Day 15 – Monday, April 6
In just a matter of weeks, employees are finding themselves in a new, yet somehow familiar working environment: their kitchen table. The sudden, mandated shift to working from home presents a host of challenges, particularly when it comes to platforms that enable communications and engagement.
And popular video and collaboration apps meant for smaller teams don’t always cut it. As social distancing continues, organizations need to understand how to utilize the right technologies to address what’s being neglected: connecting employees to the broader organization. Join Flywire’s Brandi Stawicki, Global People Operations & Communications on Thursday, April 23 to get insights on how they’re connecting employees to the broader organization.
As a part of Simpplr’s ‘Work from Home’ Series – we wanted to hear from our customers and get insights for what communication tools are working best as they keep their workforce updated and engaged.
Flywire, a trusted and valued customer of Simpplr, has shared their Simpplr story on how the organization defined content strategy and utilized technology to scale culture but they recently had to pivot their content strategy in the wake of COVID-19 utilizing Simpplr as their single source of truth.
The transition to remote work was done regionally as government mandates started rolling out with APAC being affected first followed by the EMEA and then the Americas. Flywire saw an uptick in department heads creating and updating sites to communicate consistent messaging and developments across their teams. With the remote work shift starting in APAC, Flywire was able to gauge what communication strategies were most effective and implement best practices as the shift continued across the 12 offices globally.
With the widespread nature of COVID, Flywire built out a site on their Simpplr intranet platform dedicated with the latest up-to-date news and resources as the world deals with uncertain times. Initially, site managers were placing work from home best practices on the ‘All Company’ site but as the situation started to span longer, they saw an increase in the amount of resources for FlyMates (name for Flywire employees) and moved content to a dedicated site. The site houses a page dedicated to mini affinity slack channels (Remote Flymates to Quarantine Recipes to New Parent Support), a page for Google Hangout sessions and resources for meditation and mental wellness.
During this time, leadership stepped up to conduct weekly company meetings and used a google form linked on their intranet to solicit what FlyMates wanted to know. The CEO conducts random AMAs to engage and chat with FlyMates.
As we adjust to this new normal, Flywire is building out resources that help keep the ‘water cooler/break room’ vibe alive. They’re encouraging socialization for the first 10 minutes during weekly team meetings, sharing struggles on adjusting to a new work schedule and leadership is emphasizing that it’s okay if kids or pets pop in while on a work call.
Utilizing a part of their workforce that was already working remotely, Flywire pivoted their ‘A Day in the Life of a FlyMate’ which is a weekly article that highlights FlyMates from different departments, locations and career levels to focus on the work from home strategies of their permanently remote FlyMates/. Getting insight from fellow coworkers helped people get acclimated to their new work lifestyle.
Subscribe to our Work from Home Diary Series:
Read through Simpplr’s work from home diary blog series and learn how you can maintain workplace culture during this mandated work from home time.
Day 1: Shift to Work from Home
Day 2: How Employees Can Stay Focused
Day 3: How to Work from Home with Kids
Day 4: Work from Home Setup Tips & Ideas
Day 5: Engage Your Remote Employees with Fun Social Activities
Day 6: Technology Toolkit Guide to Remote Work
Day 7: 10 Ways to keep Remote Work Sane
Day 8: Importance of Employee Recognition
Day 9: Benefits of Working from Home
Day 10: Remote Team Building Activities
Day 11: How Splunk is Utilizing Simpplr to Engage Employees Worldwide
Day 12: 5 Reasons Why YOu Need an Employee Communications Solution Right Now!
Day 13: Top 10 Things Companies Can Do Now to Keep Culture Alive
Day 14: Tips for Effective Work from Home Collaboration
