Rapid growth often brings both opportunities and challenges for companies, particularly when it comes to maintaining a connected and engaged workforce. Rituals, a global cosmetic company, recognized the importance of employee engagement in achieving their goals. To address this, they implemented a branded employee engagement platform known as 'Rituals Connect,' powered by Speakap. This platform serves as a comprehensive solution to keep all employees connected, informed, and engaged.
One of the key functions of Rituals Connect is to facilitate knowledge sharing between the company's headquarters and its diverse workforce. It enables the seamless dissemination of information, updates, and training materials. This ensures that all employees, regardless of their location or role, have access to the latest insights and resources required to excel in their positions.
Effective onboarding is essential for integrating new employees into the company culture and workflow. Rituals Connect enhances the onboarding experience by providing new hires with the tools and information they need to quickly acclimate to their roles. This sets a positive tone from the start of their journey with the company.
Rituals Connect goes beyond standard employee engagement tools by serving as a platform for fostering company culture. It enables Rituals to share its vision and mission directly with employees through the app. This engagement tool helps instill a sense of purpose and belonging among the entire workforce. When employees feel connected to the company's mission, they are more likely to be highly engaged in their work.
The result of Rituals' efforts is improved employee engagement across the organization. Engaged employees are more motivated, committed, and satisfied in their roles. They are also better equipped to provide exceptional customer experiences. When employees are engaged and empowered with the knowledge they need, it positively impacts customer interactions, leading to improved customer satisfaction.
To sum it all up, and in the words of Arjen Schouten, COO of Rituals:
“Rituals is all about enjoying the small moments in life. That’s important for our customers, so therefore it’s also important for our frontline employees who are working with our customers every day. Therefore, we need people who are passionate about that vision and about our brand.”
Rituals serve some of the most demanding consumers in the world, so training and educating their customer-facing employees is key. Here are 3 takeaways from Rituals around the usage of employee engagement tools that HR professionals can implement to drive business value.
Rituals recognized the need to swiftly communicate important company news and updates to their workforce. They harnessed the power of an employee engagement platform to facilitate instant communication with their entire staff. In a business where product assortments change frequently, keeping employees informed is paramount. When employees are well-informed about product changes and updates, they are better equipped to create exceptional customer experiences. Rituals achieve this by using a single employee engagement tool that allows them to send instant messages to all relevant employees with just a tap of a button.
When faced with a crisis, they used ‘Rituals Connect' (a Speakap product) to instantly reach out and engage their employees to find the quickest solution. Hear about it from Irene Vernie, HR Director of Rituals:
“I vividly remember we had just launched Rituals Connect the day that our system stopped working globally for a few hours. After my morning coffee, I received a notification on the employee engagement platform from our IT Director. This was not the first crisis that I had experienced, but it was different and in a good way. It was above all efficient because we received the updated protocol directly from our IT director via the employee engagement tool. We even started a group chat for all shop managers in order to align on individual cases. I was shocked at how much faster we were able to handle crises by communicating the right way.”
Rituals, a global brand with over 800 stores and offices and a workforce of more than 8,000 employees worldwide, faced the challenge of efficiently reaching every employee while preserving and enhancing their company culture. As organizations experience rapid growth, it can be easy to lose sight of internal branding and identity. However, Rituals was determined to avoid this pitfall.
Rituals recognized that employee engagement, company culture, and customer experiences were all interconnected. These elements formed a unified thread that would be instrumental in their scalability and success. To achieve their goal of creating happy customers, Rituals understood the importance of engaging employees on a common platform and nurturing their company culture.
“It is crucial to maintain our culture to fuel our rapid growth at that scale. At times, an easy-to-use employee engagement tool is the only thing we need to break the ice between individuals. Rituals Connect is that platform where employees can come together to share their own Rituals experiences.”
Arjen Schouten, COO of Rituals
Rituals use their employee engagement platform to share the company's values and vision. And since a big part of their brand is about customer experiences, they make sure that their employees experience the brand first-hand and that they clearly understand the vision and brand. They go the extra mile to celebrate successes and achievements.
“We think it’s important that our employees have a platform to engage and really share life events with each other, and celebrate special moments like a birthday, or a special achievement.”
Irene Vernie, HR Director
When companies are going through rapid growth, there are a ton of employees that need to be onboarded and oriented toward the company vision. For Rituals, scaling meant a lot of new stores opening with new teams forming across the world. And to avoid reinventing the wheel, they used the employee engagement platform to share learnings, details, and ways to excite customers. Floor employees use ‘Rituals Connect' to get insight from other stores and to learn from each other globally, no matter the distance. With stores spanning the world, from New York to Amsterdam, for instance, they're able to easily connect and get the information they need to excel at their jobs.
“I can get tips from my fellow colleagues and ensure that all my customers are happy.”
Al Sienkiewicz, Shop Manager, Rituals New York
With an employee engagement tool to chat and exchange knowledge, Rituals’ employees are able to better understand their customers and give them the experiences they’re looking for.
Who benefits from this employee engagement platform at Rituals?
All employees receive best practices from each other, instead of reinventing the wheel each time
New employees are onboarded more easily
HQ receives customer insight from employees, across the world
Customers receive the experiences they've come to expect from the brand, every single time
By leveraging their employee engagement software, Rituals achieved remarkable results in connecting and engaging their employees across the globe, all while sharing and implementing best practices.
Through the implementation of 'Rituals Connect,' an integral part of their employee engagement tool, employees from various locations could easily connect and access valuable information, insights, and best practices. This global knowledge-sharing platform allowed team members from different corners of the world to collaborate effortlessly.
Rituals fostered a culture of continuous learning and collaboration among their employees. By providing a dedicated platform within their employee engagement software, employees could not only access resources but also learn from their peers. This encouraged a sense of community and shared growth.
Maintaining consistent customer experiences is vital for global brands like Rituals. By sharing best practices through their employee engagement tool, Rituals ensured that their employees, whether in New York or Amsterdam, adhered to the same high standards. This consistency contributed to their brand's reputation for excellence.
Engaged employees are better equipped to captivate customers. Rituals recognized this and made sure that their engagement platform provided employees with tips, insights, and creative ideas to delight customers and enhance their shopping experience. This customer-centric approach positively impacted sales and brand loyalty.
Rituals Connect also served as a valuable onboarding resource, especially for new stores and teams. The platform streamlined the onboarding process, ensuring that new employees quickly adapted to the company's culture and values, and were equipped with the knowledge they needed to excel in their roles.
Rituals' success story highlights the power of employee engagement tools and techniques in building a connected and engaged workforce. By providing a platform for collaboration, learning, and knowledge sharing, Rituals ensured that their employees were not just engaged but empowered to contribute to the company's growth and success. As organizations seek the best employee engagement strategies, Rituals serves as an inspiring example of how leveraging employee engagement software can lead to engaged employees and ultimately, higher employee satisfaction and business performance.
At Speakap, we understand the vital role that employee engagement plays in the success of an organization. Engaged employees are not just satisfied with their work; they are enthusiastic, motivated, and committed to achieving the company's goals. We provide cutting-edge employee engagement tools and employee engagement software to take your organization's employee engagement to the next level.
Our platform is designed to foster a culture of employee engagement, satisfaction, and recognition, ultimately leading to a more motivated and productive workforce. Book a free demo today and unlock the potential of engaged, motivated, and empowered employees!