According to Hoh Jian Hu, Digital Marketing Executive at Big Screen Media and writing for Digital Signage Today, internal communication is important in creating a stronger bond between employees and the company. To establish a trusting relationship, internal communication is all about ensuring effective communications within an organisation. This can be achieved with digital signage.
Since digital signage is commonly found in high-traffic areas such as retail malls, airports, and restaurants, many people believe that it is only used for commercial uses in public spaces. However, digital signage can also be used in a company or a workplace to improve internal communication.
What is internal communication?
From message creation to keeping employees informed and motivated, every company should put effort into creating the best possible employee experience. When employees are connected to the company, they are more engaged and thus help to make bigger contributions.
Traditional internal communication
Due to the digitalisation of the corporate ecosystem, traditional internal communication is losing its ground. Old-fashioned communication focuses on providing information via traditional methods such as emails, memos and noticeboards. However, providing information alone is never enough. The main reason for such ineffectiveness is that emails and noticeboards are not attractive enough to keep employees interested.
For example, anyone can easily miss a memo that is pasted on a noticeboard. Even if an employee is willing to read the memo, wordiness can lead to skimming, which may then cause misinterpretation. Another example is the unopened email. Some employees seldom check their inboxes.
Digital signage is attractive
There are many ways that digital signage can be implemented to improve internal communication within an organisation. One of the most common applications is to display company announcements such as meeting schedules and company events.
Digital signage is attractive due to its ability to grab attention by using vibrant colours, eye-catching images, dynamic videos and unique fonts. All of these are possible because digital signage supports a wide range of digital media formats such as images, videos, animations, and motion graphics.
The display technologies used by digital signage keep improving every day. From LCD to LED display technology, digital signage keep producing outstanding visual quality. Video resolutions are getting larger and the colour range is getting wider and more dynamic. When the screen is attractive, employees will remember the content. Thus, they will act according to the announcements made. The recall rate of digital signage is also very high.
Improve employee motivation
Motivated employees can lead an organisation to success. Digital signage can also be used to increase the commitment level of employees by displaying motivational quotes, goals and achievements. Use digital signage to highlight the company’s goal, vision and mission. This can help to drive employees and motivate them to work towards the same goals.
Another important thing will be to recognise employees’ achievements. Managers or company owners can show their appreciation by displaying recognition messages on the digital signage. This can help to boost the team morale.
Fun in the workplace
Business is serious but it does not mean that a stricter working attitude will work the best all the time. There are times when humour can bring more advantages to the company.
An organisation can use digital signage to display funny videos or images to liven up the working environment. Work pressure can sometimes push employees to shut themselves off completely from their team members or colleagues. When there are no conversations within an organisation, internal communication can fail terribly.
Social media wall
A social wall displays social media feeds on a real-time basis from platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
Displaying social media feeds is a way of expressing appreciation. Employees expect something in return after hard work. Customer feedback is the most direct way to know if hard work is paying off. Some happy customers will share posts about satisfying services or products on social media.
By displaying these live feeds on digital signage in an organisation, it can help to improve employee engagement and communication. Employees will be happy to talk among themselves about these achievements.
Benefits of digital signage as a communication tool
A large organisation can have offices and branches in several locations. Using digital signage in an organisation can help to ensure consistent communication across all offices. The administrator can publish and push the content easily from a centralised location to all other digital signage in different locations.
Another benefit of using digital signage in an organisation is that it is faster to publish content when compared to the traditional way of putting up a memo. It can help to save time and printing costs.
Running effective internal communication is never an easy task. Engaged and motivated employees are the most valuable asset to an organisation. If you are having a hard time building a strong relationship between employees and the organisation, give yourself an opportunity to set up a digital signage network in your organisation.
This article appears in Digital Signage Today.
