Creating Connected Remote Workforces Through Content

Employee Experience Roundup

Our EX Roundup features our own hand-curated articles and perspectives on the latest shifts in employee experiences. In our October edition, we explore how organizations and employees are redesigning content consumption and how this change is reshaping workplace-employee connection.

Creating Connected Remote Workforces Through Content

With workforces continuing to work from anywhere, companies are developing both content and delivery platforms to replicate working from the office to support connection and community with employees.

Turning Virtual Onboarding Into a Reality That Works

A Gallup client recently transitioned their onboarding process from exclusively in-person to entirely remote. Despite the virtual format, the company focused their process on building relationships through a number of personalized virtual experiences. For example, the organization facilitated daily social interactions between new hires and their colleagues and mentors. 

 The overall employee experience allowed new people to develop key relationships and closely connect with the organization’s purpose. It all proves that the consumption of an organization’s content may change; however, the company’s core values should be maintained.

How the Water Cooler Has Been Integrated Into One Company’s Intranet

Companies are discovering that physical spaces like the breakroom, water cooler and copy machine represented an important way for employees to socialize and connect. To adapt, organizations are transforming some of the lighter, more human elements of their workplace into new, consumable content. 

Nautilus Insurance Group developed fun, snackable content to keep employees connected, feel inspired and stay productive. To tackle their re-imagined employee experience, Nautilus redesigned their intranet to provide more interaction as a platform that featured fun photos, PG-rated jokes, employee milestones and more. Their redefined intranet ultimately allowed employees to consume content that offered entertainment, connection and a sense of community.

Employee Experiences Serve Content to Employees’ Tastes

It’s essential for organizations to design employee experiences around the realities of working from home. And creating content that’s quick and easy to consume is key. Internal communications and content in the form of bulky mailings or large file sizes can present heavy burdens on employees’ busy schedules, leaving employees distracted and less productive. 

 Navy Federal Credit Union has applied this insight to its own employee experience. Its celebrated leadership training program has served as a coaching forum where leaders across the company could get one-on-one mentoring and have access to 360-degree reviews. Once the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the program was transitioned into snackable 10 – 30-minute modules to accommodate tight schedules while working remotely. Employees are free to access the courses whenever they choose. 

Personalized Content Can Help New Hires Feel a Part of the Team

 With most new hires starting their new jobs at home, creating an employee experience that fluidly and thoroughly onboards employees is critical. That’s why onboarding elements like personalized communications and introductions to leadership and company objectives should be made as consumable as possible for new employees. 

Much like for customer experiences, creating content for the onboarding process needs to be designed around a virtual, work-from-home lifestyle. More specifically, organizations should make content that’s both bite-sized and accessible from mobile devices—as people know and expect. 

Employee Experiences Tap Internal Influencers to Rally Colleagues

Considering the fractured nature of working remotely, how can companies effect positive change? Surprisingly, the answer may be found in influencers. By identifying, engaging and activating with an outsized influence on other employees, leaders can create internal “force multipliers” for positive messaging. Employee influencers can help with a myriad of employee experiences, like rolling out a new workflow platform, overhauling a work-from-home policy or adding team engagement tools. And much like the consumer world, employee influencers’ authenticity can help drive your brand from within.

October Employee Experience Roundup

Redefine (Don’t Redesign) Your Culture for the Virtual Workplace — Gallup, Iseult Morgan & Adam Hickman @GallupWorkplace @eliteleaders15
“Reflect on how you want your organization’s distinctive purpose, brand and culture to be applied differently in the new environment. Redefine the behaviors and rituals that codify cultural values and make sure these are reflected across the employee experience.”

Inventive Ways to Keep Employees in Touch and Engaged — The Flip Side Communications, Gina Butchin @TheFlipSideComm
“Cooler Conversations. An interactive section of the intranet was launched to provide a mini-break from the day-to-day with the aim to infuse a bit of levity with questions like — what was your first job and tell us your favorite PG-rated joke. A new question is posted every other week. Participation is voluntary, but the virtual touchpoints are priceless.”

Navy Federal: How the Largest U.S. Credit Union Keeps Employee Experience Shipshape — CMSWire, Sara Fister Gale @cmswire
‘The content is intentionally broken into small chunks that can be completed in 10–30 minutes to make it easy to fit into their already busy days,’ he said. And employees are free to access any courses that interest them. ‘If someone wants to move into leadership, the leadership training is there for them to use,’ he said. The library of content also offers IT training and certification courses as well as soft skills training around management and communication.”

The Hidden Role Internal Communications Plays in Employee Experience — HRnews, James Scott @HRNewsdesk @jamesscott
“Provide the comprehensive information employees will need to hit the ground running, but do it in “bite-sized” ways that an employee can access later (such as via an employee communications app on their mobile device); not through piles of papers.”

Who Are Your Organization’s Influencers, and How Do You Identify and Activate Them? — Forbes, ServiceNow @Forbes @servicenow
“By identifying, engaging and activating their employee influencers — or, those team members who carry an outsized influence on other employees — leaders and executives can create internal “force multipliers” for positive messaging.”

Discover Liquid’s Dispatch X—your go-to source for informative article links. Explore more insights on how brands, customers and others are redesigning consumption to connect. Read more about “Meet the Generation Working to Rebuild Society” and “Omnichannel vs. Multichannel: What’s the Difference and Who Is Doing It?”