SMS: the secret ingredient for happy workplaces

SMS: the secret ingredient for happy workplaces

SMS isn’t just for reaching your customers. It’s a great way to quickly and effectively communicate with your employees too, helping you cut down on unnecessary meetings, trim down your email threads, and build a more agile team.

Why you need SMS in your office

Office workers receive an average of 121 emails a day, which can become overwhelming and distracting. On the other hand, 70% of professionals say they’d like to use texting for inter-office communication.

Mobile phones were once banished in the office, with employees being asked to put away their phones during work hours. Today, personal devices have become an integral part of people’s work lives, and plenty of professionals even have a designated work phone.

By capitalising on this movement, you can cut through the noise and convey important messages directly to your employees’ handheld devices.

6 ways your workplace can use SMS

1. Workplace updates

When it comes to important updates, it’s smart to notify employees through a few different platforms. This ensures no one misses the memo, whether it’s about altered opening hours or policy changes. You can even set up specific keywords that employees can text to address FAQs.

2. Safety and security alerts

SMS alerts can be sent to notify employees of any urgent matters like accidents at a worksite, security issues, or server outages. The fast delivery and high open rate of text messages help to keep your employees safe and on top of matters.

3. Employee feedback

Employees who feel listened to are 4.6 times more likely to perform at their best. SMS can be used to solicit employee feedback through simple text-to-vote surveys. This simplicity will also encourage more employees to participate, giving you a better picture of employee satisfaction.

4. Scheduling

SMS can be a simple and effective way of managing a roster of shift workers, helping you manage staff shortages. If someone calls in sick, send a text message to your group of employees to see if anyone can help cover.

5. Accounting

Your accounting team already has a lot on their plates. Make their jobs a little simpler by using SMS to send and receive invoices, as well as automate employee timesheet approvals and overtime requests.

6. Remote workforce

SMS isn’t just handy for your in-house team. It can also be used to connect with your remote workers, checking in to see how they’re going and quickly receiving status updates through a tool like Burst SMS’s Quick SMS Launcher.

Why it’s worth using an SMS platform

Texting employees from your personal smartphone can quickly become an HR nightmare. Instead, we recommend using an ISO 27001 certified SMS platform to ensure everything is done by the book.

As well as giving you a secure, permanent record of all your correspondence, an SMS platform also allows you to:

  • Create segmented lists by department or team, thereby being able to send messages to a single employee, a whole team, or even the entire company
  • Personalise your messages by including employee names, department names, birthdays, and more
  • Track links to see who clicked (and didn’t click) on the links you’ve sent out to the team. You can then automate a follow-up message to prompt those who didn’t click on the link initially
  • Send PDFs and rich media within your texts
  • Use unique keywords that employees can text to be added to a dedicated list. This could be for events, special interest newsletters, or specific projects

When you do deploy SMS communication throughout the office, make sure you:

  • Respect your employees’ time and don’t send too many texts or unimportant information
  • Avoid sending texts after work hours
  • Keep your text messages professional by following tried-and-tested SMS templates

With everyone already having a smartphone lodged in their back pocket, SMS makes for the perfect pre-configured employee communication tool.

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