Meet Two Bright Minds: Profiling two outstanding approaches in our network
Profiling some of the brightest minds in 2018:
Two outstanding approaches to connecting coworkers and their ideas inside the organisation
Here are two members of the ConnectMinds network who are pushing the envelope through challenging the conventions and boundaries typical of their field, pioneering new approaches to employee communications and the wider employee experience - and their roles and remits are evolving in exciting ways as a result.
Jennifer Ballantyne, Loblaw Companies Limited, Canada
Jennifer is Senior Manager, Internal Communications at Loblaw Companies Limited; Canada's largest retail group employing some 200.000 people. A hard comms challenge in most companies with many non-desk based / blue collar workers is how to include them in the internal comms loop with their often restricted access to email, channels and devices. Jennifer and her team are rolling out impressive mobile solutions to pretty much every coworker across the group.
Mobile solutions for enterprises is nothing new, but the level of complexity in getting it right at this scale is mind boggling and many organisations don't manage to move beyond serving up corporate news. Loblaw coworkers can access payslips and schedules, check inventory, access live real-time support and share important updates. It has taken a huge amount of user research, listening, testing etc. The intention is that this will also be a vehicle for strengthening the already enviable company culture - and knowing the team behind, we have no doubt it will.
Hanna Rehnström, TetraPak, Sweden
Hanna has continually promoted the importance of providing good employee tools and effective employee comms in the various posts she has held.
She has generously shared her experiences and achievements at conferences, contributed to publications and shared her ideas for the future - sometimes in their early, sketchy stages to get constructive feedback in the ConnectMinds Collaboration Nordic group.
The work of Hanna's team has won awards and Hanna has skilfully leveraged the hard-earned success and attention when arguing the case for moving employee comms and experience up the agenda. Hanna recently changed her title from "Global Communications Manager" to "Global Service Delivery Manager - Digital Workplace & Digital Employee Experience". This marks a clear change in focus: the emphasis is now on delivering services and improved employee experiences to the business; communications is just one piece in this puzzle. Hanna's team has expanded from 4 to 20(!) - a "hybrid team" including profiles from both IT and the business.
We look forward to following the inspirational efforts of Hanna, Jennifer and their respective teams.