Growing a Global Community: Connecting a Dispersed Workforce

The Problem

When first approached about the initial driving force behind a new solution, one employee stated, "We are going global and everyone had different homesites to use.  We wanted once central location for all employees to go to." 

This large orthopedic surgery supply manufacturing company has made a name for itself in the medical product market.  Until recently, individuals across the globe had different sites to house their company news and information, an inconsistent system for company content syndication.  Similarly, as a world leader in medical product development, it comes as no surprise that the majority of this company's employees work on a manufacturing floor.  In an effort to unite employees, both globally and systemically to include their deskless workers, leaders longed for one central location where all employees could connect to the business and their teammates.  

As a result of their deskless operations combined with a dispersed and remote workforce, this leading enterprise quickly realized not only did they need one universal solution, but they also needed it to have mobile capabilities. Without some sort of mobile communication, these deskless and traveling workers alike would feel excluded and would oftentimes receive company updates later than intended.  It was becoming far too difficult to keep the entire company functioning as one with so many gaps in their system.  

The Solution

With the added support from AkuminaEXP to their already standing SharePoint site, this world-renowned manufacturing company is lightyears away from where they started, and are not done growing.  At the start of the project, this company had specific needs in mind - to unite their dispersed, remote, and deskless workforce and allow for company information to be accessible on-the-go.

With their new site, this company has been able to connect thousands of employees, regardless of whether they are sitting behind their desk, on a plane traveling for a work meeting, or standing behind machines all day.  As a global brand, they have been able to create sites for their employees in each region, with as their owner calls it, "corporate information with a local look and feel."  With roughly 25 content creators publishing information on a daily basis, employees are able to see news articles, company alerts, and even the daily lunch specials as it relates to their location.  

Their frontline workers are reaping the benefits of the new platform as well.  Not having designated office space for themselves, many deskless workers feel disconnected from the rest of their organization.  With the new AkuminaEXP, frontline workers are taking advantage of the mobile option.  This is a versatile tool that again relates to each employees' location and job function, as well as their personal preferences.  Some workers prefer to have a separate app for their work tools while others would rather integrate with their already standing Microsoft Teams platform; both of which were available as the Akumina software integrates with any Microsoft tech stack.  

Q&A with the solutions team

Q. How have you measured the success of your Employee Experience Platform?

A. "This is a family business and the owner starts the day with the intranet page every morning.  He sees it expanding into more of a news source.  We were publishing content twice a week and now he wants to see it daily.  Actually, we are even moving towards having multiple posts a day.  He sees it as a core piece of our culture and a core vehicle to deliver our culture.  If he is not happy, ultimately, it is not a success." - Business Analyst

Q. What did your company culture look like before compared to after the implementation of your platform?

A. "Inclusion has improved significantly with the mobile solutions allowing workers on the manufacturing floor to have the same access as those behind computers.  They are able to receive communications in a timely manner and no longer feel isolated from the rest of the company." - Enterprise Applications Manager, Digital Customer Experience, IT

"In the old intranet, you could see new hires but that was it.  Now, you can see new hires, promotions, and farewells.  This has been nice because we can interact with each other, congratulate coworkers on promotions, and send well-wishes for their next endeavors." - Business Analyst

Q. What are some fan-favorite features?

A. "The 'me bar' has everything you need for your day in one general location." - Business Analyst

"We have a section of the site called 'Exchange' where employees who are selling items and/or services can post their opportunities." - Enterprise Applications Manager, Digital Customer Experience, IT

"I love the personalization and being able to see articles related to my job and my location based on my own interests and not just what the company wants me to see." - Manager, IT