Especially the youngest employees are not only looking for money but also for experiences in the workplace. And this no longer means a trendy office, a few beanbags, and an annual fine dining team-building event. How can both employers and employees benefit from fostering community and cultural connections? What truly makes a workplace an experience?
Modern workplaces must move beyond the belief that employees’ needs are met if they spend their 40 hours a week for fair pay in a trendy office with as much home office as possible. The “you don’t need to collect experiences at work, just work” record is listened to with yawns by Gen Z, who are often on the lookout for better offers. This generation was born into a digital environment and grew up amidst limitless opportunities and the pulsating rhythm of social media. The exclusivity and, therefore, the significance of physical presence has diminished, but the craving for experiences, the need for culture, and belonging to a community may be stronger than ever.
The plummeting of mood, motivation, and engagement of isolated employees is not an unfamiliar phenomenon. Sadly, it is also completely understandable. We all want to feel that we matter – that with our work we contribute to shared achievements, and with our personalities we enrich the community. That is why workplaces need informal interactions too, which are specifically aimed at building human connections and community. These can be any community event/experience, from large corporate sports days to small coffee-break conversations, birthday greetings, and acknowledgments.
At the workplace, we are a community, and every voice matters, but of course, we are not all the same. The experience of inclusivity can only be realized if the company actively encourages participation and treats and communicates differences as an important value. One of the strongest competitive advantages of modern workplaces can be a diverse community – e.g., employees from different cultural backgrounds, representing different generations. This results in an innovative corporate culture built from multiple perspectives.
Internal communication can also support the strengthening of cultural pillars with gestures such as showcasing the holidays and traditions of different cultures, organizing theme days, or creating hobby groups. Discovering new things and participating in community programs bring colleagues closer to one another and can provide real, valuable experiences in the workplace environment.
Despite how complicated hyper-personalization may sound, it is actually very clear. Just as with consumers, generic mass messages and general information have become dead ends with employees too: we are in the age of personalized content and open feedback. On digital internal communication platforms, there is no longer room for sending everything to everyone and expecting colleagues to pick out the information relevant to them. We can successfully engage employees with targeted content similar to the experiences they encounter on social media platforms.
Employees in non-desk roles often miss out on company culture and experiences. Shift work, different working conditions, and non-office-based jobs make forming closer corporate connections more difficult. Blue-collar colleagues directly impact performance and results with their work, so their commitment and loyalty are critical areas in the functioning of companies. That’s why it is extremely important to reach physical workers effectively and include them in community and cultural experiences.
Corporate internal communication digital platforms have broadened the possibilities of fully reaching the entire workforce. Using the Blue Colibri App can be easily integrated into everyday routines: anyone can log in anytime from their smartphone to a friendly, social-media-like interface. HR and internal communication teams can easily edit and share content in various formats.
You can enrich internal communication with videos, infographics, quizzes, and numerous exciting features – and if you ever get stuck, strong customer support is always available for the Blue Colibri App.
Within the app, news feeds, thematic groups, and internal recommendations can boost community building. Foreign employees can also be more easily engaged since the Blue Colibri App enables internal communication to reach everyone in the language most comfortable for them with automatic translations and multilingual content.
Two-way communication is fundamental in experience-based workplaces – and the Blue Colibri App provides opportunities for genuine dialogue, not just top-down announcements. The team can choose from easy-to-use chat and a variety of feedback functions, from classic text messages to emoji reactions and various freely editable surveys.
Even mandatory workplace tasks, the so-called “paperwork,” can become smoother with a digital platform. The Blue Colibri App provides flexible access to documentation for colleagues. With downloadable content and e-learning materials, even previously somewhat flat administrative tasks can be made more engaging.
Building experiences in the workplace is not a luxury but a long-term strategic investment. The Blue Colibri App not only helps in implementation but also makes the processes measurable.
