What deskless employees actually need from their managers (hint: it's not motivation)

If you’re like most people, you’d probably prefer not to imagine what happens in a worst-case scenario, or a situational crisis.

However, imagining what could go wrong — and how you’ll react to it — is one of the most important things you can do for your business. 

An effective crisis communications plan starts with your employees. With early, clear, and consistent messaging, your team can become advocates for your company during any crisis. 

By following these four straightforward crisis communication best practices, your stress levels will go from 100 to 10 (hopefully).

The 4 crisis communication best practices you need to remember

1. Make messaging consistent
2. Back up statements with action
3. Balance timeliness and precision
4. Practice empathy

Let’s have a more in-depth look at each of these practices. 

1. Make messaging consistent

Your internal communications during a crisis should convey the same stance and expectations to every member of your team, regardless of level. 

That is more effective if you already have an easy, direct line of communication with each member of your organization. 

While different roles may need to respond differently, it’s crucial t foster a sense of transparency rather than secrecy to ensure a better response across your organization. 

Communicate often to make sure everyone is on the same page, even with constantly changing information.

In a 2020 Edelman study on internal communications during the COVID-19 pandemic, 63% of employees wanted daily updates, and 23% wanted communications multiple times a day.  

2. Back up statements with action

It's important for your team to understand how to talk about a situation, but it's even more important for them to understand what's being done — and their role in the process. 

As soon as you have a response plan, communicate it to your team. That way, what's being done to resolve an issue is at the forefront of the conversation. Share what your organization's plan is to prevent situations from arising and use as many concrete steps as you can. 

Recruit those in your organization who can help with definite tasks. Perhaps the PR team needs to create an official statement, or the development team needs to redesign a product. Whatever it is, let everyone know how they can help to react to the crisis. 

3. Balance timeliness and precision

The moments immediately following an event are often the most critical for your internal communications during a crisis. 

You don’t want there to be a sudden vacuum of silence where others may be left to speculate. That is the time to get your initial response out quickly, to guide the narrative. 

It’s alright to let your employees know there are some things you still don’t know. It’s better to be upfront about how you’re addressing uncertainties than to wait to communicate at all. 

With that in mind, it’s also appropriate to take your time to craft a more thought-out response for the long term. Planning for crises means you’re prepared immediately in the event. 

While it can be impossible to plan out the details of your crisis response, it's vital to create crisis response documents that lay the groundwork processes for establishing more detailed responses with your team. 

4. Practice empathy

The crisis will undoubtedly affect your employees day-to-day, some certainly more than others. 

It’s critical to empathize with your employee’s struggles throughout the crisis and recognize where their duties have become more difficult.

A 2020 Catalyst survey on the effects of empathy in the workplace during COVID-19 found that empathetic leaders and managers increase productivity, innovation, and engagement. 

Although you don’t want to dwell on how the situation is causing setbacks or difficulties, you can still empathize with your workers while returning to the positive.

Communicate your gratitude for their continued hard work and outline plans to alleviate their stressors. 

The Catalyst study states empathetic leadership entails: 

• Respecting life circumstances
• Supporting both life and work needs
• Fostering inclusion

Open lines of communication to hear their input and experiences. Solicit feedback through forms, polls, and one-on-one interviews. Let your employees know that you want to listen to their thoughts on tackling the crisis from their point of view. 

Show up in more than just writing. Video messages and calls communicate more empathy than written statements. 

Final thoughts: 4 crisis communication best practices

Your internal communication during a situational crisis is just as important as your public communication — and perhaps even more so. 

That’s why it’s essential to lay the groundwork for a plan so you can react effectively if necessary. Your internal crisis communications should be consistent, actionable, timely, and empathetic. 

All the members of your organization deserve frequent, comprehensive, and accessible updates during a crisis. 

Psst – looking for crisis communication tools?

Blink’s employee communications app provides an efficient way for you to communicate with everyone in your organization. From company-wide status updates to policy changes through the intranet, the all-in-one app makes connecting with your employees simple. 

It’s no secret that when employees are happy at work, they tend to perform better. While happiness isn’t necessarily causing employees to go above and beyond the call of duty, there’s no denying that happiness, productivity, and teamwork are all inexorably interconnected. One factor that can influence all of these things is your employee mobile apps.

The mobile apps for employees that you choose can have a big impact on how people work at your company because it involves employee engagement. Remember, an engaged and satisfied workforce will work harder, faster, and more efficiently. This means that every employee mobile app (check out our mobile worker app) you ask people to use during the average workday should contribute to engagement and reduce frustration.

The good news is that there are so many great mobile apps for employees designed to prioritize, enhance focus, streamline tasks, and improve communications. However, choosing between them can be tough, so we put together this post to help you better understand how mobile employee apps can boost happiness at your workplace and why less may actually be more when you’re looking for tech solutions.

Before we dive into those topics, let’s take a look at why happiness in the workplace matters.

Happy employees are more productive

Company culture matters a lot to a business's bottom line because research has shown time and time again that happy, engaged employees are better employees. One recent study conducted by Professor Andrew Oswald, Dr Eugenio Proto, and Dr Daniel Sgroi from the Department of Economics at the University of Warwick found that happy employees are 12% more productive than unhappy employees. In another study, companies that made it onto the Fortune Top 100 Companies to Work For list (which you don’t do with disgruntled employees) saw their stocks rise much faster over time than the competition. And companies with happy employees outperform the competition by 20%!

What’s the connection between employee happiness and productivity — and eventually profits? That’s simple. Employees are happiest when they’re in a low-frustration workplace. This includes that they can see how what they’re doing matters, they get plenty of recognition, they have opportunities to collaborate and grow, and they feel they have a voice. These workers are less likely to give up when the going gets tough, better able to persevere when selling, more loyal, less likely to call in sick, and driven to meet not only their own goals, but the goals of the organizations they work for.

Every company wants to attract employees like that, and the good news is that you can if you promote a culture of happiness at your workplace. It’s not about Aloha Fridays and cool swag (though that kind of thing is nice), but rather about making it easier and more rewarding for your employees to do what they were hired to do.

