How to improve employee engagement with internal communication
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
Engaged employees lead to a variety of benefits to organizations: from increased revenues to reduced turnover. Employee engagement is, therefore, a top-three business priority according to Harvard Business Review. Yet, global levels of employee engagement remain under 30 percent, proving companies still struggle to engage their employees. Due to a lack of employee engagement, American businesses annually lose productivity worth 300 billion dollars. We asked some of our customers worldwide how they combat low levels of engagement and how they use Netpresenter to improve employee engagement levels with internal communication.
Table of contents
What is employee engagement?
First things first: what is employee engagement? ‘Employee engagement’ can be summarized as the commitment and dedication an employee has to their organization. Engaged employees have a deep commitment to constantly working at their highest capabilities to serve their organization’s interests. They are proud to work at their organization and will speak highly of it, serving as brand ambassadors. Employee engagement is driven by a sense of belonging within an organization: people support their organization’s goals and values. It is based mainly on communication, as these three clients have found out for themselves. Here is how they use Netpresenter to improve employee engagement:
1. The Brooklyn Hospital Center
With 2,900 employees, The Brooklyn Hospital Center services 1.2 million people in Brooklyn, New York City. They wanted to improve staff morale and staff cohesion further, as well as keep personnel continuously well-informed. That’s why they implemented Netpresenter in 2009. Ever since, their staff is kept up-to-date through screensavers on 1,000 staff PCs and several large TV screens. Eric Sommer, senior writer & editor at The Brooklyn Hospital Center, explains how Netpresenter software helps them increase engagement levels throughout the organization.
The Brooklyn hospital Center publishes small victories on their digital signage screens to make teams feel appreciated.
Huge effect on satisfaction and morale
“Since its implementation, Netpresenter has had a huge effect on improving employee satisfaction and morale and on building a sense of community. To give you an example: when a team does something noteworthy, the so-called ‘small victories,’ I go by, take a picture, go back to my office, and put the news and the picture on Netpresenter. The team knows everyone on staff will know about their achievement. This makes them feel appreciated. No other tool I know of has this immediate ‘Boom, make them feel good’ effect. And it takes little time to put a message on – whether it is text, a photo, or even a video. That makes Netpresenter a very powerful tool.”
“We also use a newsletter, an intranet and brochures to communicate with staff members, but – looking at the time it takes to get a message out, compared to the positive effect on staff morale and staff cohesion – Netpresenter definitely has the best ROI of all the tools we use.”
“Netpresenter definitely has the best ROI of all the tools we use.”
2. Barenbrug: a family business at heart
Barenbrug is a family business at heart with a unique specialization: the organization develops and sells grass seeds. With over eight hundred employees and offices and research facilities in over twenty-two countries, Barenbrug is no longer a small family business. Yet, a family feel is still a key factor in Barenbrug’s corporate culture. Mirella van de Sant, Global Marketing Director at Barenbrug, further strengthens this family feel and keeps the community alive within the organization with Netpresenter’s Mobile App and Digital Signage solution.
“Employees get a sense of pride in their organization when they learn about their colleagues’ achievements broadcasted in the App and the digital signage screens.”
Improve eployee engagement: celebrate achievements
Van de Sant: “Our company culture very much revolves around people. Taking care of each other is essential to us. We think people are very important; they make a difference in our company. To put people at the heart of our company, we share all kinds of employees’ achievements. We give attention to all kinds of projects and achievements: from sustainability projects to changes in packaging, people who have been in the news, extra training courses, good marketing campaigns. And I notice our colleagues are enthusiastic about that. They talk about the achievements we share. It gives them a sense of pride in their organization.”
3. DLL’s Newscast Screens
DLL, a global vendor finance company, provides asset-based financial solutions in various industries. Since 2014, the organization reaches almost half of its 5,500 employees in 15 countries with Netpresenter Digital Signage, which DLL calls their Newscast screens. A survey among 200 employees shows that a staggering 98 percent now consumes information from these strategically placed screens. According to this survey, not only does 83 percent of employees feel better informed, but 71 percent finds that the Newcast screens are an important piece of DLL’s internal communications puzzle. In addition, a majority of 77 percent admitted they feel more engaged: 77 percent of employees agreed with the statement ‘I feel connected to DLL as a company when I look at the Newscast screens.’
Local news and global news
Edita Mujović, Global Digital CommunicaEdita Mujović, DLL’s Global Digital Communications Manager, and Gert-Jan Harks, DLL’s Digital Communications Consultant, explain how DLL achieved this: “When employees have a minute to take in information, they are kept up-to-date on new partnerships, awards, workshops, department results, et cetera, via these screens. We have two channels: local and global. We show global news at every office; local news is different per location. The local channel offers specific location news to employees in a specific area – in their own language. For example: messages about events like the New Year’s reception or Christmas celebration. Weather forecasts and information about traffic jams and public transportation are shown per location as well.”
77 percent of employees feel more engaged as a result of DLL’s Newscast screens.
Do you want to know how Netpresenter can help you improve employee engagement levels like we helped DLL, Barenbrug, and the Brooklyn Hospital Center? Get in touch with our consultants; they are happy to help you! Are you ready to improve employee engagement? In the meantime, download our Self-Assessment Employee Engagement to assess the levels of engagement in your organization and work from there.
