German software vendor Staffbase is eying the broader market for corporate communication and indeed many talks and themes on the agenda at their VOICES 2024 conference in Berlin went far beyond the usual intranet topics.
Known for changing the game with their employee app approach, Staffbase has made it to the top of the charts for delivering modern intranets in a packaged solution. Or to be blunt: An alternative to the SharePoint intranets that tend to come up short and which historically has been loved by few.
We’ve followed them since the early days a decade ago, when they were called eyo and mostly delivered features like forms, calendars, and menu plans. Still back then they did more than just ship features, but looked broadly at the pain points of internal communication.
With ‘Inspiration’ as the key theme at VOICES 2024 coupled with some major product announcements, you don't need to be a seasoned industry analyst to see that they are going after a bigger market. Also, similar to the movement we are seeing from other software companies, winning the hearts and minds of the agencies is key and Staffbase also used their conference to share a new partner program. This also resonates with customers increasingly turning to their trusted agencies to make vendor decisions.
Based on conversations and the presentations I watched in Berlin, I'll share my perspective on the conference, key takeaways from some of the major customers who shared their experiences and finally how the Staffbase narrative is changing and what it means for you.
Read moreReaching all employees and communicating successfully in this hybrid working environment has become a major challenge for companies.
Many have realised that just having an intranet or an employee app doesn’t cover it for internal communication as many employees are left out. To make matters worse, many internal communicators are struggling, understaffed and strained for time.
In a recent member call, we were joined by Kevin Hähnlein, Head of Product Marketing at employee communications and advocacy platform Haiilo. He shared his perspective on the future of internal communications, what a good employee experience strategy looks like and also how artificial intelligence will transform content creation at scale.
Read more“Internal communication can build the bridge to the future of work”
Contributing towards making the world a better place to work is a big part of what Anke Maibach does. In her role as Head of Internal Communications and Employer Branding Europe at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), she is based in their Frankfurt office and focuses on filling her role in a very large, complex and global organisation. As of writing these lines, TCS has more than 530,000 employees.
In her own words, she sometimes sees herself as the black sheep at work. The one who comes with the unexpected point of view, or the one who looks beyond the traditional silo thinking. Interconnectivity between departments and finding the different pieces of the puzzle is important to Anke,
Anke is coming up with 14 years at TCS. Her past roles include being the Director of Communication for Central Europe and before that she was the Marketing Manager for Central Europe. Prior to joining TCS, she also worked in various marketing roles. She is our final expert of the month for 2021 and below you can learn more about her way of thinking and how she sees the big challenges towards 2022.
Read moreThe challenge for O365 adoption, is that the overwhelming parts, tend to overshadow the value part. Hence the reason I believe we need to be transparent about the obstacles and leverage various resources including change management practices to guided us successfully through the transition.
Read moreDuring the past years, intranets are often presented with a social in front of them. The hype behind social intranet remains deafening, technology investments have been made in many organisations and yet most social intranets are not being put to much use.
Read moreMobile-first coupled with new media firms like Buzzfeed, The Huffington Post and Vice have set new standards for what makes truly good content in a digital age. A changed mindset for content consumers impact intranets as well where employees no longer tolerate the old-fashioned internal press releases from the communications department. Earlier this year, I sat down with intranet expert Frank Wolf, who is co-founder at German-based software startup Staffbase which focuses on employee app solutions, including for non-desktop workers.
Read moreDuring the last ten years our attention span has decreased from twelve to eight seconds, Microsoft argues in a recent study. During the same time the attention span of a goldfish has remained stable at nine seconds. Obviously, the goldfish hasn’t had a bunch of new options like social media and smartphones to entertain itself during the last ten years - compared to us.
Distraction is the price we pay for having all the great digital tools at hand. According to Jonas Bladt Hansen, digital consultant at Danish dairy giant Arla and speaker at the Boye Aarhus 15 conference, this has significant consequences for the future of internal communication.
Read more