Communicating with Today’s Workforce: Top 4 Takeaways from Engage 2022

From where we work and when we work, to the way we connect with colleagues, the pandemic changed everything about the way we do our jobs.

And as a result, companies must reshape their communications strategies to better reach today’s employees.

FWI | Poppulo’s Engage 2022 explored the role of internal comms in the modern workplace, including how companies are overcoming common communications challenges, driving company initiatives, and keeping up with the changing needs of today’s workforce. 

If you’re interested in digging deeper into the conference, you can read our full whitepaper here—but to give you a taste of what you can expect, here are the key takeaways.

Reaching People in the Way They Expect

Now that many companies have adopted a hybrid work model, employees are spread across different geographies—working from home, in the office, and everywhere in between—and they all need different information to get the job done.

Plus, the average retirement age is increasing, meaning that there are more generations in the workforce than ever before—and they all have different preferences when it comes to how they communicate. 

At Engage 2022, we explored how a variety of FWI | Poppulo customers are communicating with different audiences. And truthfully, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution—but there are tools that can be leveraged to help you find the right strategy.

Here are ways speakers told how they communicate with non-traditional audiences:

• IKEA: To reach their global and largely unplugged workforce, Guy Britt and Daniela Rogosic started up Flatpack TV, a weekly video program that has been hugely successful at engaging IKEA's 170,000 co-workers. Watch their session here to learn more..
• Spirit AeroSystems: The IC team at Spirit AeroSystems needed a more effective way of reaching unplugged factory workers, so they implemented MOS dashboards throughout their factories to display KPIs and critical employee comms—learn more here!

Driving Company Initiatives

Your IC strategy must align with your company goals to add value to the business. And right now, driving employee engagement is a key initiative for all businesses.

Our Beyond Employee Engagement session explored how IC teams can increase their business value and influence as it relates to employee engagement.

To dive into the full session, you can watch it on-demand here—but here are the top three takeaways:

1. Link the impact of employee engagement to executive priorities

2. Upgrade to orchestrated communications to drive operational excellence

3. Create a personalized multi-channel content strategy

With social and environmental issues top of mind, many companies are investing resources into driving DEI and sustainability initiatives.

One way that IC teams can reduce their environmental impact is by leveraging digital comms technology like digital signage, email, and more, eliminating the need to print paper for communications.

Plus, companies can educate employees about sustainability using these channels, further reducing their carbon footprint.

Additionally, our panel with Microsoft, Capital One, and Gilead Sciences explored how they’re leveraging comms strategies to support DEI in the workplace.

They spoke about the importance of having open dialogue with employees about what they need to feel supported. To learn more, watch the full session here.

Key Workplace Trends

The last few years have kicked off a number of changes in both the physical and digital workplace—most notably the importance of employee health and safety.

Our conference heard from the VP of Digital Workplace Experience at Humana, Callie Baumann, who spoke about the impact of work on employee mental health. The full session is available here—but here are the top three ways Humana supports the physical and mental health of employees:

1. Clearly communicate updated work policies, health guidelines, and changing regulations

2. Offer education around how employees can get mental health support

3. Treat employees like people and understand that they have personal lives

The pandemic also caused a massive shift toward remote work, and as a result, the workplace has transformed into a venue for collaboration rather than a structured place to employees work 9-5.

Companies must consider the technology and spaces needed to support all employees, and understand that the return to the office is a choice that employees should be involved in.

To learn more about the transformation of the physical workplace, watch our session from Engage featuring employee experience professionals from Thomson Reuters, Newmont Corporation, and Connect XP.

Supporting a Hybrid Workforce

The pandemic proved that a remote or hybrid work model can be successful. But it’s challenging to ensure the employee experience is equitable for all workers—regardless of where they work.

Watch our Engage session with Aoife Kearns, Senior Director of Internal Communication at LinkedIn, to learn the measures her company has been taking to create hybrid events that feel equitable and inclusive for all their employees whether they work from home or in the office.

Today’s workplace clearly looks different than it used to—and today’s employees have different needs than before. Organizations need to learn how to connect with a changing workforce while continuing to drive company initiatives.

Throughout this article, we explored some of the ways that companies are doing this today—but we have a lot more to share. To watch each session in full, check out the full on-demand menu here.