A quote from Einstein is usually one that’s worth paying attention to. And it turns out, as well as revolutionizing our understanding of space, time, gravity and the universe - Einstein also knew a thing or two about humans and technology.
“Computers are incredibly accurate, fast and stupid,” he said. “Humans are incredibly slow, inaccurate and brilliant; together they are powerful beyond imagination.”
If there’s one gleaming positive to come out of the pandemic, it’s been the rapid increase in digitalization across all sectors. Tech has played a huge role in our home lives for years yet businesses have lagged behind. Not any more. Digital tools have been adopted by all manner of companies to do everything from turbocharging efficiency and productivity to streamlining labor intensive admin processes.
One area where digital tools are helping businesses transform the way they work is employee engagement.
The commercial advantages for companies with engaged employees include profits and productivity that are 20% higher, lower staff turnover and absence, better customer service and satisfaction, and a range of health and wellbeing benefits.
It’s a significant impact. So much so that in a recent webinar on workforce trends in 2021 hosted by Quinyx, with Forrester's David Johnson as keynote speaker, viewers heard that engaged employees generate 81% higher customer satisfaction, employee turnover is reduced by 50% and the secrets to transforming employee engagement are to ‘empower, enable, and inspire.’
So how can digital tools help you maximize employee engagement?
To help answer the question, we spoke to Fredrik Moser, chief human resources officer, and Anna-Karin Neuman, HR manager, from our client NSP during the second episode of our podcast Product Talks.
Here’s how our AI-powered WFM platform is helping them take their employee engagement to the next level:
- Taking the pulse of the workforce
In Sweden and Denmark, NSP has around 80 restaurants and close to 2,500 employees. Hearing the thoughts and getting input from this many employees is fraught with difficulties and NSP found their annual employee surveys had very low response rates.
Thanks to their WFM software, they now send out daily questions and surveys to their employees - all within the WFM mobile app - to gauge how they are feeling.
“One important thing we do is send out these daily surveys to stay in touch with our employees and collect input,” says Anna-Karin. “It can be one or two quick questions or bigger surveys asking questions like how satisfied they are with their roles, if they feel they get enough support and what the team spirit is like.
“There’s much more engagement because they use the WFM daily on their mobiles, it gives us much more flexibility and allows us to dive deeper into the areas where we really need to.”
Fredrik adds: “Every employee is so important to us. So we ‘re really eager to hear their thoughts and their input. And the survey tool is a great way of making them heard - I would have loved that when I was working in the restaurant many years back! Our employees are the ones working in the business, they know the business and they create our results, so it's really important to be connected to them and listen to their thoughts and input.”
- Being where there employees are
Simplifying the IT architecture of backend systems employees use also has a huge impact on employee engagement. If an employee has to log in to a number of apps for work purposes, it can quickly become frustrating for them especially when they have to deal with issues like logging or registering on multiple systems.
By having everything in one place and - crucially - being where your employees are, you can easily improve employee engagement.
Fredrik says: “Everybody is on their phone, 24/7. So engaging with employees here is a really modern way of keeping in touch with their feelings and wellbeing. It’s a fast and efficient way to connect with them.
“And because they are already using the WFM app to check their schedule or apply for days off, it’s a great thing to be able to push the surveys through the same system.”
- Benchmark quality
One of the most innovative ways NSP boost employee engagement is by getting employees to rate their own restaurants - again by using surveys within their WFM tool. They ask their employees questions like: “To what extent do you think your restaurant is delivering fast and friendly service to our guests?”
By actively involving their employees in benchmarking their own quality, NSP creates a culture of ownership over success.
Frederik adds: “This generation wants to be heard and wants to be seen. And a great way of doing that is being digital. By pushing surveys to their phones you stay at the top of their minds all the time. It’s a great way of communicating with them and showing them that we care about them. You need to be smart and use the digital way because that’s the future.”
Listen to the full show for more insights from Anna-Karin and Frederik on maximizing employee engagement with digital tools.
