The Lansons Britain at Work study revealed that although 76% of respondents had experienced organisational change over the previous two years, only 51% said this was well communicated. Businesses often invest more in their external change communications, prioritising investors and clients over internal audiences but in 2022 that just won’t cut it. Today’s social media savvy workforce expect to feel connected within their work environment and employees who are disenfranchised are proven to be less productive, less supportive and more likely to leave.
So the age of the “top down” memo or email is well into its swansong but what have they been replaced with? Well, right now, everyone’s talking recorded and live videos – it’s a great medium for reaching employees in different locations, remote working and using different channels. By delivering a visual display of a presenter, it allows viewers to interpret their expressions to form a more complete perception of the information being communicated. BUT and it’s a big BUT… Video on its own is still a one-way street. Presenters often complain that they feel as if they’re talking into a black hole. Is anyone actually listening? Does the audience understand what’s going on? What do they think? What do they want to know? Do they even care?
Here’s where a communication platform (like Vevox) enters the room…. Imagine being able to ask all of these questions and receive all of the answers in real-time, to make engagement a meaningful experience that both satisfies the employees’ need for connection, whilst also saving time and money on subsequent research or feedback. It can even yield contributions and insights that the presenter hadn’t previously considered and this can also be highly beneficial to an organisation.
Vevox has been supporting GSK, a pharmaceutical company that had to deliver news about a newly appointed CEO and address the entire workforce, all 100,000 of them! Using Vevox’s super simple direct messaging and Q&A function in conjunction with a scheduled webinar, the CEO was able to poll their entire workforce to find out if they understood the changes that was being suggested as well as what they thought of them. The CEO had the opportunity to customise the content, answer questions and address concerns as they arose, enabling them to understand their workforce better and benefit from suggestions that were put forward during the session. Employees were left with a feeling of genuine togetherness and, as a whole, the company has a newfound appreciation of the saying “together we are stronger”.
Time waits for no man and nor does technology. It can be challenging for businesses to keep up with the rate of technological change but, when “interactive” equates to “inclusive”, it’s time to step up to that challenge.
Read our other blog on "10 reasons you need a polling app for your employee comms meetings".
