Customer agency uses centralized engagement platform to strengthen company culture while working remotely

Learn how C Space strengthened its company culture while with employees working remotely using a centralized employee engagement platform.

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When all employees at C Space, a customer agency, serving 150+ clients globally, started working remotely because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization knew it needed to build upon its strong foundation and adapt to the changing external factors. Improving connections and boosting morale became a focal point among its 350 dispersed employees.

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Industry:

Marketing and Advertising 

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Number of employees:

350

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Number of locations:

6

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Platform features:

Employee recognition, employee communications, employee discounts and employee wellbeing

The challenge

When C Space refreshed its company values in 2019, the organization needed to bring them to life in a digital format and create a culture of strategic recognition in order to truly embed them into employees’ everyday behaviors. This became more apparent when the pandemic hit, as the organization wanted to shine a spotlight on employees who were living the company’s values during a challenging time, in a more visible way. 

In a world of information overload, the organization also needed a way to connect people through a centralized location, emphasize the importance of open and honest communications – modeled by the Leadership Team – and highlight the importance of work-life balance, with all employees working remotely.

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The approach

In January 2020, C Space launched “The Spot,” its centralized, customized employee engagement platform. The Spot is a focused company culture initiative, helping to drive a values-based culture, where employees recognize the behaviors they want to see more of to reinforce them throughout the business.

On the platform, employees engage with strategic, peer-to-peer recognition that helps promote the company values. Employees can send eCards to anyone in the business, choosing from values such as “show the love,” “put we before me” and “only accept awesome.” Alongside the values-based eCards, there are more celebratory ones which help boost morale even from afar including, “Happy anniversary,” “Welcome” and “Congratulations.”

"We've seen a significant cultural shift - our people are recognizing each other more strategically and our communications have brought us closer together in a digital space."

-Phil Burgess, CPO at C Space

 

A main driver of launching the platform was to keep everyone in the loop with two-way communication, especially with employees being spread out and working remotely. C Space launched various blogs with different focuses, including one to highlight customer stories and successes, one to highlight “people happenings” that includes new hires, and one specifically dedicated to company news. On the company news blog, leaders and managers share important updates regarding the business and there are opportunities for two-way feedback. 

In addition to communication and recognition tools, C Space rounded out its employee engagement platform to include employee wellbeing. These initiatives help to ease financial, mental, emotional and physical stress during challenging times. With five tools in one centralized platform, C Space is keeping a pulse on its people and improving employee engagement with increased visibility. 

 

The solution

Despite external challenges, C Space has been keeping its values-based culture alive internally. The number of eCards continues to rise each month – in January, employees sent 60 eCards, in February they sent 235, in March they sent 263 and in April they sent 392 – which demonstrates the spike in recognition during some of the most challenging months. In fact, 83% of employees at C Space have either sent or received recognition since the platform launched.

People are craving more information and updates and C Space has published 204 blog posts, with 10,822 views, 1,032 likes and 244 comments since the platform launched – showing an increase in readership and participation. Using The Spot has helped C Space not only better connect its dispersed workforce, but shine a spotlight on client wins and business outcomes, helping to improve team collaboration, connect people back to the values that drive these behaviors and create a culture of appreciation.

Phil Burgess, Chief People and Operations Officer at C Space, adds “When we first launched The Spot, our main goal was to be more intentional about the culture that we wanted to create. Over the past seven months, we’ve seen a significant cultural shift – our people are recognizing each other more strategically and our communications have brought us closer together in a digital space. Even in times of uncertainty, we’re able to keep our people and our customers at the heart of everything we do to continue moving the business forward.”

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