Vodafone Renews Its Relationship With Workplace To Build Bridges In a Hybrid World

While many firms battled to keep their employees connected during one of the most turbulent periods in recent history, Vodafone had a secret weapon that allowed it to prosper in the face of adversity.

Vodafone’s global workforce remained connected and engaged as a result of the company’s deployment of Workplace in 2019. It also saw an increase in employee-led projects, campaigns, and communities as workers banded together.

Making it easy to connect people

According to Vodafone CTO Johan Wibergh, “nurturing what was built during that extraordinary time” is still front of mind for 2021 and beyond. “Workplace is used by more than 90,000 of our colleagues around the world to stay in touch. The workplace has become an amazing central resource for us to communicate with one another, host live events, share information, and cooperate on initiatives to support our clients, with many of them working remotely.

“Above all, it is natural and approachable, allowing our workers to feel like they are a part of a welcoming community.”

Vodafone has undoubtedly made the most of engagement and community-building features like Live video and Groups in the last 18 months. As a result, its global workforce has been able to have two-way conversations with leadership while also assisting executives in communicating more transparently across the firm.

Building bridges

According to Patrick Yiu, Vodafone’s Social Media and Channels Lead, this sense of community and connection has had a huge impact on staff keep engaged during the pandemic.

The workplace has helped a large number of employees feel closer to one another than they have in the past, despite the physical barrier that has kept them away. The workplace has been a game-changer for Vodafone during a time when people couldn’t meet in person.

“Under the banner of ‘Stay Linked with Nick,’ we launched a series of activities,” says Yiu of the company’s attempts to keep its employees connected. “We have regular sessions and chats with our CEO, as well as other Vodafone employees and executives, about all aspects of the business.”

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Employees can also use the Workplace to remark and ask questions during these interactive seminars. Vodafone hadn’t before taken use of that level of direct access for any global employee.

Inspiring a common purpose

Vodafone also makes extensive use of the Workplace to assist employees with their mental wellness. The workplace was used to promote participation in pulse surveys that gauged employee emotion, in addition, to live events timed to coincide with Mental Health Awareness Week.

Vodafone used the platform to ask users how they felt about working from home and if they had enough mental health and general wellbeing support. The results of the survey were then turned into easy-to-understand visualizations and displayed on Workplace to give users a genuine sense of what their coworkers were saying and experiencing.

Bringing attention to Vodafone’s efforts with charity and good causes also helped to boost morale throughout the company throughout the pandemic.

Every day, Vodafone connects critical services such as hospitals and schools. Vodafone used Workplace to instil pride in its employees by spotlighting minority voices from the Black Professional Network and LGBTQ+ communities, as well as its work supporting communities on issues like domestic violence and disaster relief and assistance in countries affected by natural disasters.

Adopting a ‘future-ready approach

After eighteen months, Vodafone is considering a “future-ready” approach to how, where, and when employees work. The workplace is poised to play a key role in that approach, whatever form it takes. They intend to use Live video in particular to broadcast events that can engage employees in both physical and virtual contexts. People can stay linked wherever they work by doing so.

Vodafone also intends to develop a series of virtual office tours using video. Employees can get a sense of what it’s like to return to work after a long absence by recording a series of walkthroughs at various workplaces and sharing them in relevant Workplace Groups. What has changed at the front desk? What are the new safety precautions? People can also post queries and additional information in the comments section for everyone to see.

Whatever the future holds for Vodafone, the company’s mission remains the same: to build a thriving global workforce that is informed, engaged, and connected. And we’re looking forward to seeing how Workplace can assist in this endeavour.

“Vodafone is a firm that lives and breathes its future-ready concept,” stated Julien Codorniou, VP, Workplace. Vodafone has maintained community amid the epidemic while preparing for a new future of work by connecting its employees around the world via Workplace. Through this renewal, we’re looking forward to continuing to energize Vodafone’s community.

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