This period in which large groups of employees work from home raises many questions. One of the most important in our field is how the internal communication can be designed to keep the employees involved and strengthen the alignment. Can digital media contribute to this and if so, how? In this blogpost we explain that this is indeed possible and we give an impetus to the question of how to shape it.
Rapid behavior change
When the corona crisis started and large groups of people had to work from home, it was noticeable how well remote work was already technically set up at many organizations (and if not: how surprisingly quickly this could be realized). But what was particularly striking was the speed with which such software was embraced by employees.
The explosive growth in the use of video metering tools made Microsoft barely cope with the hunger for bandwidth in the first few days, and Zoom saw user numbers grow from 10 to 200 million. The question is whether they are really happy with that afterwards, but that aside. It proves that if the motivation, urgency, abilities and the opportunity are there, behavior change is indeed quite possible.
“After all, heavy use is not the same as good use; just open your work email to notice the difference.“
Social distancing between colleagues
For a company like Evolve, which specializes in the adoption of internal digital platforms and media, you would almost say ‘mission accomplished’. But whether this digital transformation is also permanent when everything returns to normal, as all kinds of people call, opinions are divided (very divided) to say the least. After all, a lot of use is not the same as good use; just open your work email to notice the difference.
‘When everything returns to normal’ is still a vague provision at the moment. After all, it seems that this period of social distancing will last a while. And when the novelty is a little removed and ‘the new normal’ has actually become the normal, new dilemmas arise again.
Because where social distancing is medically good, social distancing from colleagues, work and the organization is less desirable. The question that we are therefore hearing more and more from the field of work is: how do we use internal digital media to ensure that our remote employees also remain connected and involved?
While social distancing is beneficial from a medical perspective, social distancing from colleagues, the work, and the organization is less desirable.
In fact, the following three sub-questions must be answered:
- Which factors contribute to employee engagement?
- Can internal digital media play a positive role in this?
- If so, how can this best be designed?
Employee involvement
The first question is: how do you get employees involved? In the meantime, the necessary research has been done, nicely summarized by Bedarkar & Pandita. Based on various underlying studies, they came to three important pillars for employee engagement in 2013:
- Leadership, which in this context has multiple facets. On the one hand, there is a facilitating side, such as giving trust, creating a safe working environment, and offering help and support. On the other hand, there is a more organizational side that focuses on setting a clear direction/vision, making clear choices, and providing inspiration.
- Work-life balance, defined as the extent to which the different roles a person has are aligned. In practice, this concerns the degree to which an organization provides employees with the flexibility to work in terms of both time and location, to work part-time, and offers leave arrangements as well as financial or informational support for childcare or caregiving responsibilities.
- Communication, which in this context is primarily explained as internal alignment: the extent to which communication from managers and senior leadership about direction and strategy can be connected to the individual role employees play in it. Strong internal alignment contributes to engagement.
Employee involvement therefore requires facilitating leadership, where employees experience the confidence to organize their own work, and visionary leadership that is clearly communicated and in which it is clear what role and contribution the employees have in this.
The role of internal social platforms
The lack of physical proximity causes internal digital media to become more important. But can alignment and engagement also be achieved with the help of these media, such as (social) intranets? This is possible, according to research that we carried out in collaboration with the University of Amsterdam in 2018.
That research showed that there is a relationship between reading Corporate News on an intranet and alignment and between the extent to which employees themselves publish about and respond to messages about course and strategy on internal social media and alignment.
Also, a direct relationship emerged between internal social media use and engagement. For example, it turned out that if only a small part of the employees publish frequently and have sufficient reach within the organization, there is a positive relationship with involvement. Apparently, you don’t always have to engage yourself on such platforms to be ‘engaged‘; reading along with what colleagues write also helps.
There is a relationship between activity on internal social platforms on the one hand and alignment and engagement on the other.
How do you shape that?
In short, there is a relationship between the activity on internal social platforms on the one hand and alignment and engagement on the other. But what can you do with this science now?
First of all, it underlines (once again) the importance of good internal communication and leadership communication in particular. Structured corporate messaging via the intranet about strategic themes, course and strategy proves to be crucial. For example, in order to maximize the reach of readers, a prominent place on the intranet is a prerequisite for corporate News that clarifies the course, Policy and strategy of the organization.
This content becomes completely valuable if, on the basis of IT, leaders within the organization can actively (digitally) enter into a conversation with employees. It is important that as many employees as possible actively participate in order to have the greatest possible impact on the overall sense of alignment.
These interactive sessions become virtual town-hall meetings and can take place in internal communities and/or – if more direct contact is desired – in video meetings via MS Teams, Zoom or wherever.
For engagement, it is particularly important that at least a relatively small group of employees is encouraged to publish stories about their work or what concerns them with some regularity. Especially in organizations where a part of the population is still present in the workplace (think of healthcare, public order, post or retail), it is good to let this group tell what they are all experiencing and then make this content visible or spread widely among all employees. This ensures the necessary reach of the content to strengthen overall engagement, including with the group working from home.
A content strategy is crucial
But nothing happens by itself, and that also applies in this case. Acquiring engagement and alignment online requires good preparation. Because in order to achieve good structured thematic content, a content strategy is needed that addresses the most important themes, positions leaders and activates dialogue. This content strategy answers the most important questions, such as: which strategic internal themes should be addressed? And what is the purpose?
A content strategy answers the most important questions, such as: which strategic internal themes should be addressed? And what is the objective?
And although the term’ strategy ‘ may suggest otherwise, it also describes concrete aspects, such as the choice of channels that are used and how they can reinforce each other. Is the use of the social intranet sufficient, or is there perhaps a need for new channels in these times, such as a podcast, vlogs from the management or the aforementioned digital town-hall meetings? It also determines in which formats the content can best be conveyed and how the creation of employee-generated content can be stimulated?
Summarizing
A social intranet or digital media can actually contribute to involving or keeping employees involved. Especially at this time, these channels are even more important than usual, because they are – even more than usual – the primary channels through which employees are informed and in contact with each other. But in order to achieve the desired engagement and alignment, it is necessary to think carefully about how, for what and when you use them. An internal content strategy and channel strategy are a good first step.
Do you find this interesting and would you like to know more about this topic? Feel free to contact us at info@evolve.eu.
Credits photo: Nathan Dumlao through Unsplash.
