Employee engagement is, without a doubt, the top goal for businesses. 71% of company executives believe employee engagement is crucial to business success. Especially now that working (primarily) from home has become the standard for many firms worldwide. This has accelerated the workplace transformation in recent years, propelling us ahead to a period where Microsoft Teams call and hybrid work schedules are normal. These changes aren’t merely fads. As these recent changes in the modern workplace are here to stay, businesses should reconsider their engagement and recognition ways to keep their employees feeling appreciated, supported, and inspired at work as circumstances change.
Additionally, the various era-defining demographic transitions must also be kept in mind. We’ve transitioned successfully from Baby Boomers to Generation X to Millennials. A new generation has joined the ranks. The latest arrival into the modern workforce Gen Z are technological experts, having been born and reared in a fast-paced, internet-centric world. You must embrace the contemporary workplace transition and give the tech solutions that this group requires to prosper.
The workplace evolution in the early 2020s has taken root and will continue in 2023. What can you do as an internal communication team to boost employee engagement and communication in 2023? In this piece, we will discuss the top 8 employee engagement & communication trends for 2023 that you should be aware of.
Employee Retention
Recently, “Quiet Quitting” has gone viral. Companies are finding it increasingly difficult to attract and retain skilled talents as “The Great Resignation” is still subtly persistent. According to LinkedIn, 77% of companies focus on employee experience to increase retention. This gives more reasons to revisit your employee communication approach to provide a better employee experience. Start with ways to show employees how much they are valued, appreciate their hard work, introduce new challenges, and celebrate triumphs. Drop a simple congratulatory text in your intranet that will help lay the groundwork for a highly desirable environment where people want to stay.
Flexible, Remote, or Hybrid Work
Employees prefer flexible work schedules, which boost employee engagement, improve work-life balance, and lower employee stress. Businesses should adopt a workplace where work schedules are more convenient and enjoyable. Employees everywhere adapted to the new norm of working from home in 2020, and by 2022, the long-term realities of the hybrid work paradigm had become unavoidable. 87% of employees prefer to work flexibly, says McKinsey & Co. With these dynamics continuing, businesses must alter their return-to-work strategies to match the shifting paradigm. Offer flexible, hybrid, and remote work schedule alternatives with tech solutions to connect and collaborate easily from anywhere, anytime.
Productivity Paranoia
In the current hybrid work environment, making employees feel connected and appreciated brings new obstacles. And not just for employees but also for leaders. “85% of leaders think the change to hybrid work has made it difficult to have faith that staff is being productive,” according to Microsoft’s 2022 Work Trend Index. This fear could peak in the upcoming year, hindering effective communication. The “productivity paranoia” emphasizes the importance of maintaining an open communication channel, delivering honest feedback regularly, and rewarding individual and team accomplishments.
DEI & Sustainability
It is more crucial than ever for employees to know that their employers contribute to the greater benefit of people and the earth. To achieve meaningful progress and influence positive change inside a company, you must do more than support others’ DEI and sustainability efforts; you must also initiate your own. Beyond hiring diverse talent, employers can create inclusive work environments by implementing DEI initiatives and adopting modern intranet solutions such as PeopleOne to serve as a common forum for employees.
Watch Chris O’Day, Director of Marketing, LGA, sharing his thoughts on how PeopleOne, a Modern Intranet solution, supports their company’s DE&I initiatives by opening doors for various discussions and making their employees feel they belong.
Employee Well-being & Wellness
Mental health has risen to the top of the agenda recently, and it remains a top priority for employers and employees. Professionally, a healthy work culture increases productivity and decreases burnout. For starters, you can run interesting polls & surveys, provide services for mental health, assist work-life integration, subsidize fitness memberships, conduct virtual games, and various other recreation activities.
Omnichannel Approach
Using an omnichannel approach, you can reach employees wherever they are with relevant and personalized messaging. Internal communication has shifted to an omnichannel strategy to address communicators’ main challenge: reaching and engaging every employee, no matter where they are.
Common channels include:
- An intranet that can be accessed via PC or laptop.
- A mobile intranet application for mobile employees.
- A Microsoft Teams communication route.
- Displays of digital signage in manufacturing halls for non-desk workers.
Data-Driven Analytics
The benefits of measuring your internal communication initiatives are apparent. Insightful metrics from your intranet can assist communication teams in improving their strategy while also demonstrating the ROI of their work. The good news is that communication managers can track everything they need with a modern intranet platform like PeopleOne, including engagement, adoption, device usage (desktop or smartphone), and so on. This simplifies improving the content posted on the intranet and includes the must-have features to pick employees’ interest.
Automation
The advancement of AI and machine learning has allowed employees to coexist peacefully with machines. In addition, AI and machine learning can bridge the communication gap between HRs and employees. For instance, a chatbot integrated with your modern intranet can render immediate answers to employees about their leave balances and upcoming holidays or even remind employees to regularize login time. Companies have learned that the benefits of AI and machine learning outweigh the drawbacks. As a result, businesses must increasingly adopt AI and human workplace.
Start your 2023 journey of employee engagement
The nature of work is continuously changing, various generations collaborate in the modern workforce, and the technology we use is growing. These trends point to a changing workforce landscape that embraces the tight line between personal and professional lives. Whether you are just starting or have been in a company for a while, you should keep an eye on how these trends evolve in the following years. Undoubtedly, communicators will have a busy year ahead of them.
Is your Internal communication team prepared to respond to these trends? Let’s talk. Discover how our PeopleOne-modern intranet solution can help you improve your internal communications and position your firm for success in 2023.
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