Increasingly Americans have “embedded mobile devices” into every aspect of their lives, the research suggests, with 15% of Americans aged between 18 and 29 being “heavily dependent” on their devices. Similarly in the UK, 76% of adults now own a smartphone, with 53% of smartphone users checking their phones as soon as they wake, according to Deloitte. Smartphone usage has also had a massive impact on the work force, particularly with contractors and contractor communication, who are increasingly mobile native. Contract workers see the advantages of such devices and utilize them during the management of a construction project and for daily communications with colleagues. Furthermore, research suggests that the appropriate utilization of these devices can improve accuracy and productivity on site and even increase profitability. With contractors becoming increasingly mobile and with the increased reliance on contingent work forces, we’re going to look at why you should be communicating with your contractors through mobile technology.
64% of American adults now own a smartphone and 19% of Americans rely on smartphone devices for information, news and navigating the jobs market, according to the PewResearch Center.
Increasing Use in Contractor Communication
The number of contractors who use a smartphone stands at 82%, which is a 35% increase on last year,while 68% of contractors said they use smartphones as part of their workday, according to research by EMA Contractors. According to the research, contract workers see technology’s convenience as a major factor in the uptick in usage, as smartphone devices allow contract workers to “stay connected with coworkers, distributors, vendors and subcontractors.” As technology improves, companies are becoming more innovative with how they can create efficiencies by using smartphones to replace traditional processes for training, monitoring and contractor communication.
How GoContractor Can Help?
The GoContractor platform helps you to efficiently induct your contract workers into your company. Instead of arriving at your facility unprepared, your workers can be fully trained in all aspects of health and safety and have the required knowledge regarding your company’s history and culture.
Our platform can be utilized on a variety of devices, including desktops, tablets and smartphones. For example, your contract workers can fill in your registration form and take your site specific orientation training in advance of their initial arrival on site. This means that you can give them a five minute walk around on their first day, with the knowledge that they are pre-orientated and ready to start work. Even better, your contract worker could have conducted their training at home, or on the go. This is why the utilization of our platform is useful, it allows your workers to conduct their orientation training at anytime, from any location, on any device.
This empowers your worker by giving them flexibility to carry out their training from any location, at any time rather than requesting them to attend a group orientation on-site. Our platform also gives the contract worker the ability to select their own pace, unlike in a classroom environment, where they must go at the pace of a trainer.
Contractor Communication for More Engaging Content
Our platform allows you to deliver content, such as text, video and images, that is effective at delivering your training and adaptable for mobile devices. By using these formats, you can also create a culture of communicating digitally, an increasingly popular form these days with some 75% of adults worldwide using text messages as their primary source of digital communication, while video and pictures stands at 50%. This means that ongoing communication, such as alerts, toolbox talks and refreshers can also be managed through the GoContractor platform. And because everyone has self-registered, you can be sure that their details are accurate and up to date.
Because workers are tested throughout the entire process, knowledge retention is high, giving you the peace of mind that they’ll behave safely while on site. The feedback we receive from contract workers indicates a strong preference for ‘pre-induction’. For example; “I am now fully aware and up to date with all of the store procedures” to specific examples of where our platform has helped contractors “A test like this should have to be taken for every job for every contractor.”
Thanks to our platform, workers feel confident and knowledgeable arriving on your site on their first day. With the rise of smartphone technology, your orientation process can start before day one.
You can find more about our platform here or request a personalized demo of GoContractor now.
