central business hub
Are you set up to boost yours?
These days, the office is more than a space. It’s a state of mind. Remote working, hybrid working, virtual meetings – they’re all here to stay. And that means managing, maintaining and motivating a workforce is more challenging than ever before. But that challenge needs to be tackled: the new world of work means it’s no longer just an HR issue: it’s a business-critical issue. Over one in two (55%) global workers report to feeling lonely on a weekly basis, according to CNBC research. Not surprisingly, the ripple effects of our more isolated workplace culture are being seen in a rising number of resignations. And so having an online employee engagement point, a Central Business Hub, is more important than ever before. How do they help? And, what do they do?
Workers' loneliness is having a business impact
New research from Acas found that 49% of UK employers expect an increase in staff working from home or remotely. Although there are undoubted lifestyle benefits of more flexible, virtual working patterns, the downside is that employees are feeling lonelier and more pressured. A survey by Promoleaf revealed that 46% of employees felt there was a lack of support from their employers and 45% felt overworked. Meanwhile, 55% of employers say they expect employee turnover to increase, according to Workplace Intelligence.
Ultimately, a high staff turnover means low customer satisfaction, which means a lower business turnover.
So, what’s the answer?
'A healthy organisation' is the new desk and chair
Before the pandemic, employee wellbeing initiatives were mostly focused on physical health management. This has now shifted to a more holistic focus on the mental health of the entire organisation. Pegged by management experts as the ‘Healthy Organisation’, the new, enterprise-wide approach to employee wellbeing is based around empowering physical, mental, social and financial health.
And there’s a big commercial kickback. Those companies focussed on organisational wellbeing tend to deliver 2.2 times higher financial returns and are 3.2 times more likely to have engaged employees, according to a global HR survey. Meanwhile, the Harvard Business Review reported that a high sense of employee engagement leads to a 56% increase in job performance and a 50% drop in turnover.
Leading companies are getting on board. An increase in wellness perks, discounts and benefits are becoming the norm. But employees don’t necessarily want grand, once-in-a-while gestures. Consistent, ongoing connectivity tools and initiatives are more valuable. A recent Microsoft report points to the fact although workers want more hybrid working options, 65% are just craving more connection time with their team.
How a central business hub is the answer
Also referred to as an ‘Intranet’, a Central Business Hub is an internal-facing web platform used by organisations as a focal point for online communication. As a channel for employees to come and engage with each other, find important information and receive updates from management, a well-built Hub can power business performance and productivity.
- It drives employee connectivity: dynamic home pages can feature customisable content such as latest work, wellbeing and social news, CEO blogs, company/ team notice boards, forums and quick links to key organisational information.
- It reinforces company values: the Hub can be designed around the company’s brand identity, to promote a sense of belonging and workplace culture even among virtual employees.
- It centralises and consolidates access to critical business information: employees can easily put their finger on the policies and processes that power their business life, from HR, Health & Safety, Data Security, IT, as well as departmental-related information.
- It provides effective communication and collaboration tools: housing shared documents in one space for teams to work on and sign off improves efficiency – as does added functionality such as a Document Library with advance search capabilities.
A well-built Central Business Hub should also be a constantly evolving, secure, scalable platform that’s easy to integrate into the rest of a company’s IT stack.
At Reuben Digital, we’ve seen first-hand the cultural and organisational impact that an optimised Central Business Hub can have. Take our work with the Advance Housing & Support charity as an example. To further improve the charity’s internal processes, we designed and built a new Hub with a raft of functionality such as:
- A bespoke design to reflect their companies brand
- Dynamic Homepage
- Staff Directories
- Document Library with advance search capabilities
- Change Management and document sign-off capabilities
- Simple to use Content Management Tools
- Secure, scalable and robust
The platform has become Advance Housing & Support’s beating heart, connecting its nationwide teams and providing a central place online for everyone to communicate and access key information.
If you’re considering how you can increase long-term employee well-being and retention, we’d love to speak to you. By focusing on developing innovative technical solutions, we enable more opportunities for revenue growth.
Get in touch and find out how Reuben Digital can revolutionise your business.
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