During the pandemic, I was one of the lucky ones that had an extra room in my apartment to use as my home office. Yet, as time went on and restrictions were lifted, the idea of taking advantage of my remote work situation took hold. After making a few plans (and making note of my provincial health guidelines), I finally said goodbye to my long-term rental in Vancouver and started a new adventure.
My first idea was to move up to the interior of British Columbia in search of fresh air and warmer weather, but as time went on, I decided to be even more adventurous and to live for short periods of time in multiple different cities.
As I was hired at IC during the pandemic, I didn’t know if my plan would work, but it did! After some reflection and speaking to friends who haven’t had a pleasant time working from home, I’ve concluded that having a strong internal communications culture makes a world of difference for the remote work employee experience.
Just as employees have had to adapt to working remotely, our employers also need to adapt their internal communications practices. The way that organizations should now be managing their interactions with employees is a game-changer when it comes to this new reality of hybrid/remote work that we are all facing.
Here are two key ways that your organization can adopt to improve your internal communications culture and remote work employee experience:
1. Share knowledge in one place
Having an intranet as a centralized space to share knowledge is a key step in establishing a strong remote- and hybrid-friendly corporate culture. You can use an intranet for the following purposes, just to name a few:
- Employee recognition
- Employee event promotion
- Employee collaboration & document sharing
- Employee connection
Having all your company’s resources centralized in one place keeps everyone on the same page. Whether your employees are working from the office or remotely, everyone is aware of what’s going on company-wise. Also, when organizations use their intranet to share photos, recommendations, and other non-work-related information, the intranet becomes a way for employees to build connections with their colleagues (even if they’ve never met face-to-face!). Ultimately, your intranet can become an essential ingredient to promoting employee engagement.
Related reading: how to use your intranet to foster employee wellness.
2. Send internal communications messages across multiple channels
Sometimes, your messages need to be sent on multiple different channels. For example, you may know that not all your audience members are regularly checking their email inbox throughout the week, but you do know that they check their Slack messages. Using a software tool to send internal communications messages is one of the most efficient things a communicator can do to broadcast the same message across multiple channels at the click of a button.
Moreover, sending internal communications messages through multiple channels can go far to improve employee experience, especially when you’re sharing organizational wins, group greeting cards, and invites to group activities that can help your team members connect. It doesn’t matter whether employees are working remotely, in the office, or a mix of both—if your organization has a clear understanding of its audiences and a robust channel strategy, it can go a long way to building your culture.
The tools you need to get started
Interested in learning more about how you can improve your own remote work employee experience in this new reality of hybrid/remote work? I’d like to invite you to explore IC’s software solutions:
Simple intranet software
IC’s intranet software acts as your “single source of truth,” storing all your documents, forms, employee events, and policies in one secure location. Your employees will love how easy it is to find what they need and engage with each other. Book a demo to see our intranet software in action!
Push communication feature
Stay connected to your employees by sharing the right content, at the right time, on their preferred channels. There are no apps to download, and no employee training is required. Best of all, this feature is readily available within IC’s intranet software! Book a demo today.
