Technology organisation MVF is working on maximising employee engagement by improving internal communications across all of its 450 employees.
The project, which commenced in August 2019, includes engaging key stakeholders to find out what communication challenges have been faced in the past, and consider how these might be addressed in the future.
Annalise Silver, senior internal communications manager at MVF, says: “We held workshops with a selection of people from around the business, covering a range of roles and departments to find out what’s important to the them. We also surveyed the entire business to ask how [employees] like to receive communication, what they want to hear more about and what we could do less of.”
MVF has since used both qualitative and quantitative data from these sessions to build an enhanced internal communications strategy.
“Due to our extremely varied workforce, it can be tricky to find a one-size-fits-all communications plan," explains Silver. “For example, our contact centre employees work varied shifts and can miss messages that go out from time to time, so going forward we’d like to explore what the optimal times are for them to receive messaging, so that we can effectively reach out to all of our [staff].”
To reach employees, the organisation uses instant messaging platform Slack, which links to a number of apps. Messages can be tagged to specific individuals and used to share video content, and the platform itself can run feedback tools such as polls, which is particularly helpful for engaging with employees split across the UK and US, says Silver.
“We know from previous research that super-long, text-heavy communications aren’t well digested, and that people react well to visual communications, such as videos and images,” Silver adds. “We also try to avoid duplicating content to avoid there being too much information for [employees] to sift through to find key messages.”
Key information, such as updates on the organisation's employee benefits, can be found on the organisation’s intranet site Tetra, as well as via an up-to-date blog with the latest MVF news, and through external social media platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn.
Effective communications are a key part of keeping an offering fresh and appealing, says Silver. As she concludes: “Never over-promise, listen to what your employees are energised by and keep it fresh. While the perks and benefits offering may not update frequently, there are ways to shout about current contributions, such as focus weeks, new starter communications and reflecting on what’s worked well.”