How employee mobile apps can boost happiness

The best intranet software apps for your employees will depend on the nature of your business, but there are some common factors that make certain apps for employees stand out. To get the biggest happiness boost with technology, you should always look for employee mobile apps that:

Reach employees where they are

Connected employees are happier. Whether you’re looking at corporate communications apps, bookkeeping platforms, or mobile HR solutions, the business management software you choose needs to be accessible from anywhere. Deskless, frontline, and customer-facing workers should be able to use any apps you choose in the field instead of having to sit down at a computer, which can interrupt the flow of the day or take up time that could have been spent doing something more productive.

This is especially important when you’re looking at communications apps and full employee intranets. Your workers should be able to access and share information, find the resources they need in the field, and work collaboratively with their in-office colleagues without encountering frustrating barriers.

Help you show workers you appreciate them

One of the easiest but most powerful ways to increase employee happiness and productivity is by showing your appreciation. A Work.com study found that 69% of people worked harder when they felt their efforts were appreciated, while nearly as many would be quick to quit if they were working at businesses that showed no appreciation at all. This is especially important when it comes to your deskless and frontline employees who aren’t regularly in the office and may not be exposed to the same praise.

An employee recognition or award program is one way to say thank you to those workers who consistently do their best. Rewards and bonuses can work wonders, provided you’re giving them out fairly and regularly. You can also choose a communications app like Blink that gives you a platform from which to showcase the accomplishments of your top talent. A simple shout-out can go a long way, so don’t hesitate to applaud great employees and to tell them how what they do matters.

Stop the endless email flood

The average office worker receives more than 200 emails each day and spends roughly two and a half hours managing them. It's not a particularly productive way to spend working hours, and all of that email doesn't do a thing to increase an employee’s happiness. Quite the opposite, in fact. Email is a constant distraction, and the feeling that one needs to be “always on” can lead to big-time burnout.

The daily email influx is an unavoidable reality, but there are apps like Blink that can automate email to some degree (when paired with Zapier) and apps that make it easier to communicate without using email much at all.

Provide opportunities for growth

Employees are happiest when they feel not only challenged but also that there's room to grow. The problem is that providing opportunities for growth can be tough. Even if you find great classes, conferences, and continuing ed programs, there may not be the resources or the manpower available to encourage and then manage employee enrollment. There are employee mobile apps that help you share learning opportunities with more employees and promote these valuable programs to more people. Blink is one of them.

Remove communications roadblocks

Many of the biggest happiness-draining frustrations workers face revolve around internal communications. These range from time wasted spent trying to find missing resources to being unable to get company updates while on the frontline. Here's why smooth internal comms translates into productivity: When people communicate more efficiently, they have more time to get their core work done and to innovate. There are lots of apps out there designed to make organizational communication easier. Blink was created to address multiple comms challenges. It makes everything findable with a unified search feature and archives everything that has been posted, shared, or mentioned in chat. Even photos. It also makes communication a two-way street, giving employees a louder voice.

Empower telecommuting

Not every role lends itself to telecommuting and some workers thrive on mobile devices using facetime but there are good reasons to allow it for employees (especially talented introverted employees) who can reasonably do their work from anywhere. A study by FlexJobs found that half of workers were more productive when they were outside of the office and would be willing to take a new position for less pay if telecommuting was an available perk. The typical barriers to effective telecommuting are manifold (e.g., lack of communication, lack of access to resources, feelings of disconnect or disengagement) but there are apps for employees like Blink that can nullify these issues by ensuring that employees can stay connected no matter where they are.

Support a culture of fun

Some apps for employees (in particular, intranet apps) will support your efforts to create a culture of fun at your workplace. This is important because creating opportunities for play inside and outside of the workplace has numerous benefits. Employees who spend time together doing fun activities like cooking or playing with each other’s puppies on bring your dog to work days are less stressed, better at collaboration, quicker to resolve interpersonal conflicts, and more motivated.

There are employee apps (including Blink) that allow employees to create after-work events, create interest-based online communities, invite colleagues to see them in performances or go to their sports games, and otherwise get to know their coworkers better. Fun can also foster feelings of cohesion among teams, even when the members of those teams are located thousands of miles apart from one another.

Give employees a voice

Giving your workforce a way to share ideas and communicate (and not just to receive information from up above) lets you learn a lot about how happy or frustrated employees are. Why do you need an app for that? Most workplace surveys aren’t anonymous and many employees who feel unhappy don't want to say as much for fear that they'll be seen as less loyal. In an app like Blink, however, you can create anonymous polls and surveys that make finding and then creating solutions to employee pain points easier. Employees also have the means to reach out to their supervisors to share their ideas about how to optimize workflows, make customers happier, and get more done.

Cut down on mandatory meetings

Pointless meetings are at the root of so much lost productivity, and we all know from experience that sitting in long, boring meetings doesn't make anyone happy. Apps for employees can make most meetings unnecessary. Instead of gathering twenty-five people in a conference room for a quick project update, you can shoot out an update in an app like Blink and confirm that everyone has read it.

Serve as a platform for peer-to-peer recognition

Employee appreciation can go a long way to increasing happiness at your company, but you can take it even further by giving workers a way to recognize and reward each other's accomplishments. Formal recognition often takes a long time, whereas peer-to-peer recognition may be almost instantaneous. The apps that facilitate this type of recognition can help you boost morale, engagement, and happiness among your employees.

Facilitate collaboration within and between teams

The most successful companies with the happiest and most engaged employees think regularly about how to encourage collaboration. Teamwork is, after all, the foundation of business success. Two heads are better than one when it comes to idea generation, and what’s even better than that are entire teams. When employees work together, they bring diverse skill sets, backgrounds, and more to the table. Make sure that any employee apps you’re using allow your employees to work together toward their common goals.

Enable flexible work

In one study, more than a third of small-business employees reported that more flexible work schedules can increase happiness and minimize burnout. You don’t need to create complicated flex-time policies to take advantage of this happiness boost. Choosing employee apps that give your employees the freedom to work flexible hours or remotely when the alternative would be taking a day off is a super smart move.

