15.06.2021, 06:46
Connecting Critical Remote Workers During the Pandemic
Sodexo’s MyWay app is making life more connected for critical workers living and working on remote sites in the energy sector.
Staying away from home for work can be tough. Research suggests it creates work-family conflicts that impact on on psychological safety and psychological wellbeing. People working on remote sites are frequently away for between two and six weeks at any time, and typically also work long 12-hour shifts throughout their stay at a site. Although each employee will have the company of colleagues, they will not have physically access to family and friends from home until their next period of leave.
The energy sector presents particular challenges with sites ranging from mines in Australia to offshore platforms in the North Sea staffed by critical remote workers who continue to contribute to global energy supply despite the Covid-19 pandemic.
To keep remote site workers safe, Sodexo has adjusted how it delivers services to incorporate additional disinfection and distancing measures, with the group’s supply chains providing continuous access to critical items remote site workers need to operate safely such as PPE and sanitisation products.
In additional, the company’s MyWay app is making life easier and more connected for workers at remote sites. Rolled out initially at locations in Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada and Chile, the app is available in 24 languages and has been designed to improve the experience of living and working on remote sites – even before a worker leaves their home.
The app provides a direct and easy channel of communication to workers keeping them up to date with real-time information, including Covid-19 updates and procedures as well as being able to access services such as gym and wellness programmes, activities and events that help to keep them engaged and fosters a sense of community.
By introducing multiple contactless services, including contactless payment, through the app, the company’s teams around the world have been able to support remote site workers at this challenging time, and reduce touchpoints without compromising safety.
Key features of MyWay
Before arriving on site, residents can check-in to their accommodation, activate an electronic room key and complete their site inductions. On their departure, they can check-out and deactivate their room key.
Providing employees with the ability to personalise their experience, the app also enables residents to plan their stay and ease the transition back to work by allowing them to make the most of their time on site via following features:
- Viewing details of facility opening times, articles, key updates and contact information.
- Contactless dining made easy.
- Viewing menus and daily specials including nutritional and allergen information which are updated in real-time.
- Updating food preferences to customize their view.
- Pre-ordering and contactless payment for food and drink with click and collect, click and deliver, and pre-pay to enjoy on site.
- Activities at their fingertips.
- Booking health and fitness classes and meeting rooms.
- Viewing the schedule of any planned events, registering their interest, booking and adding an event to a personal calendar.
- Gaining access to bus transport via a personalised QR Code
- Reporting maintenance issues that may arise with their accommodation – with the app providing photo upload functionality and tracking of progress resolution.
Designed and built as a modular solution, the app can be adapted and customised to meet our client’s needs.
Contactless solution for improved employee engagement
Designed with the needs of resident remote site workers in mind, the MyWay app can also be deployed to generate useful insights for the company as well as its clients – with Sodexo clients able to ‘push’ surveys to residents via the app to track their employee wellbeing and engagement, and use it as a communication tool to update everyone on site with important safety information quickly.
MyWay can also capture worker feedback and measure consumer satisfaction which, in turn, can be used to deliver improvements on site and enhance employee engagement. The real-time visibility of feedback and maintenance issues also provides valuable data and insights enabling Sodexo to work with clients to continuously improve service delivery.
Although 60,000 people are already using the app at 29 locations in the countries where it has been implemented, the company plans to introduced it at a further 32 locations in five additional countries before the end of 2021.
Sodexo reports 96 per cent of feedback it receives at sites where the app is available is via MyWay, with an average of 61 per cent of site residents using it.
At a particularly difficult time for remote workers around the world, technology is being used to provide support, maintain contact, connecting touch points, and facilitate essential contact with colleagues and the outside world.
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