Contents
The golden thread of communication can be fragile
The role of managers – regardless of role or level
What has to be different for deskless workers
Why WorkBuzz works for deskless managers
Take the next step
In WorkBuzz’s People Priorities 2026 research, we reported that employees want transparency, clarity, and openness from leaders. They want managers who genuinely understand their roles, the challenges they face, and who listen to their feedback. At the heart of all this is effective internal communication. But when it comes to deskless workers how can you ensure your comms strategy still reaches everyone equally?
In this article we’re going to share five examples of where we’ve worked with clients to ensure that all employees, deskless included, felt involved in employee listening and follow-up.
The golden thread of communication can be fragile
We can’t overstate the pivotal role that communication plays a role in improving employee engagement. According to People Priorities 2026, when communications is rated as effective, confidence in the leadership of the business is an impressive 58 points higher than when it’s rated as ineffective.
Yet only half of employees believe internal communication is effective. For deskless workers, that gap can often be even wider and the golden thread of communication can become incredibly fragile. When people don’t sit at desks, don’t have email access and don’t hear regularly from senior leaders, engagement can founder.
In deskless roles, the manager becomes the single most important connection to the organisation. To make it work, things need to be done differently.
The role of managers – regardless of role or level
As you’ll read in our Manager Communications Playbook (which you can download at the end of this article), managers are the organisation’s most trusted translators across all employee groups.
Their role isn’t to communicate corporate strategy or difficult company messages, but to answer the question every employee wonders about: “What does this mean for me?”
In the context of employee listening, this means communicating messages for their team and individuals that demonstrate the organisation’s leadership is listening to them, committed to making a difference, and maintaining an open communication channel for feedback.
What does this look like since deskless environments require different tools, channels, styles and rhythms of communication?
What has to be different for deskless workers
Here’s how we helped five clients do just that.
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Hospitality |
In hospitality employee engagement, Five Guys identified shift managers as the single biggest driver of engagement in its store-based workforce. Managers received short, practical insight packs and recommended actions, enabling them to communicate results clearly and adjust behaviours on shift. Rather than relying on corporate messaging, daily manager interactions are treated as the most influential communication moments for front line restaurant teams. |
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Food packing |
Managers and supervisors became the primary communication channel. Ownership of survey results was pushed to around 90 frontline managers, who were responsible for explaining findings to their teams and leading local action. In an environment with no email access, shift work and language barriers, clear, consistent manager communication is essential to maintaining trust, reinforcing follow-up and sustaining high participation. |
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Engineering
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Manager communication was critical to reaching field-based employees working across sites.
Managers brought teams together on location, often in canteens or welfare areas, to explain the purpose of surveys, encourage participation and reassure teams about confidentiality.
This face-to-face, informal communication helped translate organisational intent into local relevance for employees less connected to head office. |
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Altrad Industrial |
Embedded manager communication into everyday frontline routines. Managers reinforced listening activity through toolbox talks, welfare cabin briefings and on-site displays, ensuring messages reached deskless employees consistently. They also played a key role in sharing “you said, we did” updates and tracking progress on action plans, helping to build trust through visible, ongoing follow-up. |
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Whistl Logistics |
Manager communication focused on building psychological safety rather than overseeing participation. Managers explained confidentiality, encouraged employees to use kiosks or personal links, and moved away from supervised survey completion. The manager’s role was to create the conditions for honest feedback and then support follow-up discussions through focus groups and feedback sessions. |
In each of these examples, our Customer Success team worked closely with the client to tailor the approach to their business environment.
Why WorkBuzz works for deskless managers
WorkBuzz supports busy managers of deskless teams, providing advice on how to measure employee engagement without surveys and clear team-level insight after listening exercises. Understanding how their team compares against an employee engagement score benchmark helps them turn abstract survey results into conversations about progress and priorities.
Plus, through tools such as People Science AI, ACT action planning and Perspectives, managers know what matters most to their teams and how to talk about it. This accelerates follow-up, strengthens trust and keeps the golden thread intact.
Take the next step
Download the Manager Communications Playbook which includes guidance for HR on helping managers to lead internal communication about employee engagement benchmarks, regardless of where work takes place.
