So, what is it that motivates employees to bring their best to the table? 

The first word on most people's lips is of course money, and they wouldn't be wrong! The vast majority of us are indeed working to sustain or enhance our current lifestyle. However, employee motivation often runs much deeper and cannot be sustained purely via a paycheck. UK Salaries continue to rise with average earnings increasing by 3.3% however disengagement in the workplace is still rife with only 17% of UK workers engaged at work according to a report by Gallop. 

In this article we'll look at the different forms of motivation, the benefits of a motivated workforce, the potential consequences of a demotivated and disengaged team and last but not least how to increase employee motivation within your business. 

In the Social Chorus report, zero percent of the respondents used mobile apps.
But should they? In this article you'll find out what an employee app is and the benefits of using an app to connect your workforce. 

What is employee engagement? 

Thanks to the great work conducted by many to raise awareness, Mental Health is no longer a social taboo. However, when it comes to the workplace it appears the stigma continues to fester within many organisations. 

Research by the Mental Health Foundation found that 56% of employers would not hire somebody who is suffering from depression even if they were the best candidate for the job. 

It is this mentality which has been instrumental in the breakdown of trust and transparency between employee and employer with the same study finding that less than half of employees feel able to openly talk with their line manager when struggling with mental health issues such as stress.

The inability to openly address and support mental health in the workplace is having a profound effect on UK businesses with an estimated 70 million working days being lost each year due to poor mental health. In terms of lost productivity, that's roughly £2.4 billion each and every year.  

With that being said, it's never been more important for HR and management teams to work collaboratively to provide support and buy-back employee trust.

Here are our tips for managements teams when dealing with employees of concern.

So what’s new in Version 4.0? We’ll walk you through four features in this summer’s release that expand on some of our biggest updates from the past, and others that add brand new value to your communications platform. Find out here what’s new in 4.0!

We’re 1 webinar and 2 workshops into our ‘Let’s Talk Talent’ series and the conversation is in full flow. We’ve met and shared ideas with business leaders and HR professionals from various sectors, all with one thing in common, the desire to attract and recruit the best talent into their business. 

With the April release we are rolling out several new features as a preview and are looking forward to your feedback. The newsfeed has been redesigned, and now includes the ability to watch videos and like posts directly in the feed, and it offers more options for displaying images. All of this that will make user interactions more engaging and meaningful. On top, users can now translate news on demand. The new Notification Centre keeps things organised. You can now recover deleted content and we are also expanding our integrations with a new plugin for SAP Fiori and an integration for files from Office 365.

As the age-old proverb goes 'never judge a book by its cover'. However, in our fast-paced and increasingly digital world, we're often quick to pass judgement. If a website doesn't look 'legit' or meet our expectations, all credibility can be instantaneously lost resulting in website abandonment and a lasting sour taste. With that being said, could your employer brand (or lack of it) be turning job seekers away? 

When hunting for a job the modern-day job seeker (particularly those in the Millennial & GenZ demographics) simply expect more from a potential employers web presence. Before applying for a role they'll head to your career site, read your content, explore your social media channels and scour employee reviews sites for valuable insight into your organisation. 

Being deficient in any of these areas can leave job seekers disgruntled, reluctant to apply or even put off of your brand for life.  

Research gathered by Randstad has shed some fascinating light on the impact of employer brand with 50% of applicants saying that they wouldn't work for a company that had a negative reputation, even with the promise of a pay rise. On the contrary, 84% of employees would consider quitting their job to take an offer from a company with a great reputation. 

To help you stand out and differentiate in a crowded employment market we've put together our top tips & tricks to enhance your employer brand and become the envy of your market competition. 

In forthcoming years 2017 is likely to be looked back upon as the greatest catalyst to change this side of the millennium. It was of course the year that democracy rained supreme. Brits voted with their feet for Brexit and our colonial cousins inaugurated Donald Trump into the White House. 

But, did you know that 2017 was also the year that Millennials displaced their predecessors 'Gen X' as the overwhelming majority in the workplace?

With a record number of baby boomers heading into retirement many of those who once held workplace seniority have passed the reins over to the next generation (Gen X) to direct the proverbial ship. 

As with each new generation that enters the market attitude and ideology of work (and life in fact) differ. Today's business and HR leaders are now responsible for putting those differences aside and create hiring processes and workplaces that are Millennial friendly. 

Businesses that fail to acclimatise to the millennial environment are effectively "building a wall" between their business and potential candidates. To ensure that you're ticking all of your Millennials boxes we've put together 5 key points that must be addresses to attract, recruit, engage and retain the best young professionals available. 

With employment levels at an all time high and the number of job seekers in decline employers find themselves in a conundrum, stick or twist?

The current market is candidate led and in reflection recruitment advertising continues to change shape rapidly. With popular job boards becoming increasingly unpredictable many employers are turning to new advertising sources in their quest for applicants.

From pay-per-click job board advertising to social media recruitment there are hundreds of available advertising channels all promising to help employers reach new talent pools and attract more applications. 

In challenging conditions how do you stay ahead of advertising trends and quickly identify which sources are best for your business? 

Our latest partnership with Qlik BI provides Talentvine Software users with instant access to real time reporting data allowing HR and recruitment leaders to make data-driven decisions to improve recruitment efficiency and performance. 

Based in Brussels, SMT offer a whole range of Volvo Equipment across the globe. With employees active in more than 15 African countries, communication was a challenge. SMT had no intranet, no common network and needed a solution to connect their employees, regardless of language and location.

Established in 1985, Dreams are the UK’s number one specialist bed retailer. 

Their Head Office, known as  ‘Bedquarters’ is located in High Wycombe and with 1,900 employees across the UK they make, sell and deliver nationwide from over 195 stores and 12 Distribution depots.

With staff spread across Dreams’ nationwide store network, factories, warehouse and support functions, Dreams needed a solution to 'wake up' their employee communications and connect employees across the whole business.

Whether it be in our personal or professional lives strong levels of communication are essential to the happiness and the success of every type of relationship. 

As a company continues to grow, disperse and in some cases become increasingly remote, internal communication can become convoluted and messages from the top diluted. 

The good news is that there are lots of ways in which we can improve transparency between employer and employee, improve relationships and company performance. According to a global report from McKinsey productivity is boosted by 20-25% within organisations with connected employees. Here are just 5 great ideas for your businesses to improve internal communication right away. 

This year starts with a great app update that brings integrations for Office 365 along with more new features that support larger and distributed organizations. The re-confirmation of terms and conditions works much easier now and there are added improvements for a better user experience. If you are still hungry for more, you can check out the preview package with brand new trail features.