The last five years have seen a drastic reshaping of the modern workplace. Employees at all levels now increasingly operate across time-zones, continents, or even work from their garden shed.
With this new landscape came a wave of new technology. From face-to-face meetings and emails our workplace now involves using a rising kaleidoscope of tools: Slack, Teams, email, intranets, LinkedIn…and a surge in stress. In fact, 56% of UK employees find workplace technology stressful.
The consequence? Confusing communication, a fragmented employee experience.
Platform overload
Communication is essential – but it shouldn’t be cumbersome.
Employees now must juggle an overwhelming number of platforms daily, often with little alignment, creating a distinct lack of clarity. Some repercussions include:
- Disconnection and confusion: unclear core organisational structures and processes
- Missed messages: gaps in communication due to siloed systems
- Collaboration friction and/or isolation: employees feel unheard or out of sync
- Burnout: frustration and time wasted from constantly switching between platforms
- Inaccessible information: difficulty accessing key resources
All these cracks in communication cause headaches across an organisation.
From fragmentation to revenue ramifications
This fragmentation doesn’t just impact employee experience but also performance.
45% of workers find that hopping between digital tools hampers productivity.
With fragmented communication systems there is a domino effect, employees become disengaged, often leading to a loss of a sense of purpose and identity for an individual within an organisation. When people feel disconnected, company culture and output both suffer.
Effective communication shouldn’t feel like a tsunami of information
It should feel collaborative, intuitive, and have a distinct sense of direction. Clarity around communication tools can empower people to confidently reach out beyond their immediate team and reinforce a cohesive, shared culture. Providing this environment to employees will boost engagement, reduce stress and nurture a healthy creative workplace.
This requires a holistic, cross-departmental collaboration on the tools and systems employees use every day. Don’t let your workforce become fragmented – unite it.
