427 days without a lost-time accident in the production
This message written on a screen reminds me of a visit that I did in the beginning of 21st century to production facility in Germany. At that time, they still had beer tap in the lunch canteen which made me to think that 427 days without accidents is indeed a good result. At that time, I was also pretty much unaware of digital signage solutions – to me they looked like TV-screens on the wall.
Today we live in a vastly different world.
When earlier the safety data was fed to the screens manually – or this is what I expect as gathering the factory-wide safety data automatically would have been somewhat advanced, today pretty much any content can be automatically timed for a digital display as long as the content can first be fetched from a data source through an API.
And the need for internal communications has for sure not been reduced – vice versa. When strategic messages, strong corporate culture and open employee communications are at the heart of operations, they will also need proper channels – and one of them is Digital Signage.
The beauty of Digital Signage is in the fact that the content can be customized locally or even inside one office or production facility – depending on how people move around during working hours. On the screens you can offer content for from your Business Intelligence system or social media feeds or anything between these two. My own experience is that it is easier to get your message through via digital displays than via intranet assuming that the displays have been strategically placed inside your office or production facility.
When discussing about investing in Digital Signage I often get the question of payback time. This is why I have been actively thinking about what is the value of committed employees, or their wellbeing and safety? How do you measure the ROI of your Digital Signage solution for internal communications?
Research shows that open and transparent employee communications strengthens the company culture and deepens the understanding of core strategic messages. If calculating hard conversion rate feels difficult, it is worthwhile to consider flexible leasing option and simply just enjoy the results in the long run.
Companies put more and more effort to employee wellbeing. This is why I expect to see more internal communications plans where digital signage solutions play a strategic role thanks to their adaptability, accessibility and versatility.
Annukka Pokki
The writer works as a Commercial Director at ZetaDisplay Finland