Engaging and communicating with a spread-out workforce

While businesses are beginning to reopen and furloughed staff are returning part-time, it’s important to remember that due to the current pandemic many employees will still opt for remote working.

“After the COVID-19 crisis, 34% of employees believe that they will be working from home at least once a week.” - Deloitte

This leaves employers in a challenging position as their workforce will most likely remain spread-out for the foreseeable future.

As a result, it’s crucial that they’re able to adapt and effectively communicate with both those working from home and in the office. 

The importance of communications during the pandemic

Transparency and communications go hand-in-hand, especially when tackling concerns, speculations and rumours.

Understandably employees will have some worries regarding their future, and this will only be amplified for those who are isolated and working at home.

To combat the worry, you must maintain a constant stream of communications, share company policies, procedures and general news.

However, a monthly newsletter simply won’t cut it.

Ditch the one-size-fits-all approach to communications

Relying on mass emails to update employees simply won’t work, especially when you consider that on average employees receive 121 emails every day.

Additionally, employers must not only look to communicate via different areas but also tailor what they’re sending as most people are naturally resilient to generalised communications due to the sheer volume they receive.

When planning your messaging, remember that the current crisis will impact each employee differently, requiring you to target what you’re sending rather than using a blanket approach.

IRIS Engage

Our new solution, IRIS Engage offers an employee engagement platform designed to make all interactions and communications with your team easier, less expensive, faster and more effective.

With staff spread far and wide, implementing an engagement platform enables you to bridge the gap between home and office working.

Our centralised platform provides an easy way to:

• Text and email staff
• Segment employees into groups for targeted communications
• Schedule messages to send in advance
• Use a company-branded microsite to host resources, policies, information and more
• Streamline communications by choosing from a variety of pre-built templates 
• Create bespoke surveys to quickly gather company-wide information

For more information on how you can easily and effectively engage your workforce take a look at IRIS Engage.