This article is brought to you by SageNet. 

TULSA, Okla.—When thinking about digital messaging, many retailers make the mistake of only focusing on their external customers—those coming into their stores. But digital technology can be an invaluable tool to reach retailers’ other important stakeholders—their employees.

“Most retailers know the value of signage and messaging in reaching their customers, but most don’t think about how technology can be used to keep their employees engaged and connected … and frankly, simply ‘keep’ their employees,” said IV Dickson, vice president of digital experience for SageNet.

Dickson offers six ways retailers can put digital technology to work in messaging their workforce. Digital technology: 

1. Ensures information is dispersed in a timely manner. “Especially for companies with locations across widely distributed geographical areas, having a method of communication to reach every employee quickly is essential,” he said.
2. Keeps company goals at the forefront. Technology, including job-related apps and digital training, makes it easy to remind workers about the overall company strategies and culture. For example, messaging from the CEO or Human Resources could be streamed to employees across all store locations.
3. Disperses health and wellness information seamlessly. In today’s ever-changing world, digital signage can provide consistent information to distributed employees with up-to-the-minute corporate policies, regionally and systemwide.
4. Helps drive performance. “Digital platforms offer retailers more tools to measure a worker’s job execution, which can improve performance,” Dickson said.
5. Streamlines change management. It can be hard to ensure all employees know about changes at the store and corporate level. “Technology can help smoothly deliver those changes so all workers are in the know as soon as they need to know,” he said.
6. Improves employee retention. When employees feel like they are kept informed, they are more likely to stick around, especially when it’s easy to get training, switch schedules and hear from company leaders.

“The bottom line is that digital messaging reaches all employees equally, whether in corporate HQ or on the night shift at Main and Elm,” Dickson said. “Retailers should take full advantage of their digital platforms to engage their associates wherever they represent the brand.”

This is the second installment of a four-part series about how digital signage impacts customer experience at convenience stores. Click here for more information on how SageNet’s SageVIEW can help you retain customers.