Remaining competitive as employee expectations grow

Our recent research highlighted that employees feel undervalued, uninformed, un-unified — particularly frontline workers. Even though we have always known that frontline workers are essential to a company’s bottom line, when it comes to engagement and technology, regardless of industry, they continue to be left behind.

However, employees increasingly realize that businesses need to meet them where they are – providing the information they need in a way that works for them and are seeking out employers that will provide them with the experience they want, meaning that businesses will struggle to retain, and also attract, talent if their Digital Employee Experience (DEX) is not up to scratch for the entire workforce.

We recently spoke with Mark Hein, Director, Corporate Communications, North America, at Amcor to explore why creating the right digital employee experience is crucial to your company’s success and survival on the global stage. 

Drawing on his communications experiences from across the airline industry, IT, consulting, and now manufacturing, Mark agreed that it’s more important than ever to democratize communications and reach 100% of your people. This led him to work with us to develop a clear strategy to focus on meeting the communications needs of the entire workforce. 

When Mark arrived at Amcor three years ago, he was faced with an antiquated communications platform failing to reach 65% of the workforce – a monthly communications brief and posters meant information cascaded slowly to those who don’t work behind a desk. Unsurprisingly, Amcor’s employee surveys also indicated that their frontline employees didn’t feel like they were directly connected to the pulse of the business. This was the catalyst to roll out a digital platform that everyone could access, allowing them to roll out information to the entire workforce quickly and efficiently.

Of course, this initiative has been well received by Amcor employees, with feedback about how useful it is to have all the company information they want to have and what they need at their fingertips.

This proactive approach to providing an environment that aligns with employee needs will undoubtedly benefit talent retention and acquisition. So how can other businesses follow suit and ensure they become a company that people flock to rather than leave?

Belonging drives engagement

“We are focused on making employees feel like they belong, and that they are a part of the mission. Being able to actually see who is engaging with what content, who are our most engaged employees, is big.”

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A well-thought-out engagement strategy, coupled with technology, holds the key to empowering a businesses’ frontline workers and creating a workforce for the future. More companies would do well to follow Amcor’s lead and prioritize reaching every worker. So, where to start?

• The first step in any transformation program is to step back and take stock. Look at the current setup from the perspective of those that don’t have access to computers – how can they get the information they need to do their job? Is it in a location that is easy for them to access, at times that are convenient to them? 
• Keep it local. There is a fine line between ensuring employees feel connected to the organization and overloading them with irrelevant information. Communications need to be layered to ensure that employees have access that is most relevant to them first and foremost – this needs to be top of the pile – but with the ability to tap into further company messaging as and when needed.
• Be flexible. Focus on output rather than input. While not all roles can be done remotely, some elements can be managed more flexibly. Allowing employees to manage their output to suit them will go a long way in empowering the workforce overall.

Rather than trying to take back the power from employees, those leaders that act now to ensure an excellent DEX for their entire workforce will be the ones that remain competitive on the global stage. 

What is DEX?

Learn how an employee’s daily work user experience is dictated by their interactions with company technology, how to improve those interactions, and how improving DEX impacts your business bottom line.