Case Study: Product Evaluation Systems

As with most companies, before upgrading their staff communications, PES relied on email and bulletin boards. However, they constantly faced a challenge as their largest department, their Machine Shop, did not have access to email.

Realizing they had a communication issue to solve, they took advice from another company who were already using OurPeople and decided to act on the recommendation.  

Relevant Information Reaching the Right Employees

OurPeople is now part of the fabric of their communication function, and they are using the Broadcast and Chat functions the most. Within the Broadcasts they have created both announcements and surveys. As they have team members grouped by department and shifts, OurPeople helps them to send relevant information, when needed, to the right staff members.

Importantly, they aren’t distracting employees by sending irrelevant information. This stops team members from ignoring the notifications or information being sent as they know the only information being sent is pertinent to them.

Companywide Communications

Every single team member has the app and, at a minimum, the management team sends out weekly announcements every Friday to prepare for the upcoming week. However, they are finding many team members are using the chat function daily.

Across the board, the chat function has been the most useful. It allows even the newest team members to reach out to others without having to share cell numbers.

They were able to use the survey function to ask company-wide whether team members wanted to access the annual flu shot clinic. A minimum number needs to be reached before scheduling and the easy-to-use survey function made this process very simple.

Solving Accessibility by Reaching Everyone

The biggest challenge PES previously had was accessibility. Everyone in their organization now has the ability to contact anyone else. Whether it is payroll questions, a notification that someone is running late, or an announcement to let team members know who will be visiting the facility, it can be done through the app.

Previously, before installing OurPeople, the management team would get feedback on communication issues. That has now gone away. During the pandemic, when the team was scattered throughout two buildings and across different shifts, OurPeople gave PES the ability to communicate (in real-time) with each other and in larger groups. It also allowed them to pass along information from different state and local organizations by sharing websites and PDF files.

Walt Moorhead, CEO of PES, confirms:

“OurPeople is convenient and intuitive to use. Everyone has a smartphone, and most people access it regularly. It just made sense to employ the app at PES.

It is easy to use, practical, and inexpensive. We also really like the fact team members don’t have to share cell numbers with other team members in order to communicate if they don’t want to.”