Your company will benefit from the fact that employees are productive on days they might otherwise have been absent (e.g., on the day of the a.m. kindergarten concert or when someone has car troubles), and employees will love the fact that they work for an organization that respects that they have lives and obligations outside of the office. Apps that enable flexible work are especially useful for employees with young kids, those caring for ageing relatives, and anyone with health issues.

There are a lot of employee apps out there, but remember that not all of them are worth investing in. You may be tempted to invite your workers to try every new app under the sun, but most of the time, less is more. If you can find a single employee app that does of all the above and is easy to use for less technically minded workers, your teams and your tech budget will thank you.

Blink is an all-in-one employee experience app designed to reduce frustration and boost engagement across industries. Request free a demo.

Frontline workers make up 80% of the global workforce. They play an extremely vital role in many industries across the globe.

But 60% of frontline employees say they’re unhappy with the technology they use at work.

Unfortunately, this stat makes perfect sense. Workplace tech has traditionally been built with office-based workers in mind. So it tends to fall short for the frontline.  

Some companies still use a traditional intranet. And others use a patchwork of different HR and IT apps. These tools may work well for desk-based employees. But they cause three common problems for frontline workers:

• Limited access to tech. Frontline employees don’t have regular access to a computer and don’t always have a company email address. This means they rely on noticeboards, personal apps, and/or shared company computers to access the information and tools they need.
  
  
• Access to poor quality tech. Frontline employees have access to a system that does some things, but not others. They can access tech tools via a mobile device but features are limited and the user experience is lacking
  
  
• Access to too much tech. When employees use lots of different apps via lots of different interfaces, it creates as many problems as it solves. This piecemeal approach can cause friction and tech tool disengagement

Frontline organizations need streamlined tech that works for every employee. As Ian Gordon, former President of Administrative Operations at Elara Caring, said in an interview:

“Being a frontline worker can feel like you’re on an island by yourself, and the solutions that you need must be quicker and more succinct. You can’t spend a lot of time signing in and navigating. You need to get to your answer now.”

Currently, deskless workers waste time and productivity on tasks that could be streamlined. For example, finding their training documents, communicating with managers, or simply tracking down last month’s pay stub.

Thankfully, there’s a solution. A modern intranet takes into account the realities of today’s distributed workforce. It’s a mobile-first tool that provides the same seamless digital experience for both frontline and desk-based employees.

Here, we explore how the right type of technology can benefit your frontline employees and your organization. We also reveal the three features you should be looking for when choosing frontline tech.

‍

Benefits of a modern intranet for frontline employees

When your frontline has access to the right tech, everyone stands to gain. Let’s take a look at the benefits – for your organization and employees – of a mobile-first employee app.

Higher levels of productivity

When frontline employees don’t have the right tech, they waste a lot of time on tasks that could be streamlined.

They have to call their manager on the phone when they want to change shifts.

They have to use the shared computer on their lunch break to respond to a company survey.

They have to leaf through a paper handbook to find an answer to their question.  

A modern intranet helps frontline employees complete tasks quickly and easily. This means productivity for your organization improves. 

Streamlined workflows

A modern intranet helps streamline the workflow of every employee in your organization, not just those on the frontline.

That’s because frontline employees can use self-serve functions. They can view their pay stubs, launch an assigned L&D module, and request time off. Employees can book shifts and report faults or accidents. They can also chat with their managers via messaging features.

This helps to streamline the work of your frontline workers. But it also helps HR teams and frontline managers. They get fewer queries and fewer phone calls because frontline employees can achieve so much more using the right tech tool - removing the barrier to access and allowing your HR teams and managers to focus on the work they are meant to be doing. 

Tech tool efficiency

The best modern intranets integrate with the software you already use for your business. It's not about adding another tool to your tech stack to be siloed, but increasing access to all of the other tools you already rely on. So employees can access all tech tools from the same, familiar interface.

When workplace tools are intuitive and easy to access, employees spend a lot less time looking for the resources they need. They also spend less time trying to remember different login details. A single click, a single password, and they’re in.

Learning and development

A modern intranet or employee app makes it easy for employees to access vital resources. Like workplace policies, guides, and training materials.

This means new hires get up-to-speed quickly. They can access all onboarding materials via their smartphone. Existing employees also find it easy to weave L&D into their usual workflow.

With access to resources that help them work smarter, not harder, employees become more effective and productive in their roles. 

Improved internal communication

Good internal communication is the backbone of any organization.

Without it, trust in leadership suffers. And with it, engagement and loyalty increases. Employees in organizations with effective communication feel more connected to their jobs. 

But we know that frontline teams usually don’t enjoy the same level of communication and connection as their desk-based co-workers. 

Frontline employees tend to spend very little time at HQ and often spend their days working alone. So they risk missing out on: 

• Vital company updates
• Co-worker collaboration
• Recognition from managers
• Opportunities to make their voice heard

The right tech helps to bridge the gap. It improves employee communication by connecting frontline workers to their co-workers, head office, and company culture.

Real-time communication

Information is often outdated by the time it reaches frontline employees. It’s hard to spot memos on a crowded noticeboard, and it’s easy to miss an important update in a long thread of messages. 

The best modern intranets solve this problem by supporting real-time communication.

Employees can use newsfeed, group chat, and 1-2-1 chat functions to get up-to-the-minute information.

Managers can send smartphone notifications to highlight vital updates. They can post a video of today’s company standup. They can also create and pin mandatory messages to the company newsfeed, ensuring that essential information cuts through. 

With access to relevant, timely information like this, employees make better decisions and solve problems more quickly.

Two-way communication

Top-down communication is useful for establishing company culture and sharing updates. But for truly effective internal communication, information needs to move in all directions.

Modern intranets support peer-to-peer connection. Co-workers can interact via the newsfeed or chat functions. They can recognize a peer’s hard work. Or wish their work bestie a happy birthday.

The intranet also supports bottom-up communication. With a newsfeed, direct messaging, and company-wide surveys, you give frontline employees a voice.

