Mobile Engagement: How the Public Workforce System Can Stay Connected with Customers
by Liana Volpe and Amanda Bombino
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought many changes to the way society and the economy operate, which includes the widespread introduction of remote work and remote teaming, and the provision of remote public services. It has been widely documented that many public and private entities have adapted to providing some form of remote service to maintain clients and customers and keep their offices operational to varying degrees. Remote service delivery has taken many forms and is made accessible via different technological methods, such as online via computers and tablets or mobile via cell phones, particularly smartphones. Information, resources, and services delivered via mobile devices have steadily increased during the pandemic, as research shows that 97% of Americans own some sort of mobile device. From this research, it can be seen that connecting with customers through mobile devices, otherwise known as mobile engagement, could be a reliable and accessible way for service providers to deliver their services as well as for customers to connect with the vital information, resources, and services they may need.
What is Mobile Engagement?
According to Simple Texting, a provider in the mobile engagement space:
Mobile engagement is the act of engaging customers through your mobile app, website, or mobile messaging channels. The idea is to provide customers with a reason to keep coming back to your mobile channels. Done right, mobile engagement delivers positive brand experiences and builds valuable, long-term relationships.
While mobile engagement is not strictly done in reference to the provision of services, it is often used by public and private organizations to provide information and services to clients and customers and to build relationships over time by maintaining direct contact.
Mobile engagement has been expanded in light of the pandemic, as much in-person contact was strictly limited and access to technological devices other than mobile devices was sometimes unclear. Data from Twigby, a cell service provider, supports this finding. A recent Twigby survey about technology usage during the pandemic found that since the onset of the pandemic, 39% of respondents have relied on their cell phones much more than before. Survey results show that respondents noted a 37% increase in the use of texting and a 32% increase in the use of video calling. Additionally, increased mobile engagement throughout the pandemic has been shown to foster connectedness and well-being. According to Meredith E. David and James A. Roberts of Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business, research has indicated that technology plays a significant role in maintaining social relationships because of social distancing measures. This body of work also includes a reframing of the concept of “social distancing” to “physical distancing with social connectedness.” The use of mobile devices to maintain connectedness and information sharing with personal relationships can also be mirrored in the professional and service-oriented space. For this reason, more service providers could consider the ways in which they can reach their customers via mobile devices to meet people where they are, with the devices they have readily available. As there are varying degrees of comfort with in-person service provision amongst workforce professionals and the public, mobile engagement strategies for reaching customers could be relevant in the months ahead.
Applications for Mobile Engagement in the Public Workforce System
For the public workforce system, most services have traditionally been conducted in person, such as orientations, one-on-one counseling meetings, workshops, and training sessions. In the transition to a virtual environment, many services were transformed to be delivered remotely, often via email, video call, or posted online. Throughout the pandemic, some local workforce areas have been making use of mobile texting technology, but that often took the form of blasting out job leads to customers. Now, there is potential for further adaptation to fit a virtual environment and reach customers on the devices they have access to and use regularly. Such continued adaptations will serve to expand the reach of the public workforce system’s services and have the potential to assist more people in getting back to work sooner and with greater ease. Moreover, with a potential return to in-person services on the horizon, the public workforce system can consider the ways in which it can offer services on multiple fronts to maximize reach, continue to limit the waves of people coming in person, and address the needs of the influx of customers that may need services.
Public workforce staff can consider the following ways they can incorporate mobile engagement in their service delivery model.
Appointment Scheduling, Reminders, and Confirmations
The process of scheduling appointments to meet with counselors and/or registering for workshops could be transformed to take place in a mobile environment. Scheduling and confirming appointments, and reminding clients of their appointments, via mobile text messages could help reduce drop-off by engaging customers on the devices they often use the most. Technologies that support mobile engagement strategies can also be programmed to automatically send appointment reminders, thereby limiting the need for staff to manage this component of customer interaction.
Customer Check-ins
Engaging with customers on an ongoing basis could help assist with creating longer-term relationships that accompany the often long and arduous process of finding employment. Job seekers often lose motivation and get discouraged at some point in their job search; therefore, creating a mobile-based system for customer check-ins could help customers who need ongoing assistance, check-ins, or boosts to continue searching for employment. Seeking employment is hard and putting a strategy in place to address the emotional roller coaster that is job search could be a beneficial strategy for the public workforce system in the long term.
Creating Mobile-friendly Resources
If studies show that most Americans own some sort of mobile device, it is critical that resources be optimized for mobile delivery and accessibility. Whether this comes in the form of text-based campaigns, or simply ensuring that a website is properly optimized for mobile use, resources must be offered with mobile accessibility in mind.
Modular Learning Applications
In previous articles from the Heldrich Center, Suddenly Virtual: Using Text-based Courses to Provide Remote Workforce Services and Microlearning Strategies: Another Approach to Virtual Workshop Delivery, researchers laid out ways in which information, resources, workshops, orientations, and more can be delivered via mobile, text-based strategies. Chunking information into more digestible bits is an effective communication strategy that increases the likelihood that individuals will be able to absorb and act on that information. This learning strategy can easily be coupled with a mobile engagement strategy to enhance the reach and effectiveness of service delivery to an even greater extent.
Fielding Questions
The job search process is complicated, non-linear, and often overwhelming for people searching for the first time, or the first time in a long time. Using mobile engagement strategies to field questions about aspects of the job search process could be a lightweight but worthwhile investment for the public workforce system in getting people back to work sooner. Mobile engagement strategies can be operationalized in many ways, but frequently can be put to use in a more casual manner, where questions can be quickly asked and answered, instead of invoking the formality of a phone call or meeting. This communication style has a practicality that could be beneficial for both staff and customers in quickly resolving issues that could unnecessarily be impediments in the job search process.
For more information on operationalizing virtual job search and outreach strategies, check out Strategically Virtual: Implementing Job Search Services in a Virtual Environment.
Conclusion
It is imperative that the public workforce system strategize ways to connect with customers remotely, particularly utilizing mobile engagement strategies, to more effectively communicate with customers and efficiently address their needs. Mobile engagement can provide the public workforce system with a direct channel to reach clients where they are, and on the devices they have, in order to maintain connectedness and give clients the opportunity to receive services remotely. Incorporating mobile engagement strategies could be done to get people back to work sooner and more efficiently, making use of the public workforce system’s offerings and simply sharing them in a more accessible manner.
Liana Volpe is a Research Project Coordinator and Amanda Bombino is a research intern at the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development.
In the Suddenly Virtual series, the Heldrich Center examined how the public workforce system had adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic, providing case management, training, and job search services in an online environment. The Strategically Virtual series builds on this work, outlining how the public workforce system can use technology and community partnerships more effectively to expand services, address job seeker mental and emotional well-being, and ensure that a broader range of the public is able to access supports during a time of social distancing and massive job loss. The Strategically Virtual series is producing issue briefs, Medium blog posts, practical guides, and more. View all of the Strategically Virtual blog posts.
