Learning from NatWest: How to engage your people properly on internal channels

14 Nov 2024, posted in Blogs

NatWest has taken a bold step by banning the use of WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Skype on company devices – a move to curb “off-channel” communication. This trend, where colleagues rely on unofficial platforms, is a growing challenge for businesses everywhere.

When communication happens outside approved channels, it becomes harder to access key information, leading to wasted time and frustration. Worse still, crucial conversations and documents risk being lost entirely.

Your colleague engagement platform needs to do more than just exist – it should actively engage and empower your team. By providing everything they need in one place, you eliminate the need for alternative tools.

Here are four must-have features for a platform that truly works:

Private messaging capabilities

Private messaging is at the heart of why we all love platforms like WhatsApp: it’s quick, easy, and gets us in touch with the people we need – whether that’s one person or a group chat. If your colleague engagement platform doesn’t provide that same convenience, it’s no surprise when colleagues turn elsewhere.

But when your platform offers built-in messaging and video calls for both one-to-one and group communication, you create a seamless way for people to collaborate and stay in the loop without leaving the platform. It’s a real game-changer for busy teams, and for those who chat more often, private messaging becomes the quickest, simplest channel for keeping the momentum going.

Social networking

Social networking is foundation of why teams love using apps like WhatsApp and Facebook—they make it quick and easy to connect, but they’re also fun. If your people can’t have those light-hearted, social moments on your own internal channels, they’ll look for them elsewhere.

By offering a colleague platform with social networking features, you bring that sense of community under one roof. Colleagues can chat on posts, like and comment, and even connect with team members they might not normally interact with. That’s how you spark fresh conversations, deepen relationships, and open doors to new ways of collaborating.

Everything in one place

One of the main reasons for platform-hopping is to access important information or conversational threads that are scattered across several channels. Not only does this sap valuable time and productivity, but it can also pose serious security risks.

By giving your people everything they need in one place, you remove the urge to use outside tools. In other words, your colleague platform should serve as a central hub, providing easy access to frequently used tools, documents, and contacts. With everything securely housed within your own platform, your teams can get to the information they need quickly whilst keeping confidential information safe.

Make your platform engaging

Just because a colleague platform is for work doesn’t mean it can’t look great. In fact, your people are used to sleek, consumer-grade technology everywhere else, so why settle for anything less in your business?

Your platform should be visually appealing, easy to navigate, and fully customisable, so you can tailor it to your team’s unique style. Think bright colours, flexible content types like text, images, and videos, and consistent branding that aligns with your business identity.

It’s a simple but powerful way to keep everyone excited about logging in, while reinforcing that your platform is the go-to hub for all things work-related.