This makes a positive difference to the employee experience. Employees who say their voice is heard at work are 4.6x more likely to give their all.

Collaboration

Imagine a frontline care worker has come across a great article about elderly care. How does that person share their new insight with other frontline workers in other locations?

Perhaps they’ll mention the article to the co-workers they physically cross paths with. Or send a link to the small group of people in their work WhatsApp chat. 

But you really amplify the reach and impact when that care worker can post the article to the company employee app.

The right tech tools allow frontline teams to share the knowledge they gain when they’re out in the field. They can share best practices and collaborate with other employees, even though they’re not based in the same office environment.

Empowerment and engagement

When employees feel empowered and engaged at work, they’re happier and more productive. They provide better customer service and produce better results. They’re also less likely to look for a job elsewhere.

Employee engagement relies on strong employee communication, development opportunities, recognition – and the right tech.

The wrong tech can be a big drain on employee engagement. When workers use slow, inefficient, and ineffective digital tools, it adds friction and frustration to their work day. So implementing a modern intranet can help with all the following. 

Empowering employees

With a company super-app at their fingertips, frontline employees are empowered to make informed decisions and take a proactive approach to their work.

Thanks to user-friendly employee communication channels, they can report safety or equipment issues. They can share their knowledge. And they can access company resources exactly when they need them.

A modern intranet also empowers employees to progress in their careers. 70% of frontline workers are interested in career progression opportunities. But they don’t always get the resources or support they need.

Via an employee app, you can give frontline workers easy access to L&D information, new job opportunities, and any available employee development activities. 

Engaging employees

The right frontline tech helps you to improve employee engagement. It allows employees to engage with co-workers and company culture. And it mirrors the experience provided by employees’ favorite social media apps.

A newsfeed. Likes, comments, and shares. Pulse surveys. Digital 1-2-1s. A searchable company library. A modern intranet with a user-friendly interface creates an experience that employees are excited to use and keep using.

The best frontline tech also offers personalization, another thing that helps to level up engagement. Employees can switch up their dashboards to put their preferred features first. Or prioritize their newsfeed to focus on posts that are most relevant to them. 

Retention and attraction

Frontline teams experience high levels of churn. A McKinsey study found that 45% of frontline workers planned to leave their jobs within the following 3 to 6 months.

Workplace technology is an important part of the puzzle. 78% of deskless workers say they consider the technology at a company when deciding whether to take a job there.

When you equip frontline workers with the right tech, you show your employees that you value them and care about their experience.

You also provide communication channels that support a better employee experience. You allow employees to give feedback and build stronger relationships with co-workers. This makes it easier to hold onto existing staff – and to attract new talent too.

Choosing the right tech for frontline employees

Some tech solutions – like the traditional intranet – don’t fit the realities of frontline work. So what should you be looking for when choosing tech for frontline employees?

The best frontline tech:

• is a one-stop-shop
• offers an intuitive user experience
• has a mobile-first design

Let’s look at these features in a little more detail.

It’s a one-stop-shop

Currently, many organizations are at risk of app overload. 37% of frontline workers use five or more apps every day. But 39% say that apps aren’t actually helping them in their work.

A patchwork of workplace tools means workers have to learn different interfaces and remember lots of passwords. Tech complicates their workflow instead of simplifying it.

The best modern intranet brings together all the software you use. It acts as a digital front door for your organization.

Behind this door, employees find everything they need to do their jobs. Tools for communication, operations, training, shifts, collaboration, and HR. It’s all available via one interface and a single login.

Tech that acts as a one-stop-shop reduces friction in frontline employee workflow. It also drives adoption for your existing tools, improving the ROI on the software you’re already paying for.

Supercharge your frontline with an employee super-app

It provides an intuitive user experience

Investing in the best frontline tech is pointless if you can’t persuade employees to use it. So you need tech solutions that can prove high usage and adoption rates.   

Bear in mind that 56% of deskless workers are using personal tech tools instead of workplace tools. As well as posing security risks, this illustrates a really important point when choosing frontline tech.

Your chosen solution has to compete with the user experience (UX) provided by the most popular social media platforms. So you need tools that offer an intuitive, friction-free UX.

These intuitive tools don’t have a steep learning curve. Instead – because they’re so similar to the apps your employees already use out of work – employees can pick them up and start using them with next to no training.

Because they’re so easy to use, these apps provide clear employee benefits from the get-go. This helps to drive organic app adoption and ensures a higher proportion of your workforce downloads and uses your intranet.

It’s a mobile-first solution

Frontline workers don’t sit at a desk. They don’t always have a company email address, let alone a company computer. Therefore, any workplace tech you choose must be available via a mobile device.

The best solutions have a mobile-first design. They’re not tools designed for desktop with an app added as an afterthought. Instead, they offer the same great features and user experience on a smartphone as they do on other devices.

This allows frontline team members to stay up-to-date with company news, book time off, or look at their shift schedule while they do their daily work. They can access workplace tools from any location, at any time.

Blink: an employee app for frontline workers

The Blink employee app is a modern intranet for a modern frontline workforce. Our app acts as the digital front door for your organization. 

It provides access to the tools and systems your entire workforce needs day to day. And it integrates seamlessly with the software you already use. So employees can access all workplace software using one secure single sign-on (SSO).

As a mobile-first solution, Blink provides the same great user experience on smartphones, tablets, and desktop computers. Frontline workers have exactly the same access as their desk-based peers to company culture, co-worker connection, and workplace resources. 

If you’re looking to improve the frontline employee experience, connect your workforce, and increase productivity, frontline tech is a great place to start. 

Book a Blink demo. Or discover how Blink works for people teams by reading our recent article: Transforming HR teams with the help of a frontline app.

Putting the human voice back into executive communications can transform employee engagement and company culture.

Executive communications often feel impersonal. In a bid to portray knowledge and professionalism, leadership messages can become dry and uninspiring.

This creates a disconnect between leaders and employees. It becomes harder to get your message across and to motivate your workforce. 

But leadership communications don’t have to be this way. You can adopt a more human and less corporate voice — a voice that shows a little personality and expresses care for employees — without losing your authority.

