How to Use Digital Signage to Improve Employee Engagement

According to a recent Gallup poll, 53% of workers are not engaged with their jobs. This probably isn’t a surprise for most managers, since they’re in the trenches with their teams every day and see the disconnect many employees experience with their roles.

Smart employers are always on the look out for new, better ways to excite and motivate their employees. After all, engaged employees work harder, take less sick time, and are less likely to quit than their unengaged co-workers. A flexible, powerful solution to this issue is to use digital signage.

There are many ways organizations can use digital signage to improve employee engagement. We have gathered the top 8 to discuss today.

It’s easy for employees to miss or ignore emails, memos, and verbal announcements. Digital signage combats that problem by offering exciting visual components employers can use in their messages. Charts and graphs are integral to imparting number-heavy information that is otherwise difficult and boring to sift through. Automatic counters can keep up with internal contests and goals, and other rich graphics can be used to convey information in a way that’s not text-heavy. The winning factor is that it's more interactive and interesting. Think of texting and the importance of emojis to drive our points home. Digital signage can be used similarly.

The second reports or spreadsheets are printed out, they are becoming outdated. When employers use digital signage to share number-oriented data like sales numbers or percentage of goal achieved, they can update them in real-time. This flexibility helps every employee work from the same accurate figures and understand where the company stands in terms of performance. In addition, digital signage can deliver the messages with more excitement and interest, increasing the chances they will be absorbed and retained, than a regular email or report.

Employees who work only in the confines of their team day after day may start feeling stifled and separated from the broad company initiatives. Get them more involved with each other by encouraging them to share content via digital signage. Reach employees across departments and even remote branches with information about other teams' work and successes. This creates a more cohesive, better informed workforce where everyone is on the same page about the big picture. Increasing connectivity between departments helps fend off job stagnation.

Was there a big acquisition? A record-breaking stock price? A huge sales goal surpassed? An exciting new hire? No matter the hot news, sharing it via digital signage helps get it out to more people, quicker than any other way. Showing hot news across this type of medium adds another element of excitement and encourages comments and discussion. Over time, employees will begin automatically checking out the signage to receive these types of updates, which will keep them more involved in the goings-on of the company as a whole.

Long shifts and tedious work can bog down even the most dedicated, enthusiastic employee. Offering them ways to decompress and escape, even for a few minutes, can work wonders in getting them to focus longer and stay more engaged. Adding videos, games, and quizzes to digital signage is a smart solution to boredom and tedium. Employees can go into the lunch room, break room, or game room and enjoy some entertainment to relax and invigorate them. Most of all, providing this feature shows employees the organization cares about their well-being and satisfaction.

One of the most powerful ways to increase employee satisfaction and boost morale is by recognizing employees consistently. Some people appreciate this more than a raise! Content can be crafted for digital signage to highlight employees in a variety of ways. It can congratulate them on certain work anniversaries, thank them for stellar work on an important project, or acknowledge them for a particular idea or surpassing a sales goal. The content can go outside the workplace as well. Sending congrats on a new baby or a new spouse, recognizing employees for their philanthropic works, and even sending appreciation for milestones like attaining a degree or certification are all possible with digital signage. This not only makes the employee being mentioned feel special, it helps unite the workforce as a whole with positive, interesting news about their counterparts.

Unfortunately, sometimes the news isn’t going to be good.

Getting the word out fast and with minimal confusion is vital during emergency situations. The issue may be low-level, like warning employees of a horrible traffic jam or a school closing. It can also be high-level, like apprising them of a tornado, earthquake, gas leak, or bad storm. Rapid communication of accurate information during emergencies is essential to making certain everyone stays safe and well-informed throughout the duration. Visual messaging increases the effectiveness and helps clarify the information being shared.

Safety is a big deal for every workplace, and digital signage is a tool that can increase awareness and maximize message delivery. They can be used on the front end to announce training times and share safety tips, and afterwards to communicate safety reminders consistently so every employee will remember proper protocols. These messages have more impact than traditional posters because they can be changed up easily with fresh wording and powerful, attention-grabbing graphics. Digital signage can also be employed to share safety successes, such as days since an incident has occurred and hours since there has been time lost due to an accident.

Leaders of every company, no matter the size or industry, need to continuously look for ways to keep employees engaged and motivated. Failing to do so leads to big issues like loss of productivity and an increase in turnover. A cost-effective, flexible tool to combat this is digital signage. By learning to convey content that connects to every employee, organizations can build cohesiveness, increase awareness, and provide much-needed recognition and entertainment. The many possibilities that digital signage offers for employee-facing communication can be instrumental in increasing morale and driving a highly-engaged workforce.