Surely you have heard about the intranet network in companies which is much different from the internet. Many companies use intranet for small, internal communications between employees. But it has always been debates on whether its benefits overcome its cons or not. Lack of interactivity and feedback, unsightly design, little or no documentation and difficulty in use are the most common problems in having intranet.
Luckily technology has had a sharp hike in the past few years and nowadays apps in smartphones and computers have found a crucial place in today’s digital world. Digital employee magazines are competent and effective tools for companies’ internal communication. These magazines are considered more entertaining rather than work-related, as employees would rather be entertained than read more about work. You will see refreshing examples about the employee magazine apps later in this article.
Now let’s explore the benefits of having employee magazine apps for companies.
Using smartphones and tablets is something that people enjoy. Therefore, employee magazine apps can bring fun and adventure for the employees by frequently publishing fresh news. This can result in greater app usage over mobile intranets. As internet is accessible almost everywhere, the productivity of companies can improve, by employees reaching the information from any location easily. Hence, things can get done with couple of swipes and taps. Being secure and private is another advantage of having employee magazine apps, due to the fact that they cannot be downloaded from public app stores. Having utilized encryption and access control are adding to this feature as well. Just as the apps are only for one particular organization, they are certainly customized to the unique needs of an organization and its employees such as having some of the dominant languages of employees, company’s surveys and more. And last but not least, the apps are available for anyone in the company from the C-Suite to non-desk employees in all locations.
Employees Engagement by Magazine Apps
Magazine apps give companies a huge advantage by engaging employees in internal communication. The synchronization of employees with the company they work for has become essential nowadays. Many companies change quickly by growing in international levels and also merging with other companies. Therefore, it is very important to update the employees on company’s politics, rules, regulations and most importantly updating them right on time to build knowledge and mutual trust. Tribe’s national research has shown that employees are eager to know their team of top managers in person. This can be provided based on interviews and profile series of the executive team and in turn builds human connection. Getting engaged with the company vision helps employees observe their contribution to that vision. The magazine app can also be the only communication tool between executives and manufacturing employees, thus it helps these employees to feel themselves in the loop. Magazine apps also show other co-workers in other business units so employees can feel themselves being part of something larger than their own work group.
Employee Magazine Content
Cross-referencing between company’s internal social network and the magazine app is considered as a key solution in the app integration. By the side of integration its important to have well-organized reports, authentic language and professional design to ensure successful corporate communication. Being creative in linking business objectives and content as well as referring the key changes are crucial in order to keep the magazine app fresh. Companies should also be careful not to include too much of dull corporate statistics. By publishing content bi-weekly or monthly, employees lose their interest in following the latest trends in the company. Thus it is very important for the magazines to be continuous by publishing articles frequently and having constant breaking news. Employee case studies can be beneficial as people enjoy reading content they can relate themselves to and stories about other people. Feedback channels are inevitable features in magazine apps. By seeing their comments and opinions being taken seriously employees are willing to engage more efficiently into the company.
As promised before, you can take a look on two digital employee magazines below.
Voestalpine Group AG
The voestalpine Groups is a steel-base technology company with large number of group companies and locations all around the world. The magazine is quarterly published and is available on iTunes. As you open the app, the kiosk with different company’s publication appears on the first page. The articles are only accessible with employees’ username and password.
FRANCES’ U.S. Department of Labor
Having united 17,000 employees around the world, FRANCES’, U.S. Department of Labor employee magazine, keeps their employees interested and attached in their work.
To connect all staffs around the world, FRANCES’ brings concrete reporting with interviews, advices and informative content for its employees with the goal of celebrating employees’ contribution to the agency. Employees can find stories referrals and reader feedback and as the stories are from employees, FRANCES’ is famous for its newsworthy and relevancy. It has also received the best employee magazine title by Ragan Awards.
If you consider setting up an employee magazine app, check out these digital publishing tools:
