When it comes to improving employee morale, everyone has a role to play. Management may feel that the employees are responsible for their own happiness, but the “best places to work” lists will show you a number of companies that put an effort into making sure that their employees enjoy their work. As anyone satisfied with their job will tell you, a great workplace isn’t only about the money, it’s also about working for a company with a great culture that truly cares about employees’ well-being.
Employee morale is significant because it’s a big driver behind a good company culture. It can be hard to get buy-in if an employee hates showing up at their workplace every day. And the resentment may stem from any number of issues, including lack of transparency, little recognition, micromanaging, and miscommunication. Employee morale is also directly linked to employee engagement, employee retention, and overall productivity.
So how do you achieve good employee morale? Regular communication. Frequent one-on-one and small group conversations to address everyone’s needs and provide specific information about everything going on in the company would be ideal. But that is often logistically challenging and difficult to maintain. So it really helps to employ different types of communication to offset these challenges. One way is to use a digital signboard that speaks to all audiences.
At SafeStart, we have a designated area in our office where you can pull off to the side of the hallway and stand around high-top tables for a conversation. This gets you out of the line of fire of a high-traffic hallway, while also offering enough space for the conversation you’re having. We’ve also recently added a television to this area that we use as a digital display board. We’ve featured things like biographical slides about new hires to help them fit in, images from our staff Christmas party, awards and achievements, and we’ve partnered with the JHSC to feature safety slides on various topics like driving safety and other monthly topics.
Company culture can be improved by people feeling connected to the company’s mission, vision and values on a regular basis, and a digital display is an easy way to constantly update your workforce on the activities shaping those principles. Not only is this a great communication tool to reinforce culture and values, but it also boosts our morale as employees really feel like they belong. Digital displays should be put in common areas where people can stop and have a look without impeding foot traffic, like break rooms, cafeterias, and waiting rooms.
Here are three simple ways you can use a digital display in your workplace to boost morale and engage employees.
1. Provide updates on the company
A digital screen is a great place to display the dashboard of your company. Your mission, your vision and your value statement are important, but if they haven’t been recently communicated to employees, people can come to forget what your company stands for. A digital display allows you to showcase high-level organization values, as well as company announcements, upcoming events, health and safety updates, policy reminders, and business KPIs and goals.
If you have sales targets, displaying the company’s progress towards them here will allow employees to feel included and informed. Some companies showcase a sales leaderboard, highlighting their top salespeople. In the spirit of competition, top sales can also be rewarded every month (but sometimes bragging rights are enough). Even people who aren’t in sales can join in and celebrate wins and show support for challenges.
If your facility is large enough to have separate areas where people from different departments congregate, think about your audience and customize your display with relevant information. For example, production staff may not connect sales information to the company’s mission as directly as the production rate. And conversely, if you want everyone on the same page, like having a safety-first or zero-harm culture, ensure all displays have consistent messaging around them. Encouraging people to connect with these numbers will make them feel like they are a part of the company.
2. Showcase the people at work
It can be hard for everyone to get together outside of work but that’s often where personality shines through. Sharing photos can help your employees feel connected to one another. Posting images of company events, tradeshows, and workshops will give people something to talk about and creates a sense of community.
Another option is to highlight any awards, achievements and employee milestones (whether those are internal or external). At SafeStart, we do “fun” awards at the Christmas party and then display them on the digital display. The positive feedback was overwhelming from both those who attended the Christmas party and those who missed out.
The display could also highlight the personalities of various employees by showcasing their favorite food, what kind of music they like, their hobbies, etc. to help people learn a little bit more about the people they work alongside every day. Or better yet, strengthen two-way communication by encouraging employees to participate by creating a hashtag and displaying (appropriate) pictures from outside of the office on Instagram like #safestartweekend or #safestartvacay so that they can be shared on the screen for everyone to see.
3. Safety messages
When you address timely safety topics by highlighting them on a digital display, people tend to be grateful for the reminder. It can also help prevent complacency regarding seasonal risks, such as with slips, trips and falls that they might not think about while performing routine tasks like walking across the parking lot. This platform is not ideal for new safety training but it’s a great way to highlight issues they already know about. At SafeStart we display a PowerPoint of slides with bits of information and pictures. And we’ve noticed that our employees will stop to view it in its entirety. We’ve even received compliments from employees saying how much these slides have helped them refocus on safety in different situations. The digital display has been much more effective at engaging employees in the safety topic.
When used correctly, digital signage can not only improve your communication with your employees but will ensure that they feel like they belong in the company and morale will take a turn for the better. As you plan your digital signage strategy for internal communications, similar to the rules outlined in our poster guide, remember that it needs to be fresh, fun and worthwhile.