What’s the most important operational aspect when it comes to managing your frontline workers? Effective ways to connect them––to their peers and to the rest of the company.
We sat down with Luca Turina, one of our current Customer Success Managers here at Beekeeper, about the importance of an open and innovative company culture. The twist? Luca was actually once a Beekeeper customer before joining our Zurich office!
Having implemented Beekeeper’s mobile app himself as a Project Specialist for Swiss retailer MediaMarkt, Luca knows first-hand how vital employee communication is to improving company culture, and how HR tools facilitate business success.
Coming from an HR background in your former role, what led you to consider adopting an internal communication tool? Were there some key events or trends that you noticed in the workplace that drove your search?
In my former role, I was working for MediaMarkt, the biggest electronics retailer in Switzerland and in Europe. I read about Beekeeper in the newspaper and I thought it would be a perfect solution because I had just rolled out an employee engagement campaign. However, there was no proper way to communicate this to our frontline workers at all 30 stores.
I had to travel around for about a month to all of the stores to promote this campaign in person. I knew there had to be a better way to facilitate employee communication with our frontline workers who are on the shop floor and communicating with customers.
What were some of the main criteria that you and your colleagues used to assess employee communication solutions?
Things were looking a bit down in the retail industry; it’s been totally shaken up by e-commerce. I was initially impressed by how low-touch a mobile app was, and that was a priority for me in looking at HR tools. In fact, I did most of the rollout myself.
How does your work now inform how you think about the role of HR in facilitating a thriving company culture and employee engagement?
My experience in HR helped me a great deal when I joined Beekeeper. Onboarding was quick because I already knew, and loved, the product. You see things differently as a Customer Success Manager.
Building trust is the first step, so customers feel confident that I can lead them in the right direction. I always tell customers the story of my own journey to implementing a mobile app to improve employee communication and company culture because I really do know how they feel since I’ve been in their shoes.
What’s one of the most impactful ways you see today’s digital operational tools benefitting HR professionals working in non-desk industries?
At MediaMarkt, we had a 70% activation rate after two to three months. Our frontline workers were really engaged with Beekeeper, and especially loved to share best practices via the mobile app. I think HR tools can alleviate a lot of pain points for the HR world in terms of automating some of the most time-consuming process such as payroll or onboarding.
It’s common when thinking about introducing new technology for management to consider employee feedback and criticism. HR teams may get pushback in terms of content moderation and control, but I think once leadership sees the benefits of two-way communication with their employees––and how many more initiatives and innovation is going on from employees––the case for a mobile app is crystal clear.
What was the catalyst to make the move to join the ranks of Beekeeper as an employee?
Given how successful the mobile app rollout was at MediaMarkt, I was asked to talk about my experience deploying Beekeeper at events. I realized how much I could help other HR leaders with my experience.
What has been the biggest area of growth since you joined Beekeeper as an employee? Where are you most excited to see the product go?
It is always something different! We’re always adapting and pushing out new features. It’s been an incredible journey to see the product grow and mature as a customer first and now as an employee.
What’s the #1 way you think digital tools can best support non-desk workers in today’s work environment?
HR tools like Beekeeper give employees a voice, connecting employees to each other across locations, and to get that ‘we’ feeling going. This is crucial to identifying with your employer, feeling invested in your job, and to leading happier work lives in general.
Curious about how to get leadership on board for adopting a mobile employee communication solution? Download our eBook, “5 Steps to Get Executive Buy-In for an Employee App.”
