Tips for Internal Communicators

How Improving Internal Communications Can Result in Significant ROI Effective employee communication channels add value as well as dollars and sense.
Introduction:
In recent years, a growing number of organizations have started to recognize the importance of effective internal communications not just on employees but on the bottom line. Its impact is undeniable. In fact, a study conducted by Towers Watson (formerly Watson Wyatt Worldwide), a global consulting firm, which specializes in measuring and managing the cost and effectiveness of employee benefit programs, found that: Companies with effective internal communications have a 15.7 % higher market value and deliver 29 % higher shareholder return. Because of its significance, more organizations are investing in technology to create more impactful internal communications. Thats why software programs, such as SnapComms, have become increasingly popular, because it enables businesses to implement more innovative and affordable ways to get the message across. SnapComms is a visually dynamic suite of interactive employee communication tools that creatively convey messages directly to employee workstation computer screens and mobile devices. The impact of effective employee communications can be far reaching. For instance, critical time-to-market timelines for new product launches can be greatly reduced. Uptake of new products can be faster and customer service and retention levels can be improved by a more informed and engaged workforce.

Measuring the Value of Improved Internal Communications

Email interruptions are one of the biggest time wasters in organizations today; with research revealing that employees take just over one full minute to refocus their attention to the task at hand after receiving and reading emails. Therefore, it stands to reason that randomly sending All Staff group emails can quickly become detrimental to staff productivity. Using software programs to consolidate email communications and better channel important but not urgent information into consolidated newsletters and screensaver billboards, many companies have eliminated the need for dozens of group emails every week. For example, telecommunications giant, Rogers Communications, recently piloted a six-month program, replacing regular corporate emails with SnapComms daily bulletin, daily pop-up quizzes to measure information understanding and absorption, and ticker scrolls to distribute critical messages during shifts. Focusing on Billing, Inbound Sales and Customer Service, the company first benchmarked the current situation and discovered that employees were receiving approximately seven emails daily, with each message containing 600 words on average for a total of 92,000 emailed words a month and that was from just their division.

Saving Time and Increasing Productivity

By consolidating even just five news and administrative (non-urgent) emails into the SnapMag daily bulletin, a company, with a staff of 10,000 employees worldwide earning an average of $40,000 annually, is able to save more than $2,400,000 in time savings each year (figure 1).

Productivity cost caused by email overload

Average number of news and admin emails/wk Time to recover from each email interruption (Mins) % of employees react to emails within 6 seconds Total Interruption cost Figure 1 After deploying SnapComms tools to completely overhaul their communications process, the Rogers team performed extensive cost benefit analyses comparing SnapComms messaging to status quo emails. Preliminary results included: Increased satisfaction among SnapComms messaging recipients: o Over 90% of the SnapComms test group preferred it to regular email and reported that it was easier for them to process information Improved knowledge transfer: o Daily quiz results reached 95% correct answer rates for the SnapComms pilot teams Improved customer satisfaction survey results, call handling times, and 1st time call resolution rates 20 1 70% $2,488,889 (research) (research) Per annum

Ph: In the US: 1.805.715.0300, In the UK: 0208 2426053, Head Office (NZ/Aus): + 64 9 950 3360 info@snapcomms.com www.SnapComms.com

Tips for Internal Communicators

In addition to email time savings, SnapComms can also save a substantial amount of time spent reviewing announcements during team meetings. Recently, a cell phone company found that as much as 20-30 minutes each week was being ill-spent during team meetings on making required corporate announcements. By implementing SnapComms as part of a complete communications process renovation, the company reduced the time spent reviewing announcements by 40-70%. This resulted in significant savings (figure 2).

Meeting Productivity
Time spent (per team) covering general updates Time saved (per team) by using SnapComms Channels Average number of staff in a meeting Number team meetings across the business Total Administration costs: Figure 2 $640,000 0.5 0.2 15 200 hrs per week hrs per week (40% of .5) per week per week

Additional Cost Saving Scenarios

Cox Communications The Information Security team were using employee training posters as a way to meet PCI Audit requirements for teaching employees on keeping customer data safe. By replacing the program with SnapComms Screensaver visual messaging to 20,000 employee workstations, they found savings that more than covered the cost the SnapComms software. In addition, they eliminated expensive print and distribution costs for the posters, which aligned perfectly with the companys corporate-wide conservation efforts. IT Helpdesk Client By using screensaver alerts and scrolling tickers to replace internal email outage notifications, this SnapComms client has reported: Increased productivity before and after planned outages because employees are notified in advance and can log out rather than risk losing their work Significant reductions in helpdesk calls during outages Improved employee satisfaction regarding how outages were communicated and managed To calculate the potential savings and ROI of the SnapComms software for your organization email us at info@snapcomms.com; visit http://www.snapcomms.com/learning-center/pricing-and-savings.aspx or call us today.

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Ph: In the US: 1.805.715.0300, In the UK: 0208 2426053, Head Office (NZ/Aus): + 64 9 950 3360 info@snapcomms.com www.SnapComms.com