How Meath County Council's employee app 'MCC Connect' empowers and connects 850 colleagues
Local Authority in Ireland shares how their employee engagement app ‘MCC Connect’, with Thrive.App reaches and engages with every team member, including those who work outdoors, helping them to continue to provide optimum service delivery to all customers.
Meath County Council is one of 31 local authorities in the Republic of Ireland with Headquarters in Navan, Co. Meath. With a staff headcount of over 850 employees, Meath County Council delivers a range of public services to a population of over 195,000.
It is the objective of Meath County Council to drive the economic, social, cultural and environment improvement of the county and to enhance the quality of life of the people in Meath.
The Council has over 850 employees, working across multiple locations, in two main categories i.e. ‘indoor staff’ and ‘outdoor staff’.
With 35% of employees having no regular access to work emails or a desktop along with the current challenges presented by Covid-19, enhancing communication and promoting employee engagement was essential for the organisation.
Note: These photos were taken before Covid-19 and the social distancing rules.
In 2018, in a bid to find an enhanced form of communication, the Council’s HR Department worked with staff, trade unions and workplace partners and identified that a mobile app would be the optimal solution to connect with every team member, including outdoor staff to ensure positive employment relations and engagement.
The Council researched the market and chose Thrive based on their user-friendly solution that all staff could use as well as their expertise and support.
After a successful pilot in 2019, the council launched their MCC Connect app prior to the onset of the Covid-19 restrictions and was the first Council in Ireland to deploy their employee engagement app by Thrive.
"Before the app, we used paper-based communication to alert staff of important information. There was a communication barrier to outdoor staff who felt like they were the ‘last to know and hear information’. The deployment of the app enables everyone to receive weekly newsletters, policies, procedures, job vacancies, well-being information, video updates, Health and Safety information, Covid-19 updates and more; at the same time, in real time. It’s helping us to provide a supportive and healthy working environment which is especially important during these challenging times. We are empowering and enabling our employees, managers and supervisors with the right information at the right time to carry out their duties effectively and we continue to encourage a culture of learning and development. We have managed to bridge the gap between indoor and outdoor staff by ensuring everyone receives and contributes to the same information at the same time."
Note: These photos were taken before Covid-19 and the social distancing rules.
"Thrive Customer Support is excellent and very professional; they have been able to advise on how to get the best out of the product. During the implementation of the “MCC Connect” app, the Thrive team conducted an onsite visit, attended conference meetings, provided excellent app launch material, and deliver an efficient customer support line. It really shows that Thrive have a great track record in making employee apps work."
Keeping the workforce up to date
The deployment of the app enables all staff to receive weekly newsletters, policies, procedures, job vacancies, well-being information, video updates, Health and Safety information, Covid-19 updates and more; at the same time, in real time.
"The app has not only saved us the time and money spent on paper-based communications, it has had a very positive effect on morale, communication and employee engagement. With the current global pandemic, the Council face additional challenges with more staff working remotely. The app being embedded in the Council prior to the onset of Covid-19 has led to the app becoming the core information hub for staff at this time. Staff have everything they need to feel supported, carry out their duties as well as giving feedback, asking questions and being connected and recognised for their efforts. In the last 30 days, 70% of the 850+ staff members logged into their MCC Connect app to engage and communicate. Throughout COVID-19, with many staff working remotely, the app has proven to benefit them by keeping the whole workforce up to date with HR/ Health & Safety and Corporate information, with video messaging from our Chief Executive proved very effective during this challenging time."