How One Organization Supports Culture with Internal Communications Platform

As rates and costs of employee turnover rise, company culture stands out as a key competitive advantage for retaining the best employees.

One organization, a repeat finalist for the Best Places to Work awards, understands how a great culture rewards both employees and company leadership. Last year, the organization adopted Bonfyre in a company-wide effort to bolster their already-great culture with an internal communications platform to keep employees informed, connected, and building the strong social bonds that drive employee engagement. The investment is paying off.

Since the Bonfyre ecosystem launch, only 4.77% of employees who left this organization, due to voluntary and involuntary turnover, were Bonfyre users. In other words, over 95% of employees who left the company were not on Bonfyre. According to a study from the CEB Corporate Leadership Council, retention is a key signifier of employee engagement. When employees feel engaged at work, they’re 87% less likely to leave the company when compared to disengaged colleagues.

Employees at this company aren’t just sticking around. They’re eager to engage with colleagues through the internal communications platform. Around 60% of active users participate in the Bonfyre ecosystem by liking or posting content. At the enterprise level, it’s all too common for digital communication tools to have low participation rates. A survey shows that company social intranets have only 13% active participation from users. Even well-known productivity tools have active participation rates as low as 1.2%.

Why is this organization’s Bonfyre participation rate so high? Because they give employees no shortage of options to engage with each other. Here’s a brief overview of their winning formula:

• Creative communication strategies: This organization understands that different people like to consume information in different ways. That’s why they made Bonfyre an extension of their comprehensive communications strategy, placing the platform alongside a robust intranet and employee publications that keep employees up to date on company news. They leverage the internal communications platform to broadcast company updates and house important employee resources so key information is always at users’ fingertips. But they also go a step beyond, using Bonfyre to support their other communications and vice versa. For example, the organization will use Bonfyre to supplement stories in the company newsletter, while the company newsletter will encourage participation on the platform.
• Building relationships to build better teams: The organization offers employees a diverse Bonfyre ecosystem. Users have a primary, flagship community to interact in that gathers employees across every team and region. Smaller, subculture communities help strengthen employee social relationships within departments and special interest groups. Breaking down geographic communication barriers is particularly important for these smaller groups. These sub-communities provide opportunities for employees who would not ordinarily interact to discover shared interests with colleagues underscored by the organization’s core values.
• Robust employee recognition: Our sense of achievement plays a big part in how employees feel about their work experience, which is why this organization uses Bonfyre for frequent and varied recognition practices. Leaders and peers alike are encouraged to recognize one another with real-time peer-to-peer recognition badges. The company has also designed unique initiatives to encourage employees to recognize colleagues through chat-feed based campaigns. Personal triumphs have a place alongside professional successes, as they celebrate everything from competitive ping pong performance to outstanding customer service.
• No moment goes unnoticed: Employees across all levels of the organization work to keep the company culture vibrant and engaging with events big and small, and celebrations both planned and spontaneous. From team outings and bake sales to charitable donations to National Donut Day festivities, if employees are coming together, it’s shared in the chat feed.

This organization’s success is proof that with a thoughtful approach, it’s possible to deliver unique employee experiences through workplace culture technology.