What is a digital employee engagement platform?

As time progresses, digital employee engagement platforms are becoming that much more important to employees as well as employers.  Chances are you have heard of them yet you might not understand what they are really all about and why they are growing in popularity.  Some digital employee engagement platforms empower employees to search across the entirety of the enterprise to pinpoint new opportunities.  Other platforms are more focused on improving employee collaboration and productivity.  The overarching aim of these platforms is to facilitate the formation of connections and individual growth within the workplace.  Whether you are a business owner, manager, or employee, you and your team will benefit from the addition of a digital employee engagement platform.

How Does a Digital Employee Engagement Platform Work?

Digital employee engagement platforms designed for employees set the stage for employees to connect with one another as well as new opportunities without impediment.  These connections ultimately save your team time and energy that is better spent on actual work.  The end result is an unlocking of employee potential.  Digital employee engagement platforms utilize the data within organizations to develop a directory of people that serves as a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.  In short, this digital platform serves as a convenient and efficient means of forging connections that advance employee interests as well as the enterprise's collective interest of the collective.  Take advantage of this dynamic people directory and your team will develop individual profiles that everyone can access and sort through based on specific criteria ranging from roles to capacity, skills, interests, experience and more.  

The best platforms serve as shortcuts to pinpoint the optimal candidates for open positions and projects, generating connections that prove mutually beneficial for employees as well as the employer.  Digital employee engagement platforms have even advanced to the point that they provide an opportunity to perform a rich keyword search that facilitates and expedites the search for the right individuals for instantaneous connections.  The search filters can be customized as desired to pertain to groups of individuals and other variables.

What to Look for in a Digital Employee Engagement Platform?

Aside from searchability and comprehensive employee profiles available at the click of a button, the best employee engagement platforms provide an internal opportunity market.  Such a market provides an invaluable opportunity for employees to grow, advance their skills and make meaningful contributions in the context of work.  This marketplace provides opportunities for individuals in search of new projects, roles, support, mentoring, and opportunities to learn.  A dynamic people directory serves as the structure and also as a connective platform to pair employees and opportunities throughout the organization.  When used properly, this marketplace has the potential to transform the flow of work, ultimately helping employees make meaningful contributions and fulfill their true potential.

Employee engagement platforms also enhance communication.  As an example, the implementation of nuanced modules improves communication tools already in use, allowing for searches throughout the entirety of the organization based on nuanced criteria ranging from skills to experience in departments, project data, and more.  The optimal platform ultimately enhances Microsoft Teams, Slack, email, and other tools used for business communication.

The security of the platform is just as important as its utility.  Whether your business has thousands of people or less than 100, you should prioritize digital security.  Furthermore, the overarching sector and niche of your business are unimportant in the context of digital security.  Choose a digital employee engagement platform with the proper security features and your data will be protected through enterprise-grade authentication, controlled access, governance, SOC 2 audits, and more.  In particular, SOC 2 audits are important as they are based on Trust Services Criteria that transmit trust-based service to clients, bolstering security and also boosting user trust in the platform.

Do Digital Employee Engagement Platforms Help Drive Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives?

Indeed, the optimal digital employee engagement platform fosters inclusion throughout an organization.  Every employee is looking for opportunities and a sense of belonging to something that is greater than him or herself.  The right employee engagement platform provides exactly that.  Seize the opportunity to implement such a platform at your business and you’ll find it provides direct and straightforward access to new opportunities, mentors,  social connections, and plenty more.  These are the opportunities meritorious workers crave.

Focus on providing equal access to new opportunities through employee engagement platforms and you’ll find your team respects the organization’s rewards for merit as opposed to nepotism or advancement resulting from time spent in the right social silos.  Instead of advancements occurring as a result of getting to know the right people at the right time, new opportunities are earned through a democratized process that highlights work ethic and skills rather than networking with influential individuals.  Such equity of access and transparency makes employees feel respected, cherished, and included in a collective that is greater than oneself.

Embrace the internal marketplace provided by a digital employee engagement platform and you’ll find your retention rate spikes.  Outside interest in your business will also increase as word spreads about your commitment to a meritocratic work environment.  The best employee engagement platforms develop profiles of individuals throughout the entirety of the organization that allows for a deeper understanding of one another’s skills, abilities, and experience.  Every opportunity that arises is clearly displayed to the entirety of your team, ensuring no one misses out on a potential opportunity for simply lacking the right social connection or failing to be in the right place at the right time.

Engagement at the Point of Onboarding and Beyond

The onboarding process has the potential to make or break a new hire’s perception of your business.  Choose human-focused onboarding provided by the right digital employee engagement platform and your new additions will be eased into their roles through an immersive process that feels intuitive.  The ongoing engagement and continued focus on improving the human condition while at work is a large part of what makes digital employee engagement platforms so important to the success of modern businesses.

The best employee engagement platform is in-depth to the point that it gamifies work, making it competitive yet fun, especially for those who recently joined the team.  The ongoing recognition of employee achievements combined with positive reinforcement for a job well done improves morale and also keeps employees engaged with their work, serving as a net positive for individual contributors as well as the enterprise as a collective.

Part of the challenge of keeping employees engaged is providing constructive feedback that encourages continued hard work and respect for the organization.  The implementation of the right employee feedback tools within the platform empowers contributors to communicate new innovative ideas and also express their thoughts pertaining to work projects, policies, and other subjects of importance.  As an example, the best platform features can conduct employee surveys that collect responses from employees, analyze the data, and set the stage for ownership or management to make strategic alterations based on employee feedback.

Customization to Suit the Social Environment of Each Unique Enterprise

The best employee engagement platforms allow for customization based on each company’s unique workflow, goals, and culture.  Choose an employee engagement platform that can be personalized and your team will be that much more receptive to it.  Ideally, the platform will be designed with a modernized look and feel that promotes continued use, engagement, and the formation of connections.  If the platform you select feels overly corporate or is characterized by an abundance of high-tech features with a steep learning curve, your team won’t gravitate to it throughout the day.

Choose a platform that replicates a naturally social experience in which people communicate with ease and you’ll develop a stronger sense of community throughout your enterprise.  Above all, prioritize engagement platforms that are adaptable to your company’s unique needs and working environment.  The platform should be functional on the web-connected devices your team uses and accessible at all times. The best platforms are also malleable enough to accommodate nuanced communications needs and advance overarching aims in terms of productivity and collaboration

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