Introduction
H&M is one of the leading global fashion brands. In the Netherlands, they have around 3000 employees spread out over their numerous stores, distribution centers, and their offices.
We interviewed Natascha Poncia-Kilsdonk (Recruitment & Development Manager), Britt Kleinepier (Internal Communication Coordinator), and Youssef El Kandoussi (Store Manager) to learn more about how Oneteam helps H&M to make their employees successful.
“Oneteam helps us to motivate, inspire, and develop our colleagues, which clearly contributes to the success of our business.”
Summary of results
- An adoption rate of 96%;
- 86% of weekly active users;
- Bridged the communication gap between HQ and the shop floor;
- Improved employee engagement;
- Structured communication flows;
- A personalized and scalable digital learning environment;
- The possibility of gathering feedback from the shop floor.
The challenge
What Employee Experience challenges were you facing before using Oneteam?
Natascha: We were facing a lot of challenges. The main challenge we had was that we shared too much information in too many ways. Think of email, newsletters, intranet, a Facebook group, and internal phone calls. It was quite a challenge to combine all this information and make sure that all employees received the right information at the right time.
Youssef: As a store manager, I received a lot of information from the company to share with my team. Having a large team, it was a big challenge to make sure the right information was shared with the right people.
How was this affecting your business?
Natascha: I can’t really tell how it affected us in numbers, but our colleagues gave us feedback that the communication overload made them confused and that it was hard to give everyone the right information. This obviously affected operational efficiency.
"Oneteam really helps us to build a bridge between our desk and non-desk employees"
The solution
Why did you choose Oneteam?
Natascha: In order to overcome the challenges, we decided that we wanted to create an inspiring, relevant, and easy-to-use communication platform. The platform had to facilitate 2-way communication for all H&M colleagues in the entire country, both for desk and non-desk workers.
Oneteam offered us the best solution for optimizing our communication flows. Furthermore, we find it very important that people working at H&M can develop themselves professionally, and the built-in onboarding and e-learning modules perfectly fit this need.
How did you experience the implementation process with Oneteam?
Britt: We launched our Oneteam app last year in March. This was the week we had to go into our first lockdown due to the pandemic (COVID-19). All our stores needed to close, and it was more important than ever to stay in touch with each other and to reach all our colleagues with relevant information. At that exact moment, we launched our Oneteam app, which coincidentally we already planned for that week. This created an immediate urgency to use Oneteam, which helped us with the smooth implementation.
Youssef: Oneteam is very easy to use. Whenever we have a new colleague in the store, it takes us just about 5 minutes to teach them how the app works.
Who uses Oneteam in your organization?
Britt: Everyone within the H&M Brand for the Netherlands uses the platform. This includes employees working in our distribution centers, stores, as well as in our offices. Currently, we have around 3000 employees working with Oneteam.
The results
How has Oneteam helped you with your communication challenges?
Britt: Oneteam is the most important communication channel we have. Via Oneteam it is super easy to ask questions and it really helps us to build a bridge between our desk and non-desk employees. It gathers all need-to-know and nice-to-know information in one easy-to-use platform.
Have you seen an increase in Employee Engagement?
Britt: What we see is that the engagement levels are super high. Especially during the several lockdowns (due to COVID-19) we had last year, we saw huge engagement peaks. Stores were closed, so the majority of all H&M colleagues were at home and really missed working together. The app helped them to stay in touch with each other, do funny challenges and really keep their strong bond alive.
How does Oneteam help you train your frontline workforce?
Natascha: With the onboarding module in Oneteam we are able to give new employees a motivating, inspiring, and informative start to their work career at H&M. It really offers them a warm welcome! During the onboarding, we explain who we are, introduce the team, and share all they need to know to get started during the first weeks.
Furthermore, we also create eLearning courses to train the team about topics such as security, leadership, and conversation techniques. Some e-learning courses are mandatory, and some can be accessed whenever someone wants to learn more on specific topics. We recently asked our managers how they find the eLearning courses, and they’re really positive about the easy way of learning facilitated in the platform.
What other results have you seen so far?
Britt: We see an adoption rate of 96% and we have 86% of weekly active users on Oneteam. Obviously, we are very satisfied with these stats.
Youssef: There are a lot of benefits to using Oneteam. But the most important one for me is that it is now possible to filter the information shared by the company and only share the relevant information with my team.
How does Oneteam contribute to the overall objectives of your organization?
Natascha: Oneteam helps us to motivate, inspire, and develop our colleagues, which obviously contributes to the success of our business.
What are your following plans for Employee Experience?
Britt: Right now we’ve been working with Oneteam for one year and we’re really happy with it. The platform also keeps on developing, and with the recently launched survey feature we are able to gather feedback from all our employees instantly.
We can now run employee satisfaction surveys and easily listen to any wishes they have regarding internal communication.
"With the onboarding module in Oneteam, we are able to give new employees a motivating, inspiring, and informative start to their work career at H&M."
Try Oneteam and achieve similar results
Are you looking for a solution to improve the employee experience of your frontline workforce?
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