Employees in the UK are among the most unengaged in the world. Just 10% feeling engaged at work, according to new research by Gallup. This places Britain 33rd out of 38 countries Europe. Why’s this important? Employees who feel engaged are less likely to leave their role and are more productive and profitable (Zippia).

Here’s 5 ways your digital employee experience can help your organisation to connect with its employees:

1. Improve Onboarding

When someone joins your organisation for the first time, it’s important to make a great first impression. You want to ensure that the sense you gave of your business in their interview is the experience they have when they join.

New starters (and those moving departments) are going to have lots of questions about your business, such as when payday falls, how to book holiday or where to find key contacts. By developing a task-based information architecture, you can ensure they can easily find the information they need.

You can also use your online platform to provide them with self-service training, such as video content and quizzes. Some larger organisations use digital platforms to create virtual welcome sessions, bringing new starters from across the company together and providing a chance to get to know senior leadership.

And, to help new starters to settle in, they can connect with their colleagues using online communities and chat channels.

2. Create Online Communities

Nothing beats connecting with colleagues in the office. But, when your teams work over multiple sites or from home, that’s not always possible. Here’s where online communities enable you to unite your teams and give people a feeling of inclusion – wherever they’re based.

Communities enable people to connect and swap information with like-minded people across the business. You can also use communities to provide specific guidance and support for niche groups (e.g. wellbeing support and advice for nightshift workers). Our client, Gatehouse Bank used AddIn365’s community site template  to create communities based on wellbeing and corporate responsibility, as these were important to its company culture.  As a result, Gatehouse Bank have seen at least 1 new community created each month. Plus, 90% of the company are now active contributors.

Want to know more? Read our ten top tips for creating successful communities.

3. Listen to Your Employees

Being heard by the business is a key factor in employee engagement – 92% of highly engaged employees feel heard at their workplace. This is compared to 30% of highly disengaged employees (Workforce Institute).

Thankfully, technology simplifies conversations – you can reach out to teams across your company at the click of a button.

Microsoft 365’s Viva Engage Leadership Corner provides a way for senior managers to keep in touch with employees without having to resort to email. You can spark discussions through community groups or hold virtual Q&A sessions where people can put their questions directly to company leadership.

Most importantly, if you do use tech for listening, it’s important to show any changes made because of employee suggestions. People are far more likely to participate if they can see the impact they’re having on the business.

4. Personalise Your Content

The Digital Workplace Group has found that 41% of all information provided to employees is irrelevant to their specific job role. Delivering personalisation makes people the organisation is considering them and improves productivity by making content easier to find. For example:

• Offering a targeted newsfeed that only serves employees with content that’s relevant to them
• Having frequently visited pages in your intranet navigation
• Allowing employees to create a list of content they find useful

5. Implement Your Brand Internally

Investing in your employer brand can reduce employee turnover by 28% (Office Vibe) – if people are excited about working for your business, they’re less likely to look elsewhere.

Now that hybrid and remote working are commonplace, people are less likely to encounter your brand by coming into the office. Instead, they’ll experience it through your digital media.

With AddIn365’s Creative and Page Kit, you can make your SharePoint platform an extension of your brand. For a great example of this, have a look at St James’s Place who worked with AddIn365 to deliver a new-look intranet to over 16,000 employees.