18 Ways Digital Signage Improves Employee Communications

1. 18 Ways Digital Signage Improves Employee Communications Digital signage is good for more than commercial displays. Applied to the workplace, it can also improve internal communications. Good employee communication improves collaboration, engagement, alignment, and even the bottom line. And the right technology can take even simple messages to the next level.

2. Here’s a comprehensive list of how digital signage can help your organization’s communication. In today’s agile business world, innovation is essential to staying competitive. Organizations who are succeeding in the digital era are restructuring, transforming, and waking up to the potential that lies in their very own employees. Each of these grand initiatives requires a robust network of excellent communication practices and tools — especially when it comes to keeping your employees informed and engaged. Digital signage for companies plays an essential role in each of these journeys. And when backed by creative ways to use corporate digital signage for company communications, the journey is that much easier. Here are a few of the ways you can use digital signage solutions to upgrade your employee communications strategy for the journey ahead.

3. Connection 1. Let Employees Communicate “Up” with Their Ideas In the traditional, last-century business model, when employees had business ideas, there were no established channels to communicate them. Their primary creative outlet was to share those ideas with their direct managers or bend the ear of their co-workers at the water cooler. With digital signage solutions, there’s now a way for talented staff to get their ideas out there. Approved by managers or leaders, those contributions can be

4. displayed anywhere throughout the building where, who knows, it may catch the eye or the imagination of someone up there in the C-Suite. It’s a form of employee empowerment that can build trust by showing that “somebody up there cares” about what they have to say. It’s helpful for informational reasons. It’s motivating because it increases internal transparency, and it encourages more internal dialogue and helps relations by showing that everyone’s opinion matters. This type of employee empowerment is the hallmark of a healthy, modern organization. Looking beyond this simple initiative, strengthening communications between the C-Suite and those lower down on the chain of command can also drive alignment, which encourages an essential ingredient for success in the digital era: innovation. 2. Prevent Employee “Disconnect” by Helping People Get to Know Their Co-Workers Uses for digital signage can include employee profiles showing name, department, and a few examples of what they do for the company, achievements, fun personal facts, etc., based on what is appropriate for any given unique company culture, of course.

5. Another eye-catching technique is to get quotes from a highlighted employee about what they do or how they view their purpose at the company. For example: “I think the most important part of my job is being there for my team and helping them achieve their professional goals.” Take it up a level and use interactive digital signage to let curiosity lead the way. People can earn more by interacting with the touchscreen monitor to open up a discovery path. This technique works not just on “Get to Know” programs but on company info, mission-directed initiatives, and more. 3. Connect It to Your Internal Social Network In traditional business settings, it’s typical to encounter rigid and hierarchical communications. The sharing of ideas across departments and up and down the ladder of power is exceptional and rare. Top-down communication is the norm. But internal communications don't run in one direction. An internal social network can have a positive “flattening” effect on the company hierarchy of power as information and ideas flow freely in all directions. Internal communication strategies for your business, like these internal social networks, can be leveraged for company-wide benefits. The key is digital signage.

6. Managers and leaders don’t have to post on the social network itself. Still, perhaps they can select especially useful, helpful, or entertaining posts and highlight them from time to time on digital displays. Integrations can ease the process so that a simple dashboard allows for one-click displays pulled from your internal communications network. An added benefit is that this can remind people that the internal social network exists. Such networks are set up to tap into people’s knowledge of and desire to use social media in their personal lives. They’re designed to help employees transfer social media familiarity to the workplace environment. When used properly, they can significantly increase collaboration and productivity.

7. Engagement 4. Create a Digital Version of the Company Newsletter The average click rate of company newsletter emails is 14%. Digital content on your display signage monitor can do a much better job of disseminating newsletter information. You can display shorter chunks of content, making it easier to consume in places where people gather for breaks, for instance. 5. Advertise Special Internal Events

8. How would you feel if less than 31% of your staff showed up to a particular company event? That’s the average click rate of event emails that get sent around internally. And, you have to figure that an opened email does not always lead to someone showing up at your event. Internal communication strategies like digital displays are replacing the good old internal newsletter — and doing a much better job at it. Meetings, training, and other internal events can easily be forgotten, but a digital signage monitor gets everyone to the table on time. 6. Run a Teambuilding Company Quiz Team building quizzes encourage alignment, knowledge of the company’s brand story, history, personnel, and more. The winners of a company-themed quiz can be displayed weekly, which also helps employees to get to know one another. Using interactive digital signage to power your team building campaigns improves results by allowing employees to learn even more about colleagues, the brand story, or anything else you have in mind.

9. Well-Being 7. Encourage Healthy Behavior and Wellness Help staff remains happy and healthy, and they’ll be at their most productive. Offer free wellness-related perks periodically and let it be a surprise, so staff will be paying attention to the display to find out what it is. For example, free apples in the break room all day today, X number of Vouchers Available for Free Salad, or discount on gym memberships today only.