Here, we look at how you can humanize your corporate communications — and why this approach to internal communications supports workplace trust, employee engagement, and a more positive company culture.

We’ll be looking at:

• Why human-centered executive communications matter
• 3 key principles to humanize your internal communication strategy
• Channels that make executive communications more relatable
• Leadership communication: Pitfalls to avoid

Why human-centered executive communications matter

Human-centered executive communications can make a big difference to your organization. Here’s why they matter.

Building trust and transparency

We’re more likely to trust someone — and feel a connection with them — when we understand who they are as a person. The things that make them tick. Their personality, passions, and quirks.

This applies to the employee-executive relationship as much as any other. Employees trust leaders who speak in a human, relatable way. When they see an open communication style modeled by the C-suite, they’re also more likely to replicate it themselves in peer-to-peer communication.

This helps you develop a company culture where transparency is the norm. Everyone feels able to raise concerns and share ideas — which is good for collaboration, innovation, and productivity.

Boosting employee engagement

Relatable leadership communications can be inspiring for employees.

Take the example of Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella. He shared the story of his son, who had cerebral palsy — and how this drove him to develop technology that was more inclusive for people with disabilities.

Nadella wasn’t just motivated by profit or growth. He was emotionally invested in his work. And by sharing his story — and painting a picture of the real-world difference Microsoft products can make — he highlighted the purpose of his employees’ work, too.

Human stories like this one boost employee engagement. They also create a sense of togetherness, which supports a positive employee experience.

Enhancing organizational resilience

Trust, high levels of employee engagement, and a culture of open communication are key features of organizational resilience. And when it comes to change management or crisis communication, a human tone is never more important. 

Executives who speak with an empathetic and authentic voice show employees that their anxieties are understood and will be addressed. They explain to employees what is expected of them and inspire them to rally around the organization.

Arne Sorenson, CEO of Marriott International, showed leaders how it’s done when he addressed Marriott employees via video message as the COVID-19 pandemic swept the world.

He showed emotion, shared a personal update, and spoke transparently about the difficult decisions — like layoffs — that the company was having to take. The result was a relatable and somewhat reassuring message for employees during a time of extreme uncertainty.

3 key principles to humanize your internal communication strategy

So now we know what relatable executive communications can do for your organization. But what does a human voice actually sound like? While every leader should bring their own personality to their internal messages, the following three principles lie at the heart of any human-centered communication.

Empathy and understanding

Great leaders are empathetic. They demonstrate their empathy by:

• Acknowledging employee emotions, even when those emotions are negative
• Using inclusive language, like “we,” “us,” and “together”
• Actively listening to employees — and asking clarifying questions — to get to know them better

They also prioritize transparent and effective communication, so employees get the information they need when they need it.

Don’t do this: “The current reorganization is necessary for the company’s growth. The executive team will share more details soon.”

Do this: “I know many of you are worried about your roles. We’ll be holding several Q&A sessions this week to answer your questions about the reorganization.”

Clarity without jargon

Jargon and complex language can be confusing for employees and can lead to misunderstandings. In contrast, clear and simple language creates a sense of trust and approachability. It also helps employees to make better decisions.

To make your messages clear and easy to understand:

• Start by thinking about the key point you want to get across. Put this point at the start of your message. Also, pre-empt and answer the most pressing employee questions.
• Break complicated topics down into smaller parts. Then, explain each part step by step, using a relatable analogy if possible.
• Avoid complicated language. Use everyday terms, avoiding corporate buzzwords, industry terminology, and acronyms. Don’t use a long word when a short one will do.
• Adopt a conversational tone. If you wouldn’t say it when speaking to an employee face-to-face, don’t put it in a written message. It can help to read your messages out loud to find and replace overly formal words.

Don’t do this: “We need to leverage synergies to optimize workflows.”

Do this: “We need to work together to make our processes more efficient.”

Sharing and storytelling

Sharing your own personal experiences and anecdotes makes your messages more relatable and engaging. Likewise, you can use stories about real-life employees and customers to catch attention and convey a message more effectively.  

Weave stories into your employee communications and you also make your messages more memorable. That’s because stories engage both rational and emotional parts of the brain, which supports recall.

To make storytelling part of your executive communications:

• Focus on real people and their emotions. Use personal anecdotes, customer case studies, or employee stories in your internal communications, referencing people by name.
• Use metaphors and similes. Paint pictures with your words. Metaphors and similes can be particularly useful when you want to bring complicated or abstract concepts to life.
• Follow a story structure. When sharing stories, include a beginning (the context), a middle (the challenge), and an end (the resolution).

‍

Don’t do this: “Just the other day, an employee told me about how little things make a big difference to our clients. We want to see this ethos across every client interaction.”

Do this: “Just the other day, I was speaking to one of our care workers, Emma. She’d noticed that her client, Mrs Shah, seemed a little downhearted. Through conversation, Emma discovered that Mrs Shah, because of her reduced mobility, missed going into her beautiful garden.

So that day, Emma went beyond her usual duties, bringing some potted plants in from outside so she and Mrs. Shah could find a place for them in the living room. It made her client’s day. And that’s what our organization is all about.”

{{mobile-stories="/image"}}

‍

Channels that make executive communications more relatable

Think beyond just in-person meetings: You probably have a variety of internal communication channels available to you! Some lend themselves to relatable leadership comms more than others. So — if you want to humanize your executive messages — spend some time on the following channels.

Interactive platforms

When we talk face to face, two-way communication is the norm. Explore ways you can transform your traditional top-down communication efforts into opportunities to inspire employee interaction and create a feedback loop.

Share company-wide news on interactive platforms that encourage employee responses. Enable employees to chat with each other via instant messaging. Post to the company news feed. Or run Ask Me Anything (AMA) sessions via your company intranet or employee app.

Showing that you have the courage and openness to address employee questions in this kind of forum builds trust and connection.

Videos and live streams

{{mobile-live-stream-poll="/image"}}

‍

There’s a lot to be said for showing the face behind the name. Video and live streaming communication makes it easier for leaders to share their tone, body language, emotions, and intentions.

