The ultimate recipe for launching a successful engagement platform

If improving employee engagement is a goal of yours this year, you’re not alone. Employee engagement is more important than ever – due to the pandemic and the rise of hybrid working, there’s a need to keep employees connected and motivated from any location, at any time.

Think of your engagement strategy as a well-crafted recipe – employees might try it out initially, but ensuring it hits the mark and can evolve to suit everyone's taste is key to long-term success. Here are five secret ingredients to ensure that your employee engagement platform takes the cake:

1. Make your leaders the icing on the cake of communications

There’s no doubt about it – when leaders and managers buy into engagement initiatives, they’re more visible and more likely to succeed.

It’s key for leaders to not only keep a pulse on culture but to also be active players in driving usage of your new technology.

Here are a few tips for CEOs to reach their people:

• Embrace new tools and methods to reach people where they are, on their own time.
• Recognise employees in the moment who are going above and beyond at your organisation.
• Give the video a permanent spot on the homepage of your platform to increase visibility.
• Keep a regular cadence and give your people something to look forward to each week.

2. Mix up your communications methods to reach people where they are

Hybrid working is here to stay. According to PwC, over half of 1,200 employees surveyed (55%) would prefer to be remote at least three days a week once pandemic concerns recede.

It’s essential for companies to offer work from home or remote opportunities because the way people work has changed. Employees may not always feel connected – or even be physically present – in your business, highlighting the need to communicate the 'why' behind decisions and initiatives. 

Here are some inclusive ways to involve your remote or offline workforce in your launch strategy:

• Give your employees a chance to name your programme
• Show your own people on your platform (eCards, in blog posts, etc.)
• Leverage the power of video with a short introductory video
• Get ready for a countdown that gets people curious and excited
• Spread the good news and don’t just say it once
• Use mobile-friendly technology that employees can access anywhere at any time – Reward Gateway clients can use our Connect+ app.

Here's a quick example of how strategic communications are essential to the success of your platform:

Prior to Monde Nissin rolling out its employee engagement platform, 'Cheers for Peers' to employees, the team created branded, digital posters to get people excited about what was coming. Not only did these posters let employees know what new tools were available to them, but also they prepared them with how-to information, like how to activate their account or how to nominate someone for a CEO award in a longer user guide so they were more likely to use the tools available to them.

3. The communication proof is in the 'why'

There’s no such thing as overcommunicating new engagement initiatives in the workplace because as we know, different messages reach different people at different times. But take it a step further than just saying what’s coming, tell people why you’re doing this.

When you communicate the why behind certain decisions and survey your people for feedback, you’re making decisions that are based on what your people want, not what you think they want.

When you show your people that you value their input and will take action on it, you will not only increase participation, but also you’ll have the inside scoop on what’s working and what’s not so you can make informed, data-driven decisions.

4. Make it a place your people loaf

Make your employee engagement platform a place that employees call home and come back to day after day. When you bring your colours, logos and branding to life with a customised platform, your people will feel familiar with it and it becomes a go-to place for information that’s continuously updated.

Fresh and exclusive content will help employees feel more welcome and connected to your company’s purpose, mission and values to drive excitement and engagement in a familiar-looking space.

Tower Hamlet Homes (THH) brought its new brand to life by mixing together its corporate 'THH' with 'buzz' to create a new brand name for the employee engagement platform, called 'THHbuzz.'

Before the launch of the new employee engagement platform, the THH team created a teaser campaign with branded emails and posters to all staff to enhance communication of the new offering. Then, 'staff champions' were identified and were granted pre-access to the site to help colleagues post-launch.

Due to the success of the launch campaign and a mix of targeted employee communications, the platform had a successful launch. By using the analytics tool through the THHbuzz platform, the team discovered that 30% of its 480 employees registered on the employee engagement platform within the first 12 days of the initial launch.

5. Getting the flavours of your platform right, for everyone

What good is an employee engagement platform if only 20% of your people can access it? Here at Reward Gateway, we build employee engagement platforms with three pillars in mind:

• Accessibility: Why it’s important and how to make sure your layout is more accessible.
• Responsiveness: Build layouts that send the right message and look good both on desktop and mobile.
• Self-sustainability: Make it simple for layouts to be easily updated by anyone, regardless of design capabilities.

When developing our solutions, we always make sure they are accessible to the widest possible audience and help you prioritise your people.

It’s time to ditch the half-baked ideas of the past and invest in a recipe for success. Let’s bake the world a better place to work, one engagement platform at a time! If you’re interested in learning more about how an employee engagement platform can support your business needs, get in touch with us.