisely…

Here’s a short video…

Here’s a not so short video…

Here’s a long video…

How Do I Know If StaffHub Is For My Business?

Here at Appetite we know that – just like any other Office 365 app – StaffHub would suit some businesses more than others and we would never recommend a solution that’s not right for one of our clients.

We also pride ourselves in being Office 365 experts – we learn everything about these applications so we can answer any questions that potential, or existing users will have. We also understand that it’s good to have more than one viewpoint on something.

So, to save you Googling what we have done here is collate 5 of the best reviews of StaffHub. Aren’t we nice?

StaffHub Reviews

Karen McCandless from GetApp concludes in her review What Is Microsoft Staffhub and Does My Small Business Need It?” that StaffHub’s focused shift planning, content, and messaging features make it a great replacement for manual shift planning methods for deskless workers.” Read more…

GetApp Review

 

New Signature’s John Oppel took A Close Look at the Potential Microsoft StaffHub” and confirmed my above suspicions when he reveals that “25 years later and many (in fact most) retailers are still using this low-tech method for means of spreading/distributing information” and summarises his review by stating It’s plain to see that StaffHub can be used to completely change the relationship between your corporate management and deskless staff members providing modern tools to distribute information and a superior communication platform. Read more…

 

Sarah Perez from TechCrunch reinforces in her article “Microsoft launches StaffHub, a new Office 365 app aimed at shift workers” about the point that it’s more than just a calendaring application” Read more…

Tech Crunch

 

Brien Posey from Redmond Magazine takes A First Look at StaffHub for Office 365″ and admits that a company could easily set up a Web page and use it to deliver information to its employees without the cost and hassle of an Office 365 subscription but then shows his support for StaffHub, The thing that really sets Staff Hub apart from a static Web portal, however, is that Staff Hub is interactive” Read more…

Redmond

 

Jonathan Easton from PCR Online highlights a potential problem in his article Microsoft introduces deskless worker-connecting StaffHub” relating to costs “Each StaffHub user will require a subscription”  however with a little more number crunching, weighing up of the setup costs against value to business and remembering how Microsoft could update this following user feedback then it’s not entirely out of the question. Read more…

StaffHub

How Can We Help?

What do you think now? Is StaffHub a solution for your business? If you’d like to discuss StaffHub in more detail to see how we can help implement it within your company – get in touch!