Bonus: Communicating urgent updates through short-form video content increases the likelihood that your on-the-go workers — especially frontline employees and remote teams — will receive critical messages.

Of course, not everyone is 100% comfortable in front of the camera. So if you could use a little direction before you film your first video, take a look at these tips:

• Know your script but don’t memorize it word for word. When you put things into your own words, your delivery is more natural and authentic.
• Watch your body language. Make eye contact with the camera and avoid crossing your arms. Use hand gestures and facial expressions as if you were in a face-to-face conversation with employees.
• Imagine you’re talking to one person. To bring emotion and connection to your video message, picture one employee. Then, deliver your message to that individual.

Employee-centric channels

Employee-centric communication channels, like the company news feed or modern employee intranets, can provide inspiration for your executive communications.

Here, you can find user-generated content (UGC) that you may like to share. You can also find stories of employees who have demonstrated company values and done great work.

By sharing these stories and recognizing employees by name via easy-to-access digital channels, you create a personal connection with employees. You also create a sense of belonging and appreciation.

Leadership communication: Pitfalls to avoid

Bringing a human voice to your employee communications requires empathy, authenticity, and the ability to listen to your workers. Even with the best of intentions, these things don’t always come naturally. 

So with that in mind, here are a few pitfalls to look out for as you adapt your style of communication.   

Over-sharing

Sharing too much personal information in your executive communications becomes counterproductive. It feels performative, dilutes the impact — and places the focus on you, rather than your audience of employees.

So before you share a personal anecdote, ensure it relates directly to your organizational goals and values. Keep any personal stories short and sweet. And balance things out. For every personal anecdote you tell, share two to three employee or customer stories.

Inconsistent messaging

Employees are quick to spot a leader who says one thing but does another. Your communication is unlikely to achieve the desired results if employees see it as inconsistent and inauthentic.

So back up your words with action. For example, if you show empathy for employee stress, you need to do something to alleviate it. If you share a belief that employees are the backbone of your organization, show you appreciate them with regular recognition and a competitive benefits package.

Ignoring employee input and feedback 

Meaningful conversations are two-way. So to maximize the impact of your human-centric communication style, you need to show that you’re listening to what employees say.

Respond directly to employee surveys, reactions, questions, and concerns — either in person or across your internal communication channels. And keep employee feedback in mind when developing your next executive message.

{{mobile-survey="/image"}}

‍

Harness the power of human-centric communications for your entire organization.

When you humanize your executive communications, you make your messages more effective, memorable, and engaging. You show employees that there’s a real person behind the job title. This is great for building trust and promoting transparency across your organization.

To make your employee communications more human, consider implementing more storytelling, empathy, and everyday language in your internal communications strategy. And with the right internal communication tools that enable you to connect with employees in a less formal and corporate way, you can foster an organizational culture of transparency and authenticity.

‍Blink. And humanize your internal comms.

Anytime a good employee leaves your company, you’re bound to feel sad. You may also start to get nervous. 

While it’s upsetting to see them go, it’s normal: many employees leave a company each year. 

But how do you differentiate a typical turnover from a severe turnover problem? 

That’s where calculating your employee retention rate comes in. 

What is employee retention rate?

Retention rate is a ratio of the total current employees and the employees at a previous point in time in the same positions at your company. You can calculate it annually or quarterly. 

It provides a snapshot of how satisfied your employees are at your company. 

A high retention rate indicates your employees enjoy the work they’re doing, fit in with your culture, and receive fair pay. 

Conversely, a low retention rate means that one or more of those elements are less than ideal. Since retention rate is inversely related to employee turnover rate, low retention means high turnover. 

Knowing your employee retention rate’s status, you can evaluate and adjust your employee retention strategies. When your employee retention rate improves, you know your retention efforts are paying off. 

Measuring employee retention rate

To find your organization’s employee retention rate, you need data on the total number of employees with your organization at the beginning of a period and the number of employees who remain at the end. From there, you can quickly calculate your retention rate. 

How to calculate employee retention rate

Find how many employees left your company in a period. Subtract that number from your total headcount at the start of the period. Divide the remaining number of employees by the initial headcount. The result should be a decimal. Multiply that number by 100 to find the retention rate in percentage.

Here’s what that looks like in the employee retention formula: 

For example, let’s say you want to calculate your annual retention rate.

You started the year with 56 employees and ended with 50 employees. Here’s how you can find the retention rate: 

56 - 6 = 50

50/56 = 0.8928

0.89 x 100 = 89

So in this scenario, the retention rate is 89%

Employee retention rate vs. employee turnover rate

Whenever we talk about staff retention rate, it’s also common to hear staff turnover rate. We use them interchangeably because they’re two sides of the same coin. 

While retention rate measures how many people stayed, turnover is the measure of how many people left. 

Similarly, you might be confused about attrition rate and employee churn rate. They are just other names for turnover rate.  

How to calculate employee turnover rate

You can do so by:

1. Sum the total employees at the beginning and end of the time interval.
2. Divide by two to get the average number of employees. 
3. Divide the total number of separations for a given time by the average number of employees.

For monthly turnover, you will work with this:

Suppose a company begins the month with 32 employees. Four employees leave, and six new employees join. So the company ends the month with 34 employees. 

The average number of employees is: 

(32+34)/2 = 33

Next, we find the turnover:

4/33 = 0.1212

Multiplying by 100, the turnover rate is 12%.

What is a good employee retention rate?

A good employee retention rate varies from industry to industry. 

Retail and restaurants tend to have lower industry average retention rates than other sectors, while government and federal sectors have the highest retention rates.

The overall market and economy also affect your retention rate. During times of high uncertainty or in a strong talent market, retention may decrease for every industry. For example, turnover in 2020 was 57.3%, making it 20% higher than the previous year. 

According to Built In, average retention rates range from 70-90%. 

Following this logic, a good retention rate is somewhere above 75%. But for frontline organizations that deal with restaurant and retail, a retention rate above 50% is also decent. 

Final thoughts: how to find your employee retention rate

Calculating your employee retention is an important metric while running your business. It can tell you a lot about how your employees feel at your company. 

