60% of employees say mobile makes them more productive

Thanks to a study by The Economist Intelligence Unit, there is now an established and measurable connection between mobile-first workplaces and an increase in employee productivity and creativity. This data should help internal communicators work with the C-suite to drive any new mobile adoption. 

Overall, companies with a strong and coordinated internal mobile strategy experience a:

• 16% rise in workplace productivity

• 18% increase in creativity

• 23% improvement in employee satisfaction

• 21% greater loyalty to the employer

In the study, which included surveying 1,865 employees from around the world, EIU found that 60% of employees said mobile technology makes them more productive. And perhaps even more interesting, 45% believe it increases their creativity. On those two points, I'd like to know why 40% believe it inhibits productivity, but also what about mobile makes people more creative. 

The survey found that the biggest impact on employee productivity was the ability to work anywhere and anytime (49% said this mattered most). And the ability to work mobile would be the number one factor in an employee's satisfaction with their employer for 38%. This is interesting data for organizations weighing on work-life balance discussions. 

And for those who combine mobile and millennials in conversation, this study found that there was no link at all between an employee's age and how mobile technology impacted performance and engagement. This dispels the commonly-held belief that mobile working is tied to a younger generation. In leaders' eyes, this should make mobile technology an even greater priority for organizations. 

Brexit's impact on internal communications

Earlier this year, I featured the Gatehouse Group on the ICology podcast with the release of their State of the Sector report. But in light of the turbulent times following the Brexit vote, they reached back out to internal communicators to find out what sort of impact Brexit has had, both before and after the vote.  They received responses from more than 20 different industries, with 82% of them having UK-based employees. 

From my perspective, the most troubling statistic for communicators is that only a third of organizations had prepared communications for all outcomes. Very smart for the third who were ready. Not so wise for those organizations who didn't prepare. Per Gatehouse's data, 59% prepared nothing, which led Gatehouse to believe this was a result of an overconfidence in the vote result or a general lack of poor planning and strategy. This is a great lesson for communicators abroad that could face communication challenges ahead of politics and government news. 

Overall, this State of the Sector: Brexit Special suggests internal communicators are clearly feeling the effects of uncertainty in the wake of the referendum. Demand for change communication expertise is expected to increase and internal communicators must be quick and decisive in their actions when details of the exit process and timings emerge. All of this only goes to underline the general sense of confusion.

Here are some of the interesting takeaways for organizations:

• 63% believe their leaders are unsure about the impact
• 63% say that their EU employees based in the UK are concerned about their future
• 17% think that their organization's strategy map may no longer be relevant

And when it comes to internal communication

• 59% increased the need for reactive communications
• 43% increased demand for change communication expertise
• 28% increased access to senior leaders

If you're interested in reading more, you can download the full report or check out the infographic they've prepared. You can also listen to the podcast I did with Rachel Miller from All Things IC the day after the vote was announced. 

The state of employee feedback systems

When I speak at events, I challenge communicators to become part of the customer experience conversation by owning the employee experience at their companies. And the current state of employee feedback is an opportunity to do so. 

Nearly four out of five frontline employees (78%) say that their leaders have made customer experience a priority. And this makes sense. But here's the rub. Nearly 60% of those same employees believe their own ideas on how to improve that experience fall silent. 

There's a new report from the Medallia Insitute reveals the value of both getting employee feedback AND responding to it. It's the "AND" that many companies forget about. Whether it's in retail, hospitality, healthcare or another vertical, the frontline employees own the customer interaction and have a lot of ideas on how to improve the customer experience. 

Looking at the responses on how likely they are to delight customers (61%), improve company processes & practices (56%), improve employee training & development (47%), and reduce company costs (43%), I'm sure these numbers are lower than they actually are. What Medallia found is that a third of frontline employees say that their company is "unlikely" or "very unlikely" to act on their feedback. This has to create a negative morale situation where even if employees have ideas, they aren't going to express them. 

So where does internal communications fit into all of this? By inserting itself into the employee feedback model. When it comes to improving employee feedback, Medallia recommends:

• Soliciting feedback regularly

• Ask the right questions

• Communicate the purpose of surveys, results and actions to be taken

• Guarantee confidentiality of responses to maintain trust

• Take continuous action based on employee feedback

In each of these areas, internal communicators have a tremendous and valuable impact on improving the state of employee feedback at their companies. It's a further way to inject themselves into more areas of the business. 

Trust is the currency of good business: a new study from EY

View fullsize

Trust is one of those workplace components that we can see and feel but have difficulty measuring. It can take months or years to build but can be destroyed in seconds. In a recent survey from EY, they talked to 9,800 full-time workers around the world about trust in the workplace.

What did they find? Less than half (46%) place a "great deal of trust" in their employers. While 15% said they have "very little" or "no trust at all." That leaves 39% in the middle. That's a big group of employees who are wavering on trust. 

Among those 15% who don't trust their employer, they listed five reasons:

1. Employee compensation isn't fair

2. Employer doesn't provide equal opportunity for pay and promotion

3. A lack of strong leadership

4. Too much employee turnover

5. A lack of collaboration

While communicators hands might be tied on a few of those, they can have a positive impact on improving the visibility of leadership and collaboration opportunities. But when it comes to promoting trust, internal communicators can leverage their skills. 

The leading aspects in promoting trust are:

View fullsize

1. Delivers on promises

2. Provides job security

3. Provides fair compensation and good benefits

4. Communicates openly and transparently

And it's the last one that should ring home with communicators. You have a direct opportunity and, some might say, responsibility to promote open communication. Transparency is relative but I believe what employees are really searching for is honesty in communication. 

Other interesting items in the study:

Americans are more likely to "place a great deal of trust" in their boss (50%) than their company (38%). China, Germany and the UK have the highest level of trust in their employers. 

When it comes to generational differences, it's not the beloved millennials who are lacking in trust. It's Generation X. Only 41% of that generation responded they had a great deal of trust in their company. 

To learn more you can read the entire study, check out this quick read or check out the infographic. 

---

If you'd like to listen to a conversation on trust in the workplace, check out this episode of ICology with Nick Howard from Edelman. We discussed their 2016 Trust Barometer.