Effective employee engagement strategies critical to business of the future

Employee engagement is critical to the success of the modern workplace and an essential contributor to increased productivity and ultimately the bottom-line, and while some organisations only dabble in employee engagement, to see others focus on their employees’ experience and more importantly, to get it right using the Wyzetalk technology, is very rewarding.

Having some of our clients participate in the inaugural Employee Engagement Awards gave us the opportunity to reflect on some of these stories. We’re delighted that Impala Platinum, Kauai and Hungry Lion were all finalists in their categories. At the Gala Awards evening that took place in Sandton on Thursday, 14 June 2018, Kauai were announced winners in the Internal Communications Category with Hungry Lion receiving a Highly Commended Award in the same category.

Here, in their words, is what creating exceptional employee experiences and working with Wyzetalk means to them.

Louizandre van Zyl, Head of HR for Kauai “One of our Values is FAMILY, so when we started working with Wyzetalk, we wanted to create a platform that allowed us to connect and engage daily with our Kauai family, both at a Head Office and store level; we also needed a platform to provide our staff with critical resources like training material, HR information and general life skills support. With Wyzetalk’s help, we created K-Connect, a platform where our employees can connect with their broader Kauai family by posting photos and stories, share ideas on how we can improve our brand, nominate and recognise fellow colleagues for great work, highlight staff achievements, access all training, operations and HR information, and even wish fellow staff members a happy birthday. Since the launch of K-Konnect, 83% of Kauai employees have registered on the platform, and we’ve seen high levels of engagement. We have used K-Connect to build our culture, which has improved staff morale and attitudes, by creating ownership and staff commitment to our brand. Being a finalist for the Internal Communications/Employer Brand Award (and winning it) is a big achievement and a proud moment, because we have worked very hard to build our Kauai culture and live our FAMILY value - we are all about creating a Kauai Family, taking care of our staff and making everyone feel included, which is exactly what the platform has allowed us to showcase."

 Tashalene Reid, Chief Marketing Operator at Hungry Lion “Since launching our Wyzetalk “WeConnect” platform, Hungry Lion now has a single internal communication system for Head Office and all stores, even in remote areas, throughout Africa. The Company has seen double figure sales growth year-on-year which has been supported by their (Wyzetalk’s) rewards system, incentivising teams through leader-boards as well as airtime and wi-code vouchers. “We have also been able to introduce programs that have saved costs on our annual employee engagement which is more accurate and conclusive than ever before, since using our mobile community. Being a finalist for the Internal Communications/Employer Brand Award and Reward, Recognition and Wellbeing Award is a true testament of how vital the Wyzetalk platform is for organisations looking to turnaround their employee engagement.” 

 Mark Munroe, Chief Executive: Rustenburg Operations “Since Implats started using the Wyzetalk cell phone-based employee engagement platform at their Impala Platinum operations in Rustenburg in January 2017, we have seen tremendous impact to our employee engagement strategy. With over 30 000 geographically dispersed employees, it is often difficult for employees to receive relevant information on time, to feel like they are heard and to connect with management. The biggest impact the platform has had is that we now have a quick, easy, direct way to reach our employees. We can easily check through surveys that our safety and productivity campaigns are understood and we’re sharing important health and wellness information that employees are taking home to their families. Importantly, the Wyzetalk platform is available to employees in two languages to ensure they understand the information we are sharing and the platform is free of charge to them. The always-on feedback channels are important for Impala to engage with employees and their families have shown that they are comfortable using them too.”

 We’re inspired everyday by the work we do and change we’re bringing about in the workplaces everyone. And although we can’t share all the transformative stories, everyday we’re made aware of just how much we’re changing people’s lives.

We set out to build a solution that could reimagine the employer-employee relationship and I am pleased to say that we have done that and so much more. Onward and upward. I am so proud of my team!

#employeeengagement