What is employee communication software?
Employee communication software is any tool designed to improve communication between employees within an organisation. This covers both day-to-day communication between employees and more strategic internal communication between senior leaders and the wider workforce, including:
- Day-to-day communication across your organisation
- Knowledge transfer and creation of best practices
- Progress towards more strategic internal comms goals, including employee engagement and reduction of voluntary turnover
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Employee communication apps and tools include:
- Instant messenger apps
- Video conferencing tools
- Form builders
- Internal intranets, both online and mobile native
- Task management and project management software
- HR software for managing basic employee requests, e.g., leave management tools
Many businesses opt for separate solutions for each of these functions (for example, Microsoft Teams for messaging and video, Basecamp or Trello for project management).
However, opting for an all-in-one employee communication platform facilitates the movement of key information between different areas of the business. For example:
- Integrating leave management tools with your project management solution to allow PMs to plan around absences and redistribute tasks
- Using an integrated form builder to run quick ‘pulse’ surveys via your intranet increases response rate compared to traditional, long-form workplace feedback requests
- Integrating video conferencing and instant messaging with a wider digital workspace allows you to quickly store recordings and chats as useful reference materials
How do employee communication tools improve internal communications?
The most immediately obvious benefit of employee communication software is that it offers flexible and real-time operational internal communication across your business.
Collaboration tools like task management and project management software allow team members instant visibility into goals, deadlines and progress towards them. Commenting and tagging features on virtual Kanban boards, for example, offer employees immediate notification when new tasks are assigned, deadlines are approaching and feedback has been given.
Meanwhile, team members can also resolve queries quickly via an intranet instant messaging tool, reducing the burden on email and the risk of tasks being delayed due to lack of access to information. Team communication software also extends to centralised file sharing and document management, so that managers can guarantee everyone is working from the same source of truth.
As hybrid working becomes entrenched in our working patterns, teams extend across multiple locations and organisations gear up for a shift towards asynchronous working, this type of direct, remote collaboration ensures team members can collaborate effectively, however and wherever they choose to work.
Strategic internal communications and employee communication software
Employee communication software can also be used as part of an effective internal communication strategy to build employee engagement, a concept that Investopedia sums up succinctly as “the level of enthusiasm and dedication a worker feels toward their job.”
Engaged employees:
- Care about their work and see long-term career progression in their role
- Feel that their efforts make a real difference to the organisation
- Feel recognised for their success
- Are invested in the performance of the company
The power of an engaged workforce shouldn’t be underestimated.
According to Gallup, only a third of employees across the globe agree strongly that “the mission and purpose of my organisation makes my job feel important”. Organisations where 80% of employees agree with this statement enjoy a 51% reduction in absenteeism, a 64% reduction in health and safety incidents and 29% boost in output quality.
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How to use internal communication tools to drive employee engagement
All-in-one employee communication software has a significant impact on an employee’s ability to situate themselves and their role in the context of the wider organisation. For example:
- Employees can use social intranets to make connections across the organisation beneficial to career progression
- Senior leaders can recognise good performance directly
- Employees can share knowledge and best practices via discussion forums, seeing their skills positively impact other areas of the business
For non office-based employees in particular, internal communications tools are invaluable in maintaining a meaningful connection to your business. They can also play a significant role staving off loneliness, which is found more frequently in remote and hybrid workers.
The same study suggested that the most lonely employees thought about quitting more than the least lonely employees. In larger US businesses, this contributes to losses of $1 trillion a year caused by voluntary employee turnover.
You can use your internal communication software to reduce the risk of loneliness, improving employee engagement, wellbeing and retention – all often stated as key internal communication strategy goals. Video conferencing offers face-to-face connection across the course of the working day, whilst instant messenger channels for general workplace chat help fulfil the desire for social connection outside of work-specific tasks.
Final thoughts: the right communication platform is vital
To get the most internal comms benefits from your internal communication software, look for an all-in-one, fully integrated solution like Claromentis that offers a business-wide digital workspace. The platform both facilitates day-to-day internal comms needs and helps support more strategic goals, such as employee retention, wellbeing and engagement.
To find out more about how Claromentis can help you reach your internal communication goals, get in touch with our experts today.
