Ah, internal communications! Having to say everything in as few words as possible. To make sure you are being read and be able to compete with external information channels is a great challenge. Fortunately for companies, dynamic signage technology is there to help them. The manufacturing sector is a good example, since using signage as a means of communication can easily be adapted to the work environment and facilitates information sharing.
When employees start their shifts, leave their personal belongings (including their cell phone) in the locker and clock in, they take the time to stop. If a TV screen shows words, they won’t be able to resist: they will look and read! In 2020, we can say that looking at a screen is an “acquired” reflex for the vast majority of people. Here are some examples of recurring internal communications in all company environments.
Promoting occupational health and safety (OHS)
How many emails do you send every year to remind your employees of occupational health and safety regulations? Do these communications all feel alike? Do you have stats on the open rate of these safety regulations email reminders?
Even though occupational health and safety is an important issue, people get eventually bored of reading this type of communications. But if these are shown differently, on screens, with eye-catching graphics, pictures taken directly on the work site, with precise guidelines about operating machinery, they have significantly higher odds of being read and heard.
OHS improvement relates directly to prevention, and digital signage provides the opportunity to communicate important reminders efficiently, continuously and physically on the workplace.
Display production data in real time
Giving production goals to employees is good, but displaying metrics such as work status, results and performance levels can have a direct impact on teams. Depending on their personality types, some team members will feel motivated to see the work left to do before taking a break, while others will be relieved by seeing they have nearly reached their objectives. People managers have the opportunity to use real-time signage to determine where and when they need to lend a hand, congratulate a co-worker or adjust goals.
Identify OHS first aiders
What could be better than displaying the name and the picture of people who have first aid training? And what if you could display them on-screen when they are at the workplace? It would be an effective way to bring everyone’s attention towards these key people. After all, they deserve to be recognized.
Enrich training
Employees remember what they can from enhancement workshops, training on new equipment and annual refreshers. To optimize the benefit of this training, digital signage is the perfect tool to display reminders and consolidate training.
There are many ways to entertain employees while giving them important reminders. Riddles, picture puzzles, simulations, multiple choice questions and videos are all great ways to communicate information in different ways.
Encourage your employees
Recognition has become much more than a discussion topic for companies; it is now an objective for managers and for communication strategies. For employees, it is a reason to stay with their employer.
A handshake, saying “Thank you”, giving free coffee, offering gifts to celebrate an employee’s years of service… These recognition gestures are necessary and make a difference for the person receiving them. What if you could extend the impact of this recognition to a large number of people? How about publishing pictures taken during the “coffee and muffin” break, courtesy of the boss? Or displaying employees’ work anniversaries and your teams’ key wins? Depending on your company’s manufacturing type and the level of proximity of the employees, you could also publish news about your people such as congratulations on the recent birth of a co-worker’s baby, warm words for a colleague about to retire, or pictures taken on social events.
Examples in this article are but a small fraction of all the possibilities of digital signage. Matters such as employee recognition, OHS prevention, real-time communication of information and training reminders are a priority in the manufacturing sector because they directly impact the well-being of the employees. Dynamic displays give the opportunity to repeat information often and in different ways, and make sure everybody has seen, read and understood the message. In all cases, communicating messages through digital signage can significantly increase employees’ engagement and attract their interest on important topics, while greatly reducing the amount of email communications.
Did you know it is possible to operate dynamic signage with touchscreens? To learn more, contact the team at ITESMEDIA, 514-642-3790 ext. 1.
