How Workvivo Keeps Valaris’ Offshore Workers Informed and Connected
Transforming internal comms and employee engagement at the world’s largest offshore drilling contractor
73%
Of employees registered
66%
Of employees active every month
75%
Of onshore workers with active accounts
Valaris was created by the combination of two leading offshore drillers with decades of experience and knowledge to create the most capable, effective and highest performing offshore drilling service company in the world.
With its Corporate office in Houston, Texas, offices in most of the countries they operate and their assets spread across six continents, their 5,000+ workforce is diverse. Along with their purpose to provide responsible solutions that deliver energy to the world and their commitment to uphold their values of integrity, safety, excellence, respect, ingenuity, and stewardship, its 3,800+ employees are committed to shaping a bold future.
To rally its employees around such an ambitious goal, Valaris implemented an employee experience and internal communications app to bring them together.
People
5,500+
Industry
Offshore Drilling
Location
Global (HQ in US)
Category
Enterprise
I really feel that Workvivo is a true partner to Valaris.
Tina Welsh
Director for Internal Communications and Organizational Health
Workvivo and Valaris: A new beginning
Before partnering with Workvivo, Valaris employees were using a suite of different sites and apps to do their jobs. Executives were concerned that Workvivo would be yet another addition to their sprawling tech stack and were cautious about adopting an open comms model they thought might open the company up to potentially negative posts.
Working closely with Tina and her Communications Team, Workvivo has streamlined Valaris’ tech stack and transformed its employee engagement.
Prior to Workvivo, Valaris was using an in-house built intranet that required one full-time administrator to maintain it. Despite this IT effort, and the Communications Team’s continuous task of updating and issuing new comms, they could only reach a small percentage of employees via the intranet. A number of other communications channels were used to reach the greater employee population with only politemail as a measure as to how well the communications were received. They needed a better solution.
Since its launch, the company’s Director for Internal Communications and Organizational Health, Tina Welsh, shares, “I am happy to say that these concerns have been alleviated. We closed down our old intranet site (Drillzone) in August 2022 that hosted 25 years' worth of information, transitioned all of our support functions to SharePoint, moved all of our applications into My Apps and provided employees with Workvivo as a portal hosting all the information employees needed to be informed, connected and engaged with the organization.”
How are Valaris’ employees embracing Workvivo? 73% have registered on the platform, 66% are active on it every month, and 49% of its offshore workforce have activated their accounts, which Tina tells us is “a massive amount”.
79% of our onshore workforce have activated their accounts. We have only had one reported post which was a very minor event and was quickly resolved. This is a massive achievement for us and would not have been possible without the support of the Workvivo team.
Staying informed across continents
Valaris’ employees are based across Angola, Brazil, Norway, Scotland, UAE, and the US. Given the nature of their work, a lot of those employees don’t have a work email and there are only six or seven desktops available at each rig. Valaris was seeking an easy, social solution that would transform two key elements: how Valaris workers access company information and how they connect to each other.
With Workvivo, every single employee at Valaris has access to one platform housing a specific section dedicated to links and third-party integrations. This means that instead of having to jump back and forth between different sites, they can get to wherever they need seamlessly.
Information at the company – whether it’s new health and safety guidelines or award announcements – is kept together in one place. Despite Valaris’ offshore employees being stationed on rigs in the middle of the ocean, no important updates or messaging slip through the cracks.
Tina and her colleagues have also been making the most of Workvivo’s Podcasts feature. The company’s comms team launched the Valaris Podcast to feature news and views from leadership, company info, and news about its operations and performance.
Its description says, “As an audio-only channel, access by rig-based employees should provide a better opportunity to hear from leaders around the organization.” Even if they don’t have a company email or desktop, every employee can tune into the podcast at any time.
Workvivo features loved by Valaris
To help inspire its employees to work together for a bold future, Valaris is using a variety of features on Workvivo.
Workvivo features loved by Valaris
To help inspire its employees to work together for a bold future, Valaris is using a variety of features on Workvivo.
Impact on customer satisfaction
Informed and connected teams make all the difference for a company, particularly when the majority of staff are out in the field. And for Valaris, Workvivo has helped maintain its high customer service standards.
Last year, Valaris was voted the number-one offshore driller in EnergyPoint Research’s 2022 customer satisfaction survey. In response, the company’s President and CEO, Anton Dibowitz, said, “This award is a testament to the exceptional work that our dedicated offshore crews and onshore support teams perform in partnership with our customers.”
Workvivo: ‘A true partner to Valaris’
How has Valaris found partnering with Workvivo to bring its internal comms and employee experience to new heights?
Tina says, “Workvivo has taken onboard all of our suggestions for improvements to the employee experience and worked closely with us to achieve our end goal, which was to have our employees use Workvivo as their portal to all other applications they need to access.
I really feel that Workvivo is a true partner to Valaris.
