Flow by Workplace 2019 Recap: Why the Future Belongs to the Connected Organization

Flow by Workplace was an exclusive event for human resources, IT and communications leaders. Keep reading for key highlights and product announcements from the day.

October 8th, 2019 was jam-packed with speakers including:

• Rahul Sekhon, CTO, Sunlife
• Varun Bhatia, Chief People & Culture Officer, AirAsia
• Christina Macina, Global Internal Communication & Engagement Strategy Lead, Nestle.

The themes of these sessions included connecting frontline workers, building a community of distributed employees and how to embrace the future of work.

Workplace took the opportunity to announce that a landmark 3,000,000 users are using their digital collaboration platform, including brand names like Starbucks, Walmart and Delta Airlines.  They also shared a slew of new product updates ranging from new community controls to enhanced video functionality.

The Future of Workplace is Complete, Connected Communities

The sessions and announcements of Flow had a common thread woven throughout: Workplace is embracing a connected workforce that creates efficient, authentic spaces for feedback, work and relationship building.

Introduction to Workplace & Product Vision

Karandeep Anand, VP, Workplace by Facebook

“Our [current] model of work is broken...we see [work] as a machine and we see machines as pieces, not people…the effects of this is real and devastating."

Anand cited that 66% of employees are disengaged at work, likely a direct result of our mechanized viewpoint of work.

He reframed this grim statistic as a massive opportunity for global organizations.  Organizations where people are connected to their work and each other are 21% more profitable, 17% more productive and enjoy 40% less staff turnover. So, how can we increase employee engagement and tangibly impact the bottom line? 

The answer, quite simply, is through a connected workplace.

Introduction to Workplace & Product Vision

Julien Cordorniou, VP, Workplace by Facebook

“We know that when you bring community and technology together, you accelerate culture change.”

New Workplace Features Empower Community Building and New Connections

• Badges: Workplace profiles will show visual identifiers based on employee information and achievements.
• Thanks: Colleagues can recognize each other's contributions and even notify a recipient's manager of great teamwork.
• Insights: New filters and metrics in Workplace insights give feedback to users on how their message resonates with their community.

The Underserved Majority: Frontline and Deskless Workers

Attendees heard the words 'frontline' and 'deskless' repeated endlessly throughout the event—and for good reason. The first step of building a completely connected community is getting the individuals who have never had a desk, PC or email online. Amazingly, 80% of the global workforce does not sit at a desk. That includes nurses, firefighters, construction workers, factory employees, those working on ships or airplanes and more. 

Additionally, frontline workers are historically left offline. One of the biggest obstacles that keep organizations from bringing these often hourly, entry-level positions online is concern surrounding risk. 

 Mindy Grossman, President & CEO of WW (formerly Weight Watchers) explained in her session that, “Sometimes in business, not taking the risk is actually riskier!”

What she means is that the potential costs of choosing not to connect a workforce is likely much greater than the potential risk introduced by a tool like Workplace. Fortunately new Workplace enhancements, alongside available third party integrations, offer organizations even more controls for their frontline employees:

New Workplace Features for Frontline Workforces

• Access Codes: A new way to connect frontline employees using a unique code instead of email.
• Access Controls: A customizable pop up to make sure hourly workers aren't logging into Workplace outside of their shift.
• Learning: Workplace admins can create, label and curate learning content, including best practices and useful posts for onboarding and development opportunities.
• Surveys: Admins can send surveys via Workplace Chat to keep a pulse on the organization.
• Goals: Admins of Workplace groups can set targets for teams where each member can share progress.

Deepen Remote Connections with Technology

A global trend is the increasing amount of remote and distributed workers. With today's technology, this can create a challenging blend of being always in-touch, but never truly interacting, with colleagues.

With the right digital community infrastructure, organizations can embrace both the benefits of remote work and every day interactions.

“Connection is the glue that binds organizations and the closer people become, the better work becomes.”

Karandeep Anand, VP, Workplace by Facebook

New Workplace Features for Authentic Interactions

• Automatic Video Captioning: Easily add captions to videos you upload on Workplace and let people choose how to consume them - watching with audio only, reading the captions, or both. 
• Enterprise Live: Live is one of the most popular ways of connecting teams across companies. Workplace is improving this feature to enable Enterprise users to stream live video to large audiences without impacting speed or quality. 
• Workplace on Portal: Workplace is also investing in video with the future of VC. Workplace users will be able to make video calls through Portal from Facebook.

Drive Better Results With Service Partners and Integrations

Sessions throughout the day highlighted many #bettertogether scenarios and reinforced the idea that as connected workplace technology continues to evolve, service and platform partners are instrumental in solving niche organizational needs.

Workplace highlighted their expansive list of service partners, including LineZero and Enablo, that assist in rollouts of digital communities.  

Other sessions highlighted integrations and platform partners (like Aware Risk Management) that give organizations the flexibility to solve niche or granular digital workplace needs.

Aware’s Take: The Time for Connection is Now

Our team at Aware  couldn’t be more proud to connect communities in partnership with Workplace by Facebook. With a jam-packed day and an incredible speaker lineup, we can’t wait to see how the landscape of work transforms after Flow by Workplace 2019.

If your organization isn’t thinking about what your digital workplace looks like, now is the time to kick off the conversation. Connecting employees is a strategic investment in both your people and business.

“If you want to go fast, go alone.
If you want to go far, go together.”
—African Proverb