Effective communication is essential for success in all areas of life and the workplace is no exception. Leading businesses endeavour to understand the behaviours and preferences of their workforce to deliver impactful forms of communication. Due to the constant evolution of technology and the appearance of new SaaS tools, employers are under pressure to keep up with the latest technology in order to compete. However, is all this new technology beneficial to staff? Can it improve engagement and communication?  

The paradox of choice informs us that too much choice can be debilitating. Having multiple and fragmented methods of communication in place within your workplace may increase staff apathy and reduce engagement.  

Popular employee communication channels 

There are many ways of communicating with your staff. Some of the most popular forms include: 

• Email  
• Newsletters 
• Bulletin boards 
• Intranets  
• Town halls/ in-person forums  
• Company Facebook pages 
• SaaS solutions (Slack, Teams, Google Drive, Microsoft Teams and Zoom) 

Depending on the communication strategy (or lack thereof) in an organisation it’s quite common for more than one of the above to be in effect in varying degrees.  

A study conducted by ‘Britain at Work’ revealed that 76% of people in the UK had been through an organisational change in the last two years, but only 51% of people said this was well communicated through the company. It was also found that due to lack of communication, 49% of people were unlikely to recommend their workplace to others. 

Regardless of what technology is used to communicate within your workplace, the most important thing is that your staff feel informed, included, connected, and most importantly; motivated. According to Axero, with the combination of baby boomers and millennials communication is becoming increasingly important, as they have become more demanding when it comes to collaboration, transparency, interaction and feedback. It’s simple, the more connected your staff feel, the happier they are. 

The cost of poor communication  

Staff apathy and lack of engagement – When people don’t feel prioritised they tend to switch off and lose interest. Prioritising staff in times of change and difficulty can be as simple as ensuring they are updated and kept in the loop.  

Confusion and the spread of misinformation – Gossip is a common side effect of confusion. More insidiously, gossip can sow division in teams. Ensuring your staff have access to a singular shared source of truth is crucial.  

The solution: integrate and simplify  

As a result of the variety of communication methods available today, we can use technology to help and keep our staff informed. Effective tech provides a personal approach from employer to employee, which creates a happier working environment overall. A cohesive and integrated approach is one that makes this achievable. Hapi, our employee wellbeing, benefits and engagement platform is a bespoke solution, created to streamline and harmonise workplace communications all from a mobile-first app. 

Choosing Hapi 

Hywel Dda University Health Board supports the health of West Wales and employs 13,000 staff. In an employee benefits provider, they required a platform that would promote the benefits they had developed to support their fantastic workforce and improve internal communications. Hapi was their choice. Hapi has provided Hywel Dda with a simple way to communicate with every employee, wherever they are.   

Rob Blake, Head of Culture and Workforce Experience, explains more:  

 ''The platform offers dual accessibility through a desktop site and a mobile phone app. This means Hywel Dda can engage and communicate with all employees spread across our large organisation and not just those who have easy access to a computer.” 

What can Hapi do for your organisation? Contact us to find out. If you haven’t already, don’t forget to subscribe to our blog for weekly thought leadership straight to your inbox.