Keeping connectivity alive in the digital age
Now that we’re more than one year into what has become the world’s largest work-from-home experiment, a few findings have emerged. While telecommuting is largely beneficial for productivity, it’s harder to feel close to colleagues when you only interact with them from behind your computer screen. In fact, more than 40% of employees struggle to feel connected to their peers while working remotely.
Since the number of telecommuters is forecasted to remain 300% above pre-pandemic levels, workplace isolation is a challenge that can’t be ignored. Many leaders are increasingly looking to digital technology to bridge communications gaps, with the market for social software and collaboration platforms predicted to grow by 17%.
Turning to user profiles to build meaningful employee relationships
Rather than relying on one channel to keep your employees connected, relationship-building in the digital age requires an effort on multiple fronts. You can look to Microsoft Teams for small group collaboration and take advantage of your intranet’s social networking capabilities to recreate those office water cooler moments. But what about giving your people a platform to express who they are?
Back in the office, it was easy for everyone’s unique personality traits to shine through. From the pictures employees placed on their desks to their go-to lunch spots, small decisions and daily interactions helped colleagues develop a fuller picture of the people they were working with.
There’s no need to settle for two-dimensional employee relationships that will keep connectivity out of reach in the hybrid era. Instead, turn to user profiles on your intranet to give everyone a chance to fully represent themselves and build the foundation for better internal communications and collaboration.
Lost identities: who are we at work?
The old adage: to get a promotion you must be seen. But how does this work in a remote work scenario where no one is seen and everyone can be heard?
The move to remote work has bought with it as many challenges as opportunities. Alongside productivity benefits, a sense of disconnection has manifested with social isolation being cited again and again as one of the top 'cons' of the working from home model.
Technology has come to the aid of organizations grappling with the transition to remote working, enabling us to maintain communication from afar. Many talk of the ability of technology to democratize communications, giving us all a level playing field to contribute ideas, and taking away the ability of the loudest shouter to be heard. However, for the power of this shift to have full effect, it is crucial that we find ways to maintain our sense of identity in a digital world of work. All of sudden, our LinkedIn profiles have more meaning, and our Team's picture seems that little bit more important...
With digital becoming the sole mode of communication, how can we ensure our personality comes through, and how can we ensure that we're seen and heard when there is a lack of shared physical space? And if we don't confront this challenge, what will that do to our ability to collaborate and innovate effectively in the undefined future?
Turning to employee experience platforms to unite your employees
When employees made the transition to telecommuting in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual meetings quickly became commonplace. Although these conversations can certainly help connect your people, there’s so much more to each of your employees than the video screens their colleagues see. How can your employees build their own identities and cultivate authentic connections with their peers in the digital age?
Employee Experience Platforms (EXP) are quickly emerging as the solution to overcoming the connectivity gaps caused by remote working. As an evolution of the intranet, your EXP takes the principles of a communications platform and adapts them to meet the cultural and engagement challenges that are most pressing in the new world of work.
4 features of an EXP that support digital identity
The transition to remote work has fundamentally changed how your employees interact with one another. The office water cooler has been replaced by digital channels that empower your team members to craft their own identities and build authentic relationships with their colleagues. There are several ways your employees can leverage your EXP to develop their own persona, including:
1. User profiles
Back in the office, some colleagues may have been known for their technological prowess or their passion for sustainability. But all too often, these defining characteristics fail to resonate in the remote age, causing relationships between coworkers to feel flat and two-dimensional.
Give your employees the chance to define who they are on their own terms by encouraging them to customize their user profiles. Team members can indicate what name they like to be called, their preferred pronouns, and a little blurb about their background and interests. Make sure your employees add profile pictures so that your entire enterprise has an updated resource for learning who’s who.
2. People directories
Traditionally, people directories have had a bad reputation for being outdated and impersonal, with little more than names and titles. However, your EXP takes the static directory and reimagines it as a centralized space your employees can access when they're looking to tap up internal knowledge.
Particularly in the remote era, it can be challenging to figure out who the best point of contact is for various projects and questions. Instead of relying on trial and error, your EXP's people directory makes it easy to identify contacts with niche expertise. Your users can filter by department and region and even search based on a specific skill they are looking for. A searchable people directory centralizes each of your employees' digital identities, enabling colleagues to quickly learn more about their peers and build new connections.
3. Social networking functionality
Watercooler conversations don't need to come to a close just because your employees are no longer sitting in the same room together. Keep discussions alive with designated social channels that relate to your employees' interests and activities. Familiar social functions like following help employees to build connections around the company, removing the traditional geographic borders that may have limited collaboration in the past.
From a recipe feed for foodies to a pet photo share, let your users bring their personality into your digital workplace with channels designed for extracurricular networking. With @mentioning, #hashtags, commenting and following, your employees can use inuative social capabilities to exchange ideas and interact with colleagues in a way that feels genuine and authentic.
4. User-generated content
Two-way comms is no longer a new idea, but rather a pre-requisite for a compelling employee experience. Encourage your users to raise their voices and share their thoughts by publishing their own stories via user-generated content.
With intuitive blogging features and front-end content creation, your people have a platform to speak directly to their colleagues. Instead of keeping insights and information to themselves, your employees can let the curtain down and reveal more about who they are and the knowledge they have accumulated. Their colleagues can then respond to these insights through commenting and reacting, creating new peer-to-peer dialogues that everyone can participate in.
Embrace what makes your employees unique with your EXP
Your culture doesn’t need to fall by the wayside as your workforce disperses. By leveraging your EXP, your employees can build their own identities and cultivate connections with colleagues near and far. If you’re interested in launching your own solution, get in touch with our digital workplace experts.