The same is true for turnover rate as that lets you know where the fault lies.

Use both metrics to get a complete picture of your business and employ retention strategies to keep your top talent around. 

If you’re looking for a new way to keep your employees engaged, Blink is an all-in-one employee communications app that can help you stay connected to your employees and boost retention. 

The Capital District Transport Authority (CDTA) runs the public transit system in Albany, New York. They employ around 800 people.

Most of these employees are drivers and maintenance workers and CDTA was having a tough time staying in touch with them. An intranet. Seat drops. Posters. Digital screens. They tried everything. And it just wasn’t working.

For this webinar, our team sat down with CDTA’s Head of Communication, Jaime Kazlo, and Communications Manager, Emily De Vito. 

Two years after launching Blink, they talked about how they went from an ineffective internal communication strategy causing a huge digital divide to an employee app that supports digital inclusion.

The internal communication problem

Before CDTA found Blink, internal communication was a nagging problem.

They had a high proportion of frontline workers who didn’t sit behind a desk and didn’t have company-issued emails or devices. So it wasn’t easy to share company messages with them.

To communicate with office-based employees, the company was relying on an outdated intranet. For frontline employees, the main methods of communication were:

• Noticeboards and digital screens
• Emergency SMS
• Word of mouth
• Seat drop, where posters were left on a bus operator’s seat in time for their shift

But these comms were ineffective. As Jaime pointed out, “A lot of the folks that work at CDTA don’t necessarily come into the office every single day. They may get their bus out on the road. And if they do come into the office, they’re coming in and getting their work at the dispatch window and then immediately leaving”.

So employees weren’t reliably seeing posters and digital screens. They weren’t getting an awful lot of co-worker contact. And teams ended up relying on one-on-one communication, which put a lot of pressure on supervisors.

Focus group feedback made it clear to the CDTA leadership that their comms weren’t cutting through. Frontline employees were missing out on important communications. They were missing out on the fun stuff too, like competitions and giveaways.

This was creating a disconnect between employees and the organization. And it was harming the employee experience. So in 2021, CDTA decided to make a change.

They wanted to overhaul the way they did internal communications. And they needed a way to meet frontline employees where they were at.

Their CEO, says Jaime, is a champion of open communication and certainly didn’t want more than half of the organization missing out on comms. So with his support, they set out to find a solution.

"I know we’re not unique. A lot of organizations struggle with internal communication. It’s just whether or not you’re going to take that next step to really get to the employees, listen to their feedback, and give them what they need so they can also feel that they’re an integral part of the organization.” — Jaime Kazlo, Head of Communication, CDTA

Deciding on a solution

CDTA already had a SharePoint intranet, which they’d tried to revamp. This was a tool that they’d been using for several years. But it was old, outdated, and poorly maintained.

While a handful of employees chose to use the intranet, many stayed away. In fact, it had gotten to the point where comms and HR teams wouldn’t even tell staff about the intranet because they didn’t want them using it.

The intranet didn’t provide relevant information and wasn’t a good representation of the company. Crucially, it was hard for frontline employees to access.

Having gone ahead with a new and improved intranet, the team had some last-minute doubts. As the launch approached, they questioned whether they wanted to roll this tool out to the workforce.

Jaime says that, having taken the intranet as far as it could go, they were still wondering if there wasn’t something better. A tool that would improve employee communication for the whole organization.

So they took the bold decision to shelve the intranet. And started talking seriously about other options. Here’s how they decided that a modern intranet, in the form of an employee app, was the frontline-first solution they were looking for:

They got buy-in from the IT team. The IT team was integral to the process. They made sure the chosen solution was secure, sustainable, and wouldn’t compromise the company network.

They got buy-in from the union. The team worked to ensure the union president and employees would get on board with their chosen solution.  

They took a cross-functional approach. The comms team collaborated across different departments. They had conversations with everyone who had a big stake in the solution, including HR, IT, and operations. They gathered co-worker questions, found answers, and learned what each department needed from the company comms tool.

They got buy-in from the CEO. Finally, having decided that an employee app was the best solution, they made their case to the CEO, who gave the go-ahead.

“For our workforce — and the way people consume information in this day and age — it seemed archaic to stick with that intranet tool. So we decided to go to something a little bit more user-friendly and something that is pretty much in the palm of everybody’s hand every day.” — Jaime Kazlo, Head of Communication, CDTA

Buying a solution

The next step in the process was choosing app technology that suited their frontline employees and the rest of the organization.

The comms team started by, again, looping in different departments to find out what modern intranet features they needed. 

They asked marketing leaders about their branding requirements. They asked HR how they’d like to use employee information within an app. They spoke to maintenance and transportation teams about the needs of their frontline workers.

This part of the process, says Jaime, was easy. Everyone was on board. Because everyone agreed that internal communications at CDTA needed to change. And because everyone wanted largely the same things:

• a product that was user-friendly and easy to use
• a product that was easy to download
• a product that allowed us to communicate daily company news
• a product that made it easy for employees to receive emergency messages

Once internal discussions had taken place, it was time to vet solutions and choose the best software for the job.

This part of the process was led by the IT and communications teams. The IT team knew what CDTA was looking for technically — and in terms of app security. The comms team knew what tools they needed to communicate effectively with the organization.

After speaking with several vendors and viewing app demonstrations, they decided on Blink. It was a speedy process. The team started looking for a solution in January 2022 and launched Blink in June of that year.

They were able to turn this process around in just six months, says Jaime, because the team got clear on their priorities first. By getting their ducks in a row — and knowing exactly what they were looking for in an employee app —finding the right app was quick and easy.

Ensuring success

Finding the right employee app is the first part of the battle. The next? Ensuring success — in the form of employee adoption and engagement — once that app goes live.

So how did the CDTA team tackle this particular challenge? In the webinar, Emily explains what the team did before and after the launch of Blink to maximize its success.

Pre-launch

The CDTA comms team started their pre-launch activities with a group of company leaders. They wanted to establish these people as app ambassadors. So they made sure they understood exactly what the app was for, what it could do, and how they should use it to interact with employees.

