Communication is essential, both on the field and in the workplace. With the football season officially kicking off this week, let’s talk about communication and how it impacts all types of organizations. Today we’re highlighting two UKG Ready® features that can take your communication strategy “all the way.” The best part? These features are included in your system, and all you need to do is add them to your playbook!
The Huddle: Announcements
Get the word out to your employees with the best communication tool – Announcements. This feature gives administrators the ability to provide timely updates and reminders to employees directly from the solution. As an admin, you can leverage Announcements by navigating to Settings > Our Company > Announcements. Open Enrollment coming up soon? Consider leveraging Announcements to remind everyone to be prepared. You can also save Announcements templates and use them year after year.
Using the Announcements feature is easy. You’ll need a title for the announcement and body copy. Then, simply put in the information you want to communicate, set the dates you want the announcement to remain active for, and select which employees should receive it. Want to include a photo or video? Your UKG Ready solution has the functionality to support that too!
Employees can view the announcement in two different ways: As a pop-up message when they log into the system or on their dashboard.. The pop-up option needs to be activated when creating the announcement. Admins can turn on this setting by checking the Show as pop up on login box or as a widget on their Dashboard.
Example of the Announcements Widget on an Employee Dashboard
For more information on the Announcements make sure to check out the Our Company Menu section of the Global Setup User Guide under Menu > Help > Online Documentation> Cross Product User Guides> Global Setup> The Our Company Menu.
The Action Pass: Broadcast Messenger
Our team has been hard at work refining the broadcast messenger functionality to ensure it fits your organization’s needs. The broadcast messenger provides a quick way to send all types of communication to your employees on a mass scale. Sending these communications is easy. Click the “Communicate” button on the top right corner of any given screen in the system and you’re on your way to creating and sending your message.
As a UKG Ready admin, you can create various types of communication templates to use at any given time. And, while you can give your employees access to create broadcast messages of their own, as an admin you can control who has access to create and send these messages via Security Profiles.
An example of the broadcast Communicate button in your solution
For more information on the Broadcast Communicator make sure to check out the Broadcast Messenger section of the Global Setup User Guide under Menu > Help > Online Documentation > Cross Product User Guides> Global Setup > Broadcast Messaging Templates.
Bonus Play – The Extra Point: SMS Messaging
SMS messaging is the perfect bonus play to use at your organization. And, while SMS messaging isn’t included in the system for free, it is a marketplace item available through our UKG partner Twilio. Adding SMS messaging to your organization’s communication strategy can allow you to easily communicate with your employees.
Having employees opt in to receive SMS messages ensures that notifications around important timely information are delivered directly to your employees’ cell phones. You can even use SMS messaging with your applicants to let them know you’ve received their application and where they stand in the hiring process.
For more information on adding SMS messaging through Twilio navigate to Menu > Settings > Marketplace > Marketplace Setup > search for Twilio.
To leverage SMS messaging in your solution, navigate to Menu > Help > Online Documentation > Cross Product User Guides > SMS Integration with Twilio Marketplace User Guide.
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With these features added to your employee playbook, your organization’s communication strategy will reach the end zone in no time!