5 Ways Digital Signage Improves Employee Engagement During a Pandemic

Employees across the globe have faced one of the most stressful and challenging times in recent history as a result of the pandemic. This stress can lead to excessive worry and distraction, increased absenteeism, and lower productivity levels. Fortunately, recent Gallup polls show that engaged employees in the workplace report lower levels of stress, worry and improved satisfaction with their overall lives.

So how can you keep employees engaged in spite of these challenging times? At Indigo, we’ve helped countless organizations greatly strengthen relationships with their employees and improve engagement through the use of digital signage. We've seen first hand how digital signage works within organizations to capture more attention, improve employee morale, and help to foster a dynamic and engaging culture through strategic messaging. In short, digital signage can help you send the right messages at the right time without distracting from your core business efforts.

If you haven’t yet explored this technology for your communication strategy, consider these 5 ways digital signage can improve engagement within your organization.

1. Digital signage gives your leadership team and your company culture a visible identity.

Pandemics can be stressful.  During these times, employees need to feel supported and be reminded that they have a leadership team who is behind them. Outside of work, they are likely bombarded with negative information on the news and social media. Providing a positive and supportive company culture can help them view the workplace as a safe haven where they can leave the negativity at the door.

But positive company cultures aren’t built through a monthly email newsletter. Positive sentiments, offers of support, and regular recognition must be plainly visible throughout your organization to build and maintain your desired culture. Digital signage can not only help with these regular reminders, it can also bring a voice to your leadership team. You can give your leadership team a louder and more visible identity through digital signage by displaying:

• Personal video messages from key leaders

• Reminders for open office hours and helpful support benefits

• Get-to-know-you spotlights of leadership and departmental team members

• Contests (with prizes!) for employees who go “above and beyond” demonstrating positive cultural behaviors

2. Digital signage helps you quickly communicate critical information, keeping your employees informed.

Even in normal circumstances, communication is the foundation of a successful workplace culture. During a pandemic or other crisis situation, effective internal communication is even more critical. All companies had to adapt quickly to the global health crisis, but some organizations – those who were most effective at communicating internally with employees – proved to handle these challenges much better than others. When employees receive consistent updates and communication, they are empowered with the ability to approach their job duties calmly and adapt to make any necessary changes.

Information changed rapidly in the early onset of COVID-19, with new recommended procedures released almost daily. This can be overwhelming and confusing for employees, unless they have a centralized and reliable location to find the current information. Digital signage can serve as this consistent, engaging medium for your internal communication. The success of some companies to pivot in the face of the pandemic leaves no doubt – informed employees are engaged employees.

3. Digital signage maximizes your efficiency in managing employee communication.

As a result of the pandemic, your leadership team likely has even more responsibilities than usual. Shifting job duties, impacted sales, and increasing health concerns make it necessary to maximize efficiency in every aspect of your operation. Inefficiencies can be an avoidable source of frustration for your employees, especially when it comes to timely communication.

For your leadership team, you can maximize your communication efforts by sharing information company-wide through digital signage versus less effective methods such as printed communication. In addition to improved efficiencies in communication, digital signage also encourages collaboration between departments resulting in a much richer cultural experience for your workforce.

4. Digital signage provides a platform to customize your content for different employee groups and needs.

Asking your employees to sort through which messages are applicable to them (and which aren’t) can muddy the communication waters. Some messages, such as updated production schedules, may only need to go to specific departments. Other information, such as dates for benefits re-enrollment or protocol regarding COVID-19, needs to go to your entire workforce.

With other forms of communication, sorting these messages can be a cumbersome task. With digital signage, however, information can be targeted to display only to specific geographic or regional locations, to specific departments within a location, or across your entire organization nationwide – all managed from a centralized online portal.

5. Digital signage enhances employee engagement through inclusion.

Everyone likes their 15 minutes of fame, and your employees will especially appreciate positive shout outs for the extra efforts they are managing during the pandemic. You can make employees feel included using digital signage in several ways, including:

• Recognition for milestone achievements and career anniversaries

• Appreciation for “above and beyond” work efforts

• Direct testimonials from customers

• Awards of team superlatives and other “fun” prizes

As part of your communication strategy, get multiple departments involved to collaborate on creative recognition initiatives and employee notices. This will help to ensure that employee groups don’t go overlooked and all employees stay interested and engaged. By displaying recognition frequently and fairly, employees will feel included, noticed, valued, and ultimately more motivated to continue putting forth their best efforts for your organization.

To make employee recognition much easier on your already hectic schedule, digital templates can make content creation a breeze, while sign software scheduling features allow you to proactively plan and schedule your communication.

Taking the next steps with digital signage

Now you’ve seen several benefits digital signage can bring to your internal communication program. To take some important next steps,  you may need to prepare a proof of concept case for others on your leadership team. Or, if you need some first-hand experience on incorporating digital signage into your strategy for success, we’d love to visit with you and answer your questions. Click here to schedule time with one of our digital sign experts.