10. These social interactions encourage everyone to keep the displays in mind for useful information. The added benefit is that this helps onboard new employees by initiating them to how you’ll be communicating business strategy to employees in the future. 8. Update the Office Environment A pleasing work environment encourages all kinds of good employee behavior, including higher productivity and job satisfaction. The aesthetics of a workplace help define company culture. There’s also a documented link between workplace aesthetics and physical health and well-being of employees. One thing about digital signage is that it’s not just for conveying information or securing alignment. It’s also beautiful as a piece of hardware. It can even become art if you switch up the display from time to time. Take a break from using the digital signage monitor as a communications platform and show beautiful patterns & images for a change. It will still be contributing to the kind of office environment that you want to provide. 9. Incorporate Fun Into the Workplace

11. Sometimes humor is the best touch when you’re trying to improve company culture or get the team through a big challenge. If you ask managers today, “What is digital signage used for the most?” Many would say that it’s to lighten the mood for just those reasons. Be warned: fun and humor require consideration, creativity, and carefulness, or it could create a negative connotation. Or simply only get a lot of eye-rolling. Onboarding

12. 10. Offer Training Videos Effective training that sticks is hard to achieve. But when it’s video training, that’s a different story, and it’s no secret. 85% of companies have in-house video production capability. When displayed on high-quality conference room digital signage, training might be pain-free. 11. Run a Skills-Based Education Program for New Initiatives Here an example would be if a company wanted to increase digital awareness in employees. They might run some fun “factoids” for a month on the digital display to help them learn. On the other hand, conference room digital signage used in this way can encourage discussion of the material, for example, “What is Blockchain?”. Both techniques may help ease the stress of learning new things. It also gives visual learners a much-needed boost along the learning curve when you use images, graphs, and infographics to present new material. 12. Show Employee Questions and Answers Digital signage LED displays are an excellent tool for increasing transparency. Transparency builds trust between management and their

13. teams. Transparency can strengthen trust and alliance in any direction, not just up and down the power ladder. When employees have questions whose answers might be helpful to others, and they’re displayed for all to see, people learn that they’re not alone with the questions and concerns they have. They may even discover that their colleagues more like them than they thought. Another benefit of this use of digital displays can be that in modern organizations where transparency it’s a priority, broadcasting answers to tough staff questions can also break down barriers between management and staff. One way to approach this is to have your in-house creatives design a Q&A infographic. This visual approach can then be shared with everyone from front-line staff or warehouse workers on up to the entire C-suite. 13. Remind Staff of Your Internal Knowledge Base Everyone needs to refer to company resources from time to time. This type of communication helps remind employees that management wants to help and that those resources are there for all to use.

14. Whether it’s how to sign up for a 401(k), or where the brand style guide is, the sky’s the limit to how much content to add to the company’s knowledge base. People need reminders of how to access it all. Corporate digital signage for company communications can help here, too. Alignment 14. Highlight Employee Contributions (and Improve Retention)

15. A high-production video featuring a team or individual who has produced an outstanding performance on the job is an excellent morale-boosting tool. Recognition programs can even be more valuable than pay raises when it comes to getting people to work at their best levels. Employee recognition signals that leadership is proud of its employees and places value on their contributions. Employee recognition is a great way to maximize ROI in your digital signage solutions. A good recognition program can improve retention rates, too. As the top workforce management challenge, high employee retention is something every organization wants to achieve. 15. Keep Alive Your Company’s Brand Story Internal brand storytelling is just as important as external marketing, and digital signage can help here, too. Storytelling is a way to improve employee engagement. It’s also a way to strengthen your brand from the inside out. People who believe in the vision and the mission of the company where they work are more likely to “share the love” with customers, vendors, and anyone they come into contact with. As an employee communication strategy, digital signage is the perfect tool for keeping that brand story alive.

16. 16. Highlight Company Milestones Company highlights are another feel-good, motivational technique. The company newsletter has always been a way to communicate milestones to staff, but who reads them? Again, corporate digital signage for company communications can help turn that newsletter from an “instant delete” from staff inboxes to an engaging, must-read component of their workday. Leaders make use of many different forms of communication to keep things rolling ahead, including company news. Visual content is far easier for most people to consume, which is why 80% of marketers use visual content, and video is now more popular than blogging in social media marketing. 17. Keep Those Company Goals Front-and-Center The sharing of company “wins” and milestones with everyone is an effective way to make everyone feel good about where a company is going. Before you have a “win”, you have a goal to pursue. Those goals need to be shared, explained, and frequently revisited for them to take root and become top-of-mind. Sharing these goals is yet another faction of internal communication that can make or break any initiative.

17. With creative graphics and videos, leaders can help keep everyone focused on goals in a positive way that drives performance and keeps everyone on the same page. Once you see progress on your goals, you can share metrics to encourage teams to keep up the good work. 18. Explain/Communicate Business Strategy to Employees Is your organization experiencing change? It would be unusual if it weren’t in the era of digital transformation and constant innovation. But as leaders have long known, change is challenging to manage in a business setting. Communicating strategies and initiatives via a digital signage monitor can go a long way toward encouraging a “culture of change” at an any-sized company. The more informed everyone is, the less resistant they’ll probably be to whatever upcoming changes you might have. Wrap-Up A happy, efficient workplace where employees feel vested in the company vision and where collaboration thrives is the key to innovation, the holy grail to business success. Internal communication strategies for your business that

18. fuel collaboration are essential for survival, growth, and staying competitive in the digital era. Leaders who’ve found the key to achieving all those goals are very good at communicating across their entire organization, among other things. As you’ve just seen, digital signage for corporate communications can help you lead your organization into the 21st-century with technology that reaches everyone with the message you want to send.