Studies show that companies that win in employee engagement, win in business too. So how are you engaging your employees?
In the first part of our interview series, Guy Van Neck, founder of microlearning platform MobieTrain, and Patrick van der Mijl, Co-Founder of employee communication tool Speakap, discuss why their partnership is driving the future of work and employee engagement.
Q: First thing’s first, what added value can the MobieTrain and Speakap integration give to companies? And why are you a perfect fit?
Guy: This is very exciting from a learning point of view. We already have formal learning and microlearning, but through this partnership we can also provide social learning. Put simply- how can you learn from your peers?
We can now combine personalised learning paths, while also providing peer to peer support through social channels. We have a news feed for direct employee interaction, and, vitally- two way communications to help empower and motivate employees. To help them feel heard and valued, rather than it being a one-way management to employee flow.
Patrick: Exactly. Two way communication is key to engagement. One of the most important things employees love about their jobs is their co-workers (and the relationships they have with them). Yet we’ve discovered in our latest research study, that:
‘While 93 percent of respondents said having a positive working relationship with their manager is either very important or important, 14 percent admitted that they don’t have a positive relationship with their direct/line manager.’
“Our partnership helps employees to get the best of both worlds.”
We can maximise their potential through more targeted, transparent communications, while simultaneously tapping into micro-learning segments to help them perform their jobs better, increase efficiency and work towards larger individual and team goals.
Q: We can see that there is a natural cohesion between employee comms and mobile L&D. So, why did you choose to integrate your platforms rather than build these features yourselves? What is the value in integration?
Patrick: Agility. Speed to market. And efficiency.
Product innovation and talent are always the biggest two challenges for any tech company. Without product innovation, we wouldn’t be able to grow and scale our business to be competitive in the marketplace.
So we made sure that Speakap has an open API to make it easy to fully integrate with existing software within organisations. MobieTrain has the learning expertise, we have the communications expertise, and we both have a successful client base. So, why spend years trying to build it ourselves, when we can partner and hit the market on both fronts?
Guy: Indeed. Social learning and communications has always been built into our product roadmap. We have spent the last years testing and defining our core micro-learning and knowledge retention capabilities. Now that this is bringing results for our clients, we are ready to combine with social learning. So, like Patrick says, why wait?
By integrating with Speakap, we are able to provide our clients with the full suite of learning tools to help maximise their L&D programs and results. We provide microlearning and mobile learning to ensure that employees have the knowledge that they can actually use to get results, and through Speakap’s communication features we ensure that this knowledge is now easily communicated and supported amongst peers and the company as a whole.
Q: Timing wise, is there a particular reason why you are partnering now? Can you see any changes in the business world that are driving both your platforms individually, and your collaboration?
Guy: One of the main drivers is the rise of deskless workers.
“There will be 1.45 billion deskless workers by 2022.”
Both of our platforms are geared towards this. The way that we do business is changing. And we both recognise that companies are struggling with engaging global, remote workforces who are not office-based. In-person trainings are no longer enough on their own. And the lack of face to face connection is also affecting communication and engagement.
Patrick: Non-desk workers are often the first and last points of interaction with customers, guests and patients. Our platform is predicated around helping companies improve employee communications and experience for non-desk workers. But this isn’t always an easy feat to accomplish.
We’ve seen first- hand in working with companies over the years, technology plays an integral role in delivering more relevant communications and providing employees with access with l&d content. The key is in finding the right technology.
Also, as more and more millennials and Gen Z employees hit the workforce, mobile is really the only way to deliver training and communications. And we can see this across all industries, although, both MobieTrain and Speakap have identified a particular gap in the market with retail- where customer experience and service is front of mind.
In part two of this series, Guy and Patrick shall discuss how their solutions are impacting the retail industry, which other industries are ripe for change, and the rising importance of customer experience.
For more information on how this integration can help you, contact Guy@mobietrain.com
