Internal Communications for Manufacturing: Q&A with MANN+HUMMEL

A global market leader in the filtration field, MANN + HUMMEL provides innovative filtration solutions for a variety of industries that reflect the latest technical and environmental standards. How does a company with over 20,000 employees communicate when the majority are mobile and do not work at desks?

Since June 2017, Svetlana Becker, Digital Employee Communications Manager at MANN+HUMMEL has led the roll-out of Beekeeper’s team app across the company. Becker describes the experience of implementing Beekeeper, the pivotal role data security plays in the internal communications strategy for such a large, dispersed workforce, and shares how important secure internal communication is to a global enterprise.

Before you dig in, get a free demo to learn why Beekeeper is the employee app that improves internal communications and employee engagement.

1. How important is workplace digitization to the manufacturing sector?

Workplace digitization is a mega-trend in general—both in day-to-day business as well as in private life. As filtration experts working around the globe, MANN+HUMMEL is not only affected by this trend, but also considers itself as a leader in this regard. While digitization found its way into production technology long ago, internal communications can now also profit from its features.

Digital workplace solutions offer the ability to integrate with a multitude of applications that can facilitate better team communication in the workplace. A mobile employee app is the best choice for this. Every employee, whether they work on a laptop, PC, or on the manufacturing floor, can access information when it’s most convenient for them, 24/7. This offers non-desk employees an enormous advantage. Previously we could only share information with them through the bulletin board or the intranet, which they could only access on publicly-available PCs during the workday.

Today, we use Beekeeper’s team app, which gives our non-desk employees the freedom to both be informed with the latest company updates and announcements, and to interact with colleagues independently.

2. How has internal communication at MANN+HUMMEL changed since introducing Beekeeper?

We presented Beekeeper in June 2017 during an internal management conference and since then have rolled out the tool company-wide at all MANN+HUMMEL locations. Whether in Asia, North America, or Europe—so far, workforce adoption of Beekeeper’s team app has been positive, with many posts, likes, and comments.

3. What role does data protection play in your internal communication strategy?

In addition to being user-friendly, the safety and protection of our internal employee and corporate data were among the most important criteria when choosing a suitable internal communication solution. Before we implemented Beekeeper, we worked closely with Dr. Amir Ameri, Data Protection Officer at Beekeeper, to review the guidelines for the protection of personal and internal corporate data. A fundamental point here was the fact that our team app data is stored on a server in Germany. Together with Ameri, we developed a valid privacy policy that is also directly accessible to every employee via Beekeeper.

4. What are the advantages of Beekeeper over consumer messaging solutions like WhatsApp for internal communication?

Beekeeper offers better operational functionality for our manufacturing needs when compared to WhatsApp, in that it facilitates communication with a large dispersed workforce. We use Beekeeper to send surveys and campaigns to specific target groups to be able to facilitate workforce interaction and engagement, increase employee feedback, and strengthen workplace culture. With Beekeeper, we offer our employees an internal communication platform that safeguards data privacy, works quickly, and is easy-to-use. We are happy that it has worked out so well!

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