Joy Adan
3 min read
When you woke up this morning, you may have turned the alarm off on your phone, scanned through the news headlines of the day and bookmarked a couple of webpages to check out on your commute into the office, all before you even got out of bed.
When you got to the office, you turned on your laptop, went through your morning emails and all the while, your phone was likely buzzing with messages and notifications from Facebook or LinkedIn.
But while HR leaders and changemakers may have the more traditional desk and office, so many of the people you support — the nurses, service technicians, factory employees, etc. — work remotely, are in the field or don’t have access to a computer at all.
If that’s the case, dozens, maybe hundreds of emails and messages were deleted, ignored, forgotten or unanswered.
As employers, why do we think that these old-school methods of communications are going to reach our employees, who rarely have the time to sift through the thousands of messages they’re receiving from all directions throughout their workday?
The truth is they won't.
The way we connect and communicate in our personal lives has influenced how we expect to connect and communicate at work, and the methods or channels that may have worked decades ago simply aren’t effective when it comes to the speed and reach we need today.
We crave real-time communication. We're digitally social, attached to our phones and desire information on-the-go, accessible when and where we want it.
According to a study by the International Workplace Group (IWG) almost 50 percent of Australian employees work remotely for at least half of the week while more than two-thirds work at least one a day a week outside the office.
The comprehensive new global study surveyed more than 18,000 professionals from a range of different industries across 96 countries – and the results are clear –remote working arrangements are on the rise.
We must reach employees — with the right information, at the right time — wherever they are, whether that’s on the road, from the field or even from the closest cafe.
The new era of employee engagement is mobile
It’s time to leave the tools of the past behind, and usher in a new era of employee engagement.
And that means receiving information on employees’ own time, and their own schedule — some might prefer reading company updates on their morning commute, others might log in during a break and others might not have the opportunity to browse until they’ve finished their afternoon in the field or on the road. All employees should have the option to feel connected to their business at all times, and that opportunity isn't often available for less traditional workers, such as deskless or remote employees.
These connections are essential to moving a business forward. We know that the more informed an employee feels, the more trust is established among employer and employees, and the more those employees can understand how they’re directly impacting the company’s overall purpose and mission.
Unfortunately, many employees don’t understand how their individual contributions – whether that’s data input, field work, client support or other tasks – fit in with their company’s overall purpose. A proven way to achieve this is through employee recognition and communication, motivating employees to live out company’s values and help them understand how they contribute to the mission and purpose of the business.
The more opportunities you have to connect with your people, and the more opportunities they have to connect with one another, the deeper your employee engagement will be.
That’s what we believe our platform provides to our clients, who use it to embed company culture, connect their workforce and shine a spotlight on amazing moments of recognition.
And starting today, we’re bringing it from our platform to a completely mobile experience with the Connect+ app.
The app provides mobile, on-the-go access to recognition and reward features with communication tools, to better connect employees to their company’s purpose, mission and values and to each other, wherever they are and whenever they choose to log on.
Learn more about the new Connect+ app:
Ready to catch up to today’s workforce? Get in touch with one of our Employee Engagement Consultants to learn more about how we can help you reach all of your employees. Because when great news happens, it should always travel fast.
