A healthy and thriving company culture is vital for happy employees, productivity, and retention. This may seem like a no-brainer, but many companies are just not getting it right.

In fact, this is so prevalent that as many as 40% of current employees are considering leaving their jobs in the next 3-6 months—and that could be 40% of your own workforce.

This is not only an issue of retention and productivity but also costly. Searching for and acquiring new talent, onboarding, and training are time-consuming and drain resources.

But what if you get company culture right?

Well, companies with a strong culture can see a 4x increase in revenue growth! Now we’re talking. 

Vestas is one company powering its company culture and engaging its frontline workers with its employee communication app, MyVestas. Vestas is a wind turbine manufacturer and is a world leader in sustainable energy. In fact, they were voted the most sustainable company in the world in 2022. 

As a company, Vestas created a goal to strengthen its culture and provide a sense of belonging for all employees with their Relesys platform. It has become a tailored solution where all employees can easily find tools to assist in their daily work, and it has brought together their non-desk workers, giving them the opportunity to be informed and communicate company-wide. 

With 29,000 workers worldwide working in various roles, including service technicians, turbine constructors, production employees, and office workers, an internal communication platform was vital.

Before

On the go and hard to reach

This internal communication platform came in the form of Relesys. Before their MyVestas app, communication was disseminated via SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, info screens, and posters. And with a workforce filled with production workers who don’t sit behind a computer screen daily, reaching them was tough.

Vestas was also experiencing:

• High churn rates
• Information and resources were slow to be received
• Outdated, obsolete, and analog processes and tools
• A multi-generational and diverse workforce with disparate needs
• Uneven security practices and governance

Factory employees found it difficult to receive and respond to communications, which worsened due to language barriers and complicated texts.

This became especially prevalent during the COVID-19 pandemic when information needed to be received instantly. It became very clear that something needed to be done to improve internal communication.

Before the app, it was very difficult to reach all our non-desk workers because they do not have the same possibilities with intranet or email as we do. It was very difficult, but now we can reach them in a few seconds.

Lena Schmidt Hansen

Executive Assistant and Local App Owner, Ringkøbing

The solution

One Vestas with one app

The app's vision was to create one Vestas, a place where employees would be proud to work and motivated to do their best. 

And that’s exactly what they have done with their app, as Line Møller Roland, Lead Specialist in Communication and Digital Change at Vestas, indicates. As the app responsible, she oversees the direction, its rollout across all factories, and training the local app owners. 

With over 20 years of experience as a Senior Communications Specialist focusing on change management, internal corporate communication, and implementing a strong company culture, there really is no one better for the job. 

The app has become the go-to place for news, content, and other company updates. It also provides all the information and tools that Vestas’ production employees need during the working day.

Most importantly, it's a place where employees can access any materials related to health, safety, environment, quality, and production. This is, of course, vital in a setting where hazards are more prevalent and meticulous safety regulations must be followed.

Employees can submit safety reports via the app, read updated regulations, and access certifications.

The purpose of the app is to create one entrance to news and content, enable our workforce to have ongoing conversations and create a community and sense of belonging.

Line Møller Roland

Lead Specialist, Communication and Digital Change

The Relesys platform is tailored to each of our clients' needs, and the MyVestas app is no different. Line and her team experimented with and adapted the app to suit each factory, as no two factories are alike.

This also means that the app has been rolled out to each factory, one at a time, to ensure every worker and local app owner thoroughly understands the app and its usage. 

The process is very customized, so each factory can pick and choose the content and features they wish to use from a list of pre-built and enabled modules provided by Line and her team.

The solution that Relesys has provided, has enabled us to create a tailored solution that now can be scaled, and we have this beautiful catalog of modules and features that we can pick and choose from.

Line Møller Roland

Lead Specialist, Communication and Digital Change

The local app owners are in charge of posting news and content in their specific factory’s app due to their close proximity and their working knowledge of the site. This also makes the app experience a much more localized affair. 

And which features have been especially popular?

1. The Marketplace where employees can buy and sell things to each other
2. The Social Wall where all employees can post and comment
3. The Canteen Menu for obvious reasons
4. The Chat function, where employees can direct message others
5. A Feedback section where employees can provide ideas for improvement and dialogue