You’ve carried out your audit, clarified the criticality of internal communications, and identified the tools that are going to help you bridge the gaps in your employee experience – what now? If we had to guess, we’d say your next big hurdle is probably maintaining that initial buy-in from your executive team. 

Sound familiar?

We’re here to help! We have firsthand experience in keeping senior leadership teams engaged with our employee experience app. Read on to hear our tips. 

Why engage, you ask?

We have good news: there are many ways your executive team can maintain engagement with your EX platform. But first, it’s important to consider why they should. 

1. Owning the vision and strategy – Your EX platform is a key part of your company’s goals. Your executive team is likely the group that champions the vision and strategy, so they need to champion the moving parts that will help people achieve them, too.  
2. Leading by example – If you’re hoping every employee will engage with your EX app, they need to see their leaders setting the standard. 
3. True transparency and openness – An open comms model needs your executive team present. If they’re not accessible to staff, people might view that as a lack of transparency and, as a result, stop engaging. 
4. Authenticity and connection – Engaging with team members’ activities on the app is an unrivaled way for executives to demonstrate their authenticity and forge more meaningful, lasting connections with coworkers. 
5. Alignment of goals, values, and mission – Linking updates – whether they’re posts, videos, podcasts, or something else – to company values on the platform keeps the common goal crystal clear. 

When it comes to employee engagement, some say that it’s crucial for CEOs to act as leaders, not managers. With that in mind, how should a CEO or other senior executives use Workvivo?

It’s important that they communicate their vision, clarify change, share updates on the company’s progress toward goals, celebrate successes and recognize colleagues, champion values, and have two-way conversations with employees. 

Getting your executive team engaged

To keep your executive team engaged with your employee experience app, you need to make the case that its benefits work both ways. Not only does a great employee experience positively impact company culture and overall business performance – it’s a reflection of a leader’s management style and impacts things like employee retention, referrals, and recruitment. 

More than ever, social media has pushed CEOs to become publicly recognized figures. Giving them a platform through which they can easily share communications, take part in interviews, and even earn positive Glassdoor ratings means they can build their external profile at the same time as their internal one. 

And what people want from leaders has changed, too; authenticity, vulnerability, sincerity, and empathy are all top of mind for workers. Workvivo encourages interactions that touch each one, so it’s a no-brainer for leaders to engage with it consistently. 

Top things to try

What can that engagement look like? Many of our customers have senior leadership colleagues who champion Workvivo. Woodies’ former CEO, Declan Ronayne, for example, published a weekly blog on the platform during his time at the company. 

Being able to measure engagement with his blogs was a game-changer, he told us; he could see that their publication triggered the busiest times on Workvivo with over 1,000 colleagues logging on. 

He said, “I know I have a direct line of communication to 1,400 people, and I can use that to steer certain directions within the organization.”

CluneTech runs a video series called ‘Meet the CEO’, which has even become part of the company’s onboarding materials. This is just one of the ways Workvivo has helped 91% of new joiners at Clunetech feel welcome. 

Feeling inspired? Here are some (low-effort!) suggestions for ways executives can impact how your wider company uses and engages with your employee experience platform. 

• Publish weekly or monthly blogs or bulletins

These can be themed (company values, for example), news updates, messages of recognition for recent achievements… the list goes on!

• Record in-house podcasts with Q&A segments

Again, these can follow particular themes or take a formal or informal approach. Some executives might want to invite colleagues from across the company to join them for episodes, while others might simply use the podcast as another way to share news and updates. 

• Hold a CEO ‘Ask Me Anything’ live-stream session 

Or simply post an article containing their answers to questions collected in advance. An executive who uses their EX platform to embrace questions rather than shy away from them will make a lasting impression. 

• Use the ‘Power of 5’

Executives can put aside just five minutes per day to spend scrolling, liking, and commenting on posts from people across the organization.

• Set ‘Challenges’ 

These can be tailored to whatever frequency suits an executive’s schedule, such as every fortnight or month. One example is the 3-2-1 challenge (commit to three likes, two comments, and one post in the specified timeframe).

• Share personal, humanized posts 

Popular topics we’ve come across include ‘How I spend my weekends’ and ‘What I’m reading right now’.

• Build confidence

If you want your executive team to engage with Workvivo, they need to be comfortable using it. Take them on a mobile app walkthrough, for example – use a white glove approach with their Exec Assistant, or the People or Comms Team.

• Encourage them to delegate

If they are time-poor, encourage them to seek support in reviewing colleague activity and identifying the posts they should comment on and engage with. They can even consider setting up delegate access for others to post on their behalf!