In general, “digital transformation”is defined as the process of creating solutions through the integration of digital technologies into social and sectoral needs, and accordingly, the development and transformation of business culture and methods. Based on creativity and innovation, digital transformation aims to achieve more efficient results than traditional business processes and methods. (Source)
digital transformation, which is indispensable for the Industry 4.0 era, cannot happen only with white-collar workers. It fundamentally needs to start with blue-collar workers. Companies that fail to include all their employees in this transformation, whether blue-collar or white-collar, are losing their chances of competition.
Emerging at the beginning of the 20th century, the concept of the “blue-collar” worker has grown complex with changing job descriptions and duties, and has begun to lose its meaning. Today, the distinction between blue-collar and white-collar workers is gradually diminishing and overlapping. Companies are increasingly realizing that the deskless workforce—namely, their blue-collar employees—is just as valuable as white-collar workers. Therefore, it has started to be understood that the motivation of blue-collar workers is just as important as that of white-collar workers.
When looking at what blue-collar workers expect from their professional lives, a survey conducted by GFK Turkiye with more than 10,000 blue-collar workers from various sectors to the research result According to this, the areas where blue-collar workers are most dissatisfied are:
- Salary and fringe benefits
- Recognition and appreciation
- Personal professional development
- Performance management
- Company management
- First manager
- Information flow/Communication collaboration
- Work environment
It is clear that motivation significantly affects employees' relationship with the organization and their productivity. Employees who cannot integrate into the culture of the institution where they work will not have the motivation they need and will not feel a sense of loyalty to their organization. This situation will both negatively impact productivity and reflect poorly on brand perception, in which employees—who act as ambassadors for the institution and the brand—play a major role. How can employees who do not know their brand/company and do not feel a sense of belonging to it reflect it positively to those around them?
On the other hand, blue-collar workers also need to make their voices heard just as much as white-collar workers. Naturally needing to receive feedback, communicate with employees from different departments of the company, and feel a sense of belonging to their institution, blue-collar workers often struggle with issues such as alienation and feeling undervalued. Not only does this reduce their productivity, but it also causes them to leave their jobs. On the other hand, in a world where word-of-mouth communication still retains its power, it is clear that unhappy employees will not have a positive impact on brand awareness. In short, this issue concerns not only human resources, but also brand management.
So how can blue-collar workers be integrated into the corporate culture? One of the most fundamental ways to achieve this is undoubtedly communication. These workers, whom we refer to as the deskless workforce, no longer need a desk or a computer to communicate. Smartphones make it possible to reach blue-collar workers in the field through simple email communication. In other words, communicating with employees is no longer difficult at all. Through a simple email address provided by the company—not for shared use, but directly belonging to the employee—a strong, two-way communication can be established between the company and the employee. With company-domain email addresses, it is possible to increase employee motivation, loyalty, and productivity.
What can be done with a corporate email address?
To increase internal communication with all employees, both blue-collar and white-collar, simply via email, the following can be done:
- Explain the mission and vision of your institution
- Explaining the organization's goals
- To inform about the achievements of your institution
- Planning and announcing events
- Celebrating special occasions and birthdays
- Congratulating and appreciating personal achievements
- Informing employees about training sessions where they can improve themselves
- Announcing developments and new opportunities in the company
- Transmitting payrolls electronically (Article 37 of Labor Law No. 4857
The reason many companies do not assign a corporate email address to every employee often turns out to be cost. Well-known or off-the-shelf products in the market create a hefty cost when you want to assign an email address to every employee. But these products, which are thought to be depended upon, are not the only option!
Zimbra OSE is an open-source, high-performance, easy-to-manage, low-cost email and collaboration solution that serves as an alternative to well-known proprietary products on the market. Zimbra OSE can also work integrated with SambaBox, an enterprise directory solution developed by Profelis. Thus, blue-collar workers can benefit from both the corporate email service provided by Zimbra OSE and other services within their access permissions inside the company via SambaBox. Zimbra OSE and SambaBox With its integration, the high costs paid for email service and existing directory management systems can be easily reduced.
