One challenge that many of our AMG Alerts customers face is the spotty availability of some of the more valuable contact information for non-office employees, usually defined as those who don’t have company-provided emails. With email, the rollout of an employee alert system is truly a piece of cake because you can include signup links. Even if an administrator wants to use another method to populate the alert system database, their HRIS data often contains more contact information (i.e. mobile versus home landlines, personal emails) for office employees than those on the plant floor.
We do see companies give up on the idea of 100% inclusion. They use the alert system to get to a certain level and then rely on front-line management for “last mile” communication. Obviously this compromises effectiveness.
Statistics show that the vast majority of employees, at any level, do have access to email. Granted, in some cases, use may be spotty, but if they are aware of the purpose of the data collection campaign, they will provide it make a special effort to monitor it during the system rollout. Of course while the are providing that, they can provide the other data for use in the alert system, assuming the administrator plans centralized entry of all the data.
One creative thing that some customers have done is provide centralized “kiosks” so that employees can access our portal(s) to enter their information. These are simply web-enabled desktops located in strategic places such as lunchrooms and other common areas. Employees can, over the course of several days, enter in all the necessary data including their preferences. A “campaign” such as this also highlights the importance of the system, which is another major benefit.