So many choices, so little time! Selecting the right employee engagement solution is a crucial step for every business. When it comes to employee engagement, how effectively a message is communicated is just as important as the message itself. But with so many options on the table, it can be hard to pinpoint the right solution for your unique circumstances.
You need to select a solution that best fits your fits both your target audience and your overriding objectives. Often these two elements can be at odds with each other. For example, your employees may prefer fun, bite-size video messages. But you’ll struggle to convey detailed information on such a channel. Equally, a long-form email might meet your objectives of delivering the latest company restructure, but there’s a very real danger that it will sit unread in your employees' inboxes.
In this blog, we explore the most popular employee engagement solutions to help you decide whether they will succeed in meeting your objectives and resonating with your target audience at the same time.
Employee Engagement Solutions
1. Email Announcements
Email is used by the majority of companies to broadcast information across the company. It’s the most obvious, instant way to share corporate messaging. However, email overload is a very real problem. According to a recent report, the average number of emails in an inbox is now 200. And with that number to deal with, it’s no surprise that 20% are never even opened. If your employee engagement model relies heavily on email as your main delivery method of news and information, it’s important to recognise that many messages will not be read.
2. Intranet/Employee Portals
Intranets and portals are popular employee engagement tools. Many offices have an intranet in place, and, in theory, they can be highly successful solutions. However, they require hands-on management to ensure the information remains current and relevant. Once the intranet is out of date, you’ll start losing engagement. In addition, many portals are hard to navigate and fail to provide that vital two-way communication stream. The latest report from AJG rates satisfaction levels at just 58%. When asked to rate functionalities, respondents were critical of analytics, integration with other systems and social functionalities.
3. Social Media
Is social media a suitable channel for employee engagement? Opinion is divided on the subject. One thing is certain, close monitoring is essential. Social media channels are very good at encouraging information exchange and feedback. However, private content can easily be made public without a careful system in place. While social media can have a place within your portfolio of employee engagement initiatives, it doesn’t provide the security and confidentiality to operate as your sole channel. If you’re looking for all-embracing employee engagement solutions, you’ll need to keep looking.
4. Team Meetings
Team meetings run by people managers have become more prevalent in the aftermath of the pandemic. Using leaders and managers to deliver information to employees can be highly effective. It provides that all-important personal touch, and offers an opportunity for employees to exchange ideas and comment on proposals. Regular communication with leaders will also create a stronger sense of belonging. However, presentations and team meetings are only suitable for some types of messaging. In addition, the success of these meetings depends greatly on the leader's communication skills.
5. Employee Engagement Apps
Over recent years, the employee engagement app has come to the fore as the all-in-one employee engagement solution. Highly effective at connecting with hard-to-reach and remote workforces, it’s a perfect fit for the modern working world. These apps have been designed to support every element of your employee engagement strategy. They offer a comprehensive set of features designed to help companies connect and engage with their staff. These all-encompassing apps connect employees with your business, your leadership team and each other. And the best ones offer a software platform that can be personalised to your unique requirements.
What do companies use employee engagement apps for?
- Share company news and updates
- Provide a social platform for employees to share news and views
- Connect remote employees to the company culture
- Reach the workforce instantly in crisis situations
- Provide recognition and innovation opportunities
- Support onboarding, performance management and training
- Support organisational operations
- Measure and track engagement levels across the company
Employee engagement apps can play a transformative role in improving both reach and engagement across a disconnected workforce. They seamlessly connect every staff member to create happier employees, greater productivity, satisfied customers and increased profit. In short, they deliver on all the key components of employee engagement.
5 Key Features for Employee Engagement Solutions
So, what features are you looking for in the ideal employee engagement solution? We take a closer look at the essential elements that an employee engagement platform needs to offer to the modern workforce. This is what you need to consider:
1. Reach
Look for employee engagement solutions that reach everyone
Businesses are struggling to connect with their workforce. Remote working and flexible arrangements are only exacerbating the inability to communicate with employees. The success of your employee engagement activities relies on your capacity to reach every employee, regardless of location. You need a solution that delivers 100% reach. You need a platform that reaches across boundaries, connecting with desk-based and customer-facing workers, those working in warehouses, on production lines, at home or on the road.
Why an app? It neatly spans the gaps by providing a mobile solution that places your workplace in your employee’s pockets.
2. Immediacy
Implement a solution with instant messaging and push notifications
Our expectations have changed. Information needs to be instantly available. We can no longer expect employees to search for updates in their own time. Your employee engagement solutions need to be proactive, with the capabilities to deliver in the moment. Every employee engagement program should cover high-priority messaging and ensure there is a system in place that instantly delivers. Your messages need to reach everyone simultaneously; any time, any place, anywhere.
Why an app? An app offers real-time messaging, giving you the power to reach your workers when it really matters.
3. Feedback
Choose a two-way feedback solution that encourages employee interaction
Your employee engagement solution should have the facility to invite opinions and acknowledge feedback from your workforce. Employee engagement best practice says that communication should be a two-way street. Your solution needs to provide an opportunity to ask questions and leave comments. It needs to offer a space to discuss ideas and collaborate with colleagues. And, it needs to offer a social platform for company discussions, where employees can meet, chat and share knowledge.
Why an app? An employee engagement app has feedback systems and procedures built-in and ready to go.
4. User-friendly
Opt for a solution that’s simple to keep up-to-date and easy to use
Managing multiple channels and information streams can be a complicated process. It’s not surprising that many intranets and portals are allowed to become obsolete. But employee engagement only thrives when your communications solution is a trusted source of content. If you allow information to get out of date, you risk employees using inaccurate data, and losing faith in the system. Equally, employees will always choose the path of least resistance when choosing a communication channel. Allow them to use their favourite devices, and you’ll have already eliminated the largest barrier.
Why an app? It brings everything together into one platform, with a user-friendly interface that works across any device.
5. Measurable
Select a solution that actively monitors impact and engagement levels
You need to know that your messages are reaching the right targets, at the right time.
It’s not enough to see that your messages have been received either. You also need to know whether they have been understood and acted upon. The best employee engagement solutions will track work engagement levels and the resulting activity. The result? You’ll have a much clearer idea of your success. And once you have the whole picture, you can continue to adjust your approach until you’ve achieved maximum impact.
Why an app? An employee engagement app offers integrated monitoring and reporting tools to help you track your impact.
