Internal social networking is the name of the game at Big Blue Bubble

Big Blue Bubble is a pioneer in the gaming industry having developed more than 100 video game titles since 2004 – long before the days of the smartphone. This has led to accolades from many prestigious organizations around the world who have recognized the company for its continued achievements and commitment to producing fun, engaging games.

Challenges as a result of significant and rapid growth

However, as the company’s success grew, so did the size of the team. This led to challenges related to managing key HR functions, as well as internal communications since the team had to spread out over two floors due to limited physical space. The HR group knew that it was not only critical to find a platform to streamline the department’s key functions, but also to find a solution that would open the door to enhanced internal communication, engagement and participation.

Internal social media strengthens employee confidence, commitment and engagement

According to Morneau Shepell’s 35th annual Trends in Human Resources survey, published in September 2017, 65% of the Human Resources leaders from 370 Canadian organizations surveyed identified improving employee engagement as their top area of interest. And many of them, like Big Blue Bubble, are turning to internal social media (ISM) to drive that connectivity internally.

APCO Worldwide suggests that using social media tools to communicate with employees is an important element in building and empowering engaged employees. Their research specifically shows that 42% of employees surveyed felt that quality of content is the most important aspect of ISM while 37% prioritized engagement and dialogue.

Company-wide interaction now the norm

Those are the same aspects Big Blue Bubble focused on when selecting the right ISM solution for their business – Namely, an all-encompassing cloud-based HR platform with a strong internal social networking function. Above and beyond the ability to streamline performance reviews, peer feedback, report generation and analytics for the HR team, the platform also offers a multi-faceted news feed that opened the door to true two-way conversation to the benefit of everyone across the organization.

Investing in an internal social networking platform gives companies more privacy — hppy.com

Previously, Big Blue Bubble was limited to communication with employees through traditional email, so Namely’s interactive capacity was very compelling and quickly adopted by many of the employees in this tech-savvy team. The platform includes a profile for each employee and gives them the ability to like and comment freely on posts from leaders across the company. Likewise, the company openly shares business updates, photos, product launch news, upcoming event and birthday information, highlights who’s out of the office on any given day, introduces new employees and interns, and even promotes employees’ participation in extracurricular activities to encourage fellow employee support. The breadth of the capabilities has expanded since Namely was launched two years ago and will continue to do so as the company evolves.

While ISM accounts for a significant amount of activity related to driving employee engagement, it is part of a broader strategy that still includes traditional tactics such as town halls and special company meetings for major announcements.

Lessons for Others

Big Blue Bubble is a strong example of how ISM can drive engagement and awareness within a growing company by:

• Encouraging feedback from employees
• Providing the opportunity for employees to interact with each other
• Offering a hub that serves as an important source of information and conversation
• Sharing quality and relevant content
• Ensuring a high level of participation by the leadership team
• Using it as a tool to support fellow colleagues participating in activities outside of the workplace

If you have concerns as to the accuracy of anything posted on this site, please send your concerns to Peter Carr, Program Director, Social Media for Business Performance.

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