How Poppulo helped SSE get vital news to employees before the media got the story

It’s one of the most pressing issues facing many organizations around the world today; how to ensure that all of their employees are up to speed with the latest company updates, including remote workers and those not located in a traditional office environment.

It’s even more critical when a company wants to get vital news to every employee, no matter where they’re located before they hear it first in the media (an experience that frustrates and annoys most employees).

This was the big challenge faced by SSE Energy Services, the retail arm of the major UK based energy company, with operations and investments across Great Britain.

Their Internal Communication team needed a way of sharing the latest company news with all employees quickly and easily - but with around 5,000 disconnected workers in various parts of the organization, they found it difficult to ensure the right messages were reaching non-office-based employees. These included Engineering teams – who, due to the nature of their work spend their days on the road – or contact center teams whose work is scheduled, leaving them with little time to access regular channels.

The need to get information to everybody instantly came into sharp focus for the communications team, when they wanted to ensure employees heard about the sale of their business to another energy supplier before the media got there first.

Pictured above: Jonathan Kidd, Smart Meter Operative/Engineer

They were determined that employees should hear this important news first-hand from the company as soon as it had been communicated to the stock market – which can be made difficult by the fact that such announcements usually fall outside of working hours. They also needed to be able to react quickly to rumors and leaks to the press.

“Thanks to the Poppulo mobile app the employee comms team at SSE Energy Services were able to tell colleagues about the agreement to sell SSE Energy Services to OVO before they saw it in the media – always a challenge for listed companies.” — Paula Richards, Head of Employee Communications

The Internal Communication team had been using Poppulo for their internal email communications for over four years, so following on from the launch of Poppulo Mobile they made the decision to incorporate it into their channel mix and communication strategy.

The team had a clear vision for the rollout of mobile and what they wanted to achieve – sharing company updates and good news stories to engage every single employee. And when it came to launching the mobile app they used a number of different tactics.

They promoted it through their monthly newsletter, on computer desktop wallpaper to capture office workers and also by engaging communications champions that they had identified in different departments to spread the word. They also organized roadshows and face to face sessions for their field teams.

The team ensured the buy-in and support of senior stakeholders by sharing the app with them well in advance of the launch, so that they were familiar with it and using it before the rollout to the wider organization.

The feedback they have received since launch has been 100% positive, with users of the mobile app commenting on how easy it is to download, navigate and its ease-of-use.

Quotes from employees

“(Download) Done. Intuitive, overall user experience is excellent, well done team.”

“App downloaded really easily and ready to get up to the minute news!”

“Really easy to find and log in. Looks good too!”