Whether you know it or not, your organisation is part of a larger ‘business ecosystem’ and its fate is interrelated with the health of every other organisation within. Your culture, innovation, sustainability, and focus on customer experience will dictate whether your organisation thrives or dives, says James Murphy of Engage International.
Frontline staff are your brand ambassadors, and greatly impact the customer experience your company delivers. It can be hard or impossible to engage deskless staff unless the right mobile tactics are used. Guy Chiswick, of Speakap, has the case studies to prove that better communication and engagement for non-desk based staff is possible and profitable.
Aquent/Vitamin T, the specialist recruiters for creative, digital and marketing talent, releases insights into the state of UK marketing and creative employees’ well-being. Based on the results of its latest research, the company looked at marketers’ and creatives’ job satisfaction and work-life balance.
“Employee disengagement is an epidemic of epic proportions,” says Tim Eisenhauer, Co-founder of Axero Solutions and author of the newly released ‘Who the Hell Wants to Work for You: Mastering Employee Engagement’. MARGINALIA speaks with Eisenhauer to explore his new book and what organisations can do to improve engagement.
If your company is serious about improving employee engagement, then the intranet is the perfect place to start, Tami Matthews, Content Strategist at ElevatePoint, believes. In this interview, Matthews tells MARGINALIA how and why a modern intranet can have a positive impact on the employee experience. She also shares her views on the latest intranet trends and the future of work.
Automated systems, including artificial intelligence, are on the verge of penetrating every major industry and workplace, and are already disrupting many professions. The increased usage of these emerging technologies means that the very nature of work is changing. In this interview, Lithos Partners’ Sharon O’Dea, describes the reverberations of AI on roles and industries. She describes how AI can deliver considerable benefits but also create new challenges, including questions around diversity and career development.
The employee experience ‘ExChange’ conference is on the 24th of May 2018, in London. MARGINALIA speaks with Grace Burton, Research Lead at Benefex, to get a sneak peek of the event. Burton discusses the latest employee experience trends, highlights the link between technology and engagement, discusses the role of AI inside the workplace, and the need to focus on people and behaviours. She also shares how one company radically transformed their approach to employee relations.
How do you build a successful business in the 21st century? How do you become a thriving entrepreneur? What are the challenges and lessons learned along the journey? MARGINALIA speaks with Mark Matlock, founder of the care / nursing home comparison website, We Compare Any Care. In this interview, Matlock shares key lessons on running a technology company and offers advice to entrepreneurs who believe they have the next big idea.
Do your employee survey and ‘pulse’ survey results make you concerned about engagement levels? If you get the sense that people are tired and emotionally depleted, it’s time to make a change. Your organisation needs to demonstrate that it cares, that leadership cares about employees. By investing in staff wellbeing, an organisation concretely illustrates that staff are a priority. Investing in staff is a direct investment in the business, and so it’s a win-win scenario. MARGINALIA speaks with Simon Andrew, Insight & Engagement Director at Benefex, to explore the employee and productivity ramifications that surround wellbeing at work.
Is it time for a seismic shift for intranets? Product Director at Content and Code, David Bowman, believes so. Employees are frustrated and hampered by their company’s intranet. This must end. In this interview, Bowman tells MARGINALIA how and why persona-based research is a key approach to understanding people’s digital interactions with content and colleagues. He also describes the main characteristics of the intranet of the future, including AI, bots, and personalised content delivery.
Digital transformation brings many positives, but some long-term trends are troubling, according to Rob Colwill, CEO and founder of the digital workplace hub, ElevatePoint. If implemented and adopted unwisely, digital solutions could transform organisations in ways that will have negative implications for both the companies and its workers. In this interview, Colwill tells MARGINALIA about the pitfalls to avoid when it comes to digital change, and why a primary focus on strategy and people – even before evaluating the technology – is key to success.
To misquote John Culkin, we shape our tech and thereafter tech shapes us. Organisations need us – people – and technology to work harmoniously, but our tools are not always in tune with our ways of working. Behavioural psychology can provide insights around how people like to work, and how the technology can then be used effectively. Such behavioural insights have influenced the design of Benefex’s new social recognition app. MARGINALIA speaks with Grace Burton, Research Lead at Benefex, to explore her fascinating psychology investigations, and the link to creating great workplace experiences.
Everyone deserves a fantastic workplace, that enables meaningful work and enjoyable experiences. But what does a stimulating workplace look like? How can organisations create an uplifting place for their people to succeed? MARGINALIA speaks with author Neil Usher, who has just released his new book ‘The Elemental Workplace’, to explore what type of workplace contributes to employees’ sense of self-worth and wellbeing, and therefore benefits the organisation too.
Understanding employees’ needs and enabling people to have more control over their work can transform an organisation from the inside out. To support autonomy and employee engagement, a level of personalisation within the digital workplace is needed. MARGINALIA speaks with Mark Williams of people first to explore how AI is powering personalisation and empowering individuals to achieve their best.
How does the evolution of Office 365 impact the employee experience? What should organisations do to provide staff with a productive, connected digital workplace experience? MARGINALIA speaks with Salvo Profita, Product Manager of the SharePoint intranet in-a-box, EasySharePoint, who describes a “philosophical shift in the way people work”.
As new technologies rapidly enter the business world, the demand for digital leadership and digital talent grows exponentially. But what does it take to thrive in the digital economy? What’s required of companies, their leaders and employees, to successfully drive transformation and create a prosperous future? MARGINALIA spoke with Tim Hughes, CEO and co-founder of Digital Leadership Associates and author of the best selling book ‘Social Selling – Techniques to Influence Buyers and Changemakers’ to find some answers.
To complement our increasingly technology-reliant workplaces, surely successful 21st century organisations must focus on people and meaningful work. James Murphy, founder of Engage International and The Lotus Awards, finds that successful companies work within four pillars, either naturally or by design. The four pillars directly support success and high performance across the workforce, and Murphy considers them to be essential. Read about the four pillars and the applicability of the ‘COLOURS’ model.
The ‘people first platform’ brings HR, flow technology, infused AI and chatbot functions together to nurture a productive relationship between the employee and employer, and between the employee and their work. MARGINALIA speaks with Head of Marketing, Juliet Hailstone, to explore how the platform contributes to the future of work. In this interview, Hailstone discusses the impact of digital transformation on HR, and suggests organisations must put their ‘people first’ if they are to be successful and productive in the years ahead.
The key to growth and employee engagement in a global context is to be deliberate. Figuring out the rate-limiting steps in your strategic approaches, and then making every possible effort to reduce friction and increase the momentum toward your goals. MARGINALIA speaks with Adam Mason, Consultancy Director at Benefex, who guides readers through the company’s strategic approach to global engagement.
To achieve true digital workplace transformation, companies must adopt new organisational models, and radically change outdated management and leadership styles. Leaders, and everyone involved, must develop a new mindset around the enabling technologies — making sure the tools enable people to do more and to do different things, rather than just doing old things in new ways. In this wide-ranging interview, Gerry McGovern highlights what employees need within the digital workplace.