The comms team — along with the company’s new app ambassadors — started promoting the app to the wider organization about a month before it launched. They sent letters, put up posters, and advertised the app on digital screens.

Emily emphasizes the importance of speaking to people face to face, too. She and her team hosted information sessions. They also visited staff in break-out rooms, at every company location, to promote the app and field employee questions.

“[We were] letting them know — “Hey, this app is for you, it’s so you know what’s going on in our company and so you’re the first to know what’s going on in our company”.  

Contests and giveaways also helped to incentivize employees to download and use the app, both pre-launch and for about a month after. For example, the team launched the app on the first day of summer. So they had an ice cream truck come to each division and people who signed up to Blink got a free cone.

Post-launch

Launch done and dusted, the comms team turned their attention to sustaining app engagement levels. And encouraging late app sign-ups, too.

To achieve high levels of engagement, CDTA has focused on:

• Creating engaging content, with input from every department
• Being responsive to employee comments and questions
• Using pictures and graphics to grab employee attention
• Balancing serious content with fun content

Emily says managing the app and its content doesn’t take up her whole day. And you don’t need someone to do it 24/7.

Her role now involves asking team leaders to send her regular content. She launches surveys. And she posts at least a couple of informal, fun posts each month. That might mean highlighting a member of staff who got a promotion. Or — as CDTA did recently — posting pictures from an Exemplary Attendance Luncheon.

Employees like being able to see pictures of themselves or their teammates, says Emily. They like being recognized for their hard work. And they like being able to comment — congratulating others.

While they see better levels of engagement for fun posts, she says employees like to engage with serious content, too.

For example, CDTA recently did a safety post about cell phone usage on the road. Employees appreciated seeing it on the feed. They like being able to comment and contribute their thoughts. And these posts are a great way to get instant feedback on company policy.

Responding to resistance

CDTA doesn’t require employees to download the Blink app. So it’s up to each individual whether they choose to use it.

Emily acknowledges that some resistance is inevitable. Some employees told her that they didn’t want to see work content on their personal phones. Some simply didn’t see how Blink would benefit them.

But, says Emily, many of these employees have changed their perspectives. “Those people have now come back to me a year later, “Can you send me the invite to Blink again, I wanna download it.””

Part of CDTA’s success in getting employees to come around has been illustrating the personal benefit Blink brings to employees.

Comms team members get in the room with other employees to show them — here’s where you get your tax form, here’s where you see your pay stubs, here’s where you book vacation time.

They’ve also been using Blink’s analytics functions to see which content is working best. By seeing when and where employees are interacting, the team can hone content to make it even more relevant and engaging.

A majority of employees, says Emily, have seen the value of being able to do so much from their smartphones. And now — two years after the launch — adoption is at 80%, just shy of the company’s 85% target, which they hope to meet soon.

Q&A

The webinar ended with a Q&A session. Jaime and Emily provided answers to viewer questions. Here’s a summary of what they discussed.  

Do you allow employee comments on the app? And, if so, how do you manage them?

Allowing comments, says Emily, is essential for two-way communication. And the comments they get on the CDTA feed are mostly positive and primarily question-based.

Negative comments, when they do occur, are seen as a jumping-off point.

When the conversation feels constructive, leaders and managers can respond in the app. Alternatively, they go into Blink’s chat feature to say they’re happy to discuss an employee issue in person — and then set up a meeting.

While the admin team can delete comments, Emily says they would only do this if a comment contained profanity or something vulgar. And, thankfully, in two years of using the app, this is a problem they’ve yet to encounter.

It helps that openness is part of CDTA culture. And that company leaders understand that it solves more problems than it creates. 

“We have a CEO who is very transparent. He wants to know what the workforce is thinking. He wants them to know what he’s thinking[…]If you’re not transparent it brings up more questions and it creates more angst within your company because people are saying “Why aren’t they answering me” “Why are they being secretive?”.” — Emily De Vito, Communications Manager, CDTA

How do you work alongside your union when rolling out an employee app?

CDTA has a unionized workforce. So it was important for them to work in lockstep with the union president during the whole process — from solution scoping to app launch and beyond.

The comms team made a real effort, says Jaime, to explain to the union why they were implementing the app and to help them understand where they were coming from.

There were some employee concerns about how an app might invade their privacy. But we made it clear that the one and only purpose of the app was to make all employees feel included within the organization.

Now that the app is up and running, Emily highlights the importance of the union president having a profile and using the app. And knowing they can get in touch with the communications team when they want to send a union-related message out to the workforce. 

How do you enforce a cell phone policy when you have an employee app?

So you’re promoting a cell phone app. But you have a cell phone policy that means employees shouldn’t be looking at their phones during certain workday hours. What do you do?

For Jaime and Emily, it’s all about education and helping employees understand app features, like Blink’s snooze function.

Employees can set a do-not-disturb function to run automatically during particular times. This means they can pause notifications during work or driving hours. They can then pull out their cell phone during a break or when they’re back at home. 

How does an employee app work for team members without a smartphone?

There are very few employees at CDTA, says Jaime, who don’t have a smartphone. These tend to be older employees who aren’t necessarily very tech-savvy.

For these employees, the company has computers in break rooms. These computers are equipped with Blink’s desktop version. And they’re a way for employees who don’t have a phone — or who don’t want to download the app — to check in with their account and company news.

Does each employee have a profile? How do you manage those?

Every employee has their own app profile. They can upload a picture to this profile. But employees don’t have admin capabilities and they can’t edit anything else.

When it comes to creating profiles, the CDTA comms team worked with the HR team to import employee data. The app integrates with most HR software, so profiles can be added and removed automatically.

You can set up a profile with very basic information, including name, location, and job title. You also need an email address or a phone number so the employee can receive an invite to download Blink.

But you have the potential to refine these profiles. Emily is currently working with the CDTA on segmenting employees. She’s working out which employees should be grouped together so they can send the most relevant comms to each individual.

So there you have it. A summary of our webinar — and of CDTA’s journey from a clunky old intranet to a modern employee app.