Engaging intentionally disconnected workers: what can HR managers in facilities with workplace personal technology bans do?

An important, often overlooked group of workers that HR managers have trouble reaching are those intentionally disconnected from personal digital devices. That is, workers in manufacturing facilities, distribution centers, secure areas, or locations where employers ban workers from bringing their own devices. We explore the engagement problem for these intentionally disconnected workers. We outline a disruptive HR strategy in these work contexts. We then focus on implementation, testing a simple digital platform prototype that can serve as an entry for existing, disruptive HR management engagement tools (e.g. chatbots, HR analytics) in these settings. Our exploratory findings suggest engagement is a problem for these workers and these simple tools can be an effective strategy to help HR managers improve engagement. We conclude that simple digital solutions aimed at engaging this underserved segment of the workforce can have disruptive yet positive effects for workers, HR managers and shareholders.