Internal communications is a tough nut to crack, especially when companies employ a globally dispersed workforce of non-desk employees. The need to stay informed, cut out irrelevant messages and empower staff to be more efficient is greater than ever. But more often than not, frontline workers in the retail, hospitality and entertainment industries are turning to unapproved messaging apps and social media sites for work-related communications, without HR’s knowledge, according to a new study*.
In particular, over half (53 per cent) of global frontline workers said they use messaging apps up to six times daily for work-related communications. Yet, 16 per cent said their HR departments are unaware of such usage. On top of this, 38 percent of the respondents admitted to using social media sites between one and six times each day for work-related matters. Once again, the respondents said their HR/internal communications departments aren’t aware (20 per cent) this is occurring.
Patrick Van Der Mijl, co-founder of Speakap, commented,
The fact that this disparity exists is just the tip of the iceberg. Just because these tools are popular or preferred doesn’t mean they are the right choice. There are two serious problems with using tools like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger for employee communications – digital wellbeing and data security. This is reinforced by the data from our study, with 30 percent of the respondents saying that the 24/7 nature of messaging apps and social media sites make it difficult to maintain a work/personal life balance and 12 percent expressing concerns that sensitive data could be left exposed and susceptible to data breaches.
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With the EU General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR) going into effect as of May 25, 2018, many businesses are now banning the use of messaging apps like WhatsApp and Snapchat in order to comply with EU GDPR. Deutsche Bank, for example, has banned the use of SMS, WhatsApp and other messenger services as of January 2017 due to the stringent documentation obligations that fall on banks for regulatory compliance. Additionally, Volkswagen restricts its employees from using chat apps for business at all and BMW only permits authorized apps on company phones (of which, WhatsApp and Snapchat don’t make the approved list).
Key findings from the study include:
Maintaining a healthy personal and work life balance impacts employee satisfaction. When asked to clarify the most important aspect of how their company connects with them, 24 per cent said finding a good balance between their personal and work lives is most important; Increased product/promotion knowledge and better job performance are where the value lies. When respondents where asked about the most important criterion for how they want to receive internal communications from their company, the top answer was to learn about new products, promotions and offers.
Targeted messaging, access to learning & development content and regular feedback are keys to converting unengaged employees into brand advocates. Twenty-four per cent of the respondents said an enterprise social network would make it easy to access interactive training and development content to increase their awareness and knowledge of the company’s purpose and vision. Plus, 22 per cent said an ESN would enable them to participate in polls/surveys regularly to shed light on their knowledge level.
Lack of collaboration and information sharing can hamper two-way communications. 27 percent of the respondents said their biggest frustration with how their company delivers two-way communications is the lack of collaboration and sharing of relevant company/product information and learnings with their fellow colleagues, teams, office staff and management.
Move over AI and voice recognition: clear timeline, organization groups and document management are the most beloved ESN features. The top four features that non-desk workers care about are, in order of importance: clear timeline, news, organizational groups, and document management/access . But what we found more surprising is that the types of features most often categorized as innovative, such as artificial intelligence (weighted score of 2.60), voice recognition (weighted score of 3.22) and video (weighted score of 4.05) ranked lowest on the list of desired features.
*Bridging the Internal Communications Gap: What Frontline Employees Really Want & Need research study released by Speakap.
Aphrodite is a creative writer and editor specialising in publishing and communications. She is passionate about undertaking projects in diverse sectors. She has written and edited copy for media as varied as social enterprise, art, fashion and education. She is at her most happy owning a project from its very conception, focusing on the client and project research in the first instance, and working closely with CEOs and Directors throughout the consultation process. Much of her work has focused on rebranding; messaging and tone of voice is one of her expertise, as is a distinctively unique writing style in my most of her creative projects. Her work is always driven by the versatility of language to galvanise image and to change perception, as it is by inspiring and being inspired by the wondrous diversity of people with whom paths she crosses cross!
Aphrodite has had a variety of high profile industry clients as a freelancer, and previously worked for a number of years as an Editor and Journalist for Prospects.ac.uk.
Aphrodite is also a professional painter.
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