Podcast: From FinTech to the frontlines

Jonathan Davies

27 mins read

Table of Contents

Working from home became the new normal in the last few months. For most of us, anyway.

When desk employees moved to home office, it came along with some challenges, but that massive switch affected another employee segment – the frontlines. Communicating with frontline employees became more important than ever, but finding a way to do so is easier said than done.

Today Amy Jenkins from theEMPLOYEEapp and Drew Holland from GoCardless are joining our last podcast for 2020 to tell us how that went on on the two sides of the pond.

You can listen or watch the episode, or scroll down to read the transcript – up to you. We’ll see you in 2021!

The Internal Communication Podcast - Episode 21 from Happeo on Vimeo

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Jonathan Davies: Alright, welcome. We're back for the last episode of the Internal Communication podcast of the year. Not permanently, just the year. Don't worry, we will be back in 2021, which will hopefully be a much better year than 2020 has been!

Today we're going to do the same, but we're going to bring in a completely different perspective. We've got two guests for you here. First off, we've got Amy Jenkins, and then on the other side of the pond, a person who I've been trying to get on this podcast forever. It's Drew Holland from GoCardless. Welcome both of you, really excited to have you.

Amy Jenkins: Sure, thanks, Jonathan. I'm really excited to be here and to talk about all that happened in 2020, specifically about impacts on frontline and desk-less employees.

Drew Holland: I'm Drew. So yeah, it’s a pleasure to be here. I've worked in telecoms for about fifteen years. I'm now at GoCardless, which is FinTech specializing in recurring payments.

How did COVID-19 affect frontline employees?

Jonathan Davies: Alright. Well, without further ado, let's just go ahead and get started. Drew from the tech side and Amy from the frontline employee side, both of you actually have complete context of what's happening in the tech world right now.

Drew, FinTech in the UK is really big. Have you gone through any of this at GoCardless? Have you noticed any changes?

Drew Holland: You're right. It's certainly very competitive out there. We really focused on harnessing the culture at GoCardless. When we switched to remote working, I was pretty worried about culture. We had to deal with technology to get everyone set up to work.

Jonathan Davies: That's a really interesting point because some people forget that Internal Communicators are also people and they're also affected by all of this.

Drew Holland: Yes, I’ve had some ups and down days, particularly in March, April, May, when it was busy all day into the evening. Hearing from employees on a global basis helped.

Amy Jenkins: It's about recognizing gaps in communication. Leaders realized frontline desk-less employees did not have access to information. It opened the door for Internal Communicators to walk into boardrooms and say, “Hey, we have a group of people out here that isn't hearing our messages.”

How organizations learned to listen to their employees

Jonathan Davies: Amy, how have you seen companies address the communication disconnect between office workers and frontline employees?

Amy Jenkins: Organizations that tried to unify communication often missed the mark because they didn’t recognize the different impacts on these employees. There were missed communications when essential workers were still working, while corporate employees were remote.

Jonathan Davies: It sounds like for many it was about creating a common goal.

Amy Jenkins: Exactly! It's important to not just communicate the same message but to tailor the delivery based on the audience’s needs.

The survey fatigue: How to overcome it?

Amy Jenkins: We've seen organizations shift to more surveys, but they need to act on the feedback right away. I saw companies setting up hotlines for daycares based on feedback from employees to help support their family responsibilities.

Drew Holland: I think the reason short surveys work is because we actually took action based on their results. If we focus narrowly, we can take effective action rather than making a list of 20 things and not getting them done.

What do we hope to see more of in 2021?

Jonathan Davies: Amy, what are your three words for what you hope to see in 2021?

Amy Jenkins: Transparency, options in communication, and empowering frontline managers.

Drew Holland: For me, it's openness, clarity of strategy, and ensuring we continue to have fun together.

Jonathan Davies: Great thoughts! Thank you both for joining in for our last episode of the year. Let's make 2021 a better year!