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Vital Limited connects employees around New Zealand

Vital is a critical communications company in New Zealand that provides the infrastructure to keep businesses connected and their people safe.

In 2020, the company realized they had two major problems.

First, they needed a platform that allowed them to share information and connect employees. Too much important information was being stored in people’s heads instead of being written down. This made it hard to pass along knowledge.

Second, there was no real system in place for employees to connect. With people spread across New Zealand, some working in the field and others at offices, it could make people feel isolated and disconnected from the rest of the organization.

When they were looking at platform candidates, Mark Finnigan, Head of People and Safety, liked Jostle’s intuitiveness and simplicity. It wasn’t the type of platform that would require extensive training for employees to use and provided the knowledge base and employee connection elements they wanted.

Assembling VERN

Like many clients, when Vital started using Jostle, they wanted to make the place feel like their own. They named it the Vital Employee Resource Network, or VERN for short.

VERN is where all Vital employees gather to share information, celebrate accomplishments, and see what’s going on at the company.

Creating a culture of connection

A major goal for Vital was to begin building a culture of connectedness. Headquartered in Wellington, New Zealand, the company has field employees spread out across the country, who often take helicopters to remote locations. With no platform in place to unite everyone, employees felt like they were on their own island with nothing tethering the different locations and roles together.

Once Vital brought Jostle into the fold, they began strengthening the connective tissue of their company. Employees added their photo, location, and a bit about themselves to their Profile, so others at the company could see and recognize each other, even if they worked across the country.

When new employees join the company, they answer a set of lighthearted "get to know you" questions in a News article that’s shared with the company. Things like their favorite movie, or what event they would travel back in time for. These questions help new starters integrate and feel comfortable.

There’s also a similar set of questions for current employees to answer and add to their Profile bio. While these colleagues know each other well, it's easy to take relationships for granted, and provides a way for new hires to get to know their colleagues. These questions act as a reminder to slow down, take a deep breath, and truly get to know the people around you better, even if you've been sitting alongside them for years.

Creating a connected culture, where people openly share information and ideas, can take a long time to fully build. However, Vital has done a fantastic job of laying the foundation for a thriving employee experience.

Using Jostle to boost engagement

Jostle serves as the company’s central hub for engaging employees through creative and meaningful initiatives. Vital strikes a balance between fun, friendly competition, and events that are happening in the broader community, especially ones that honour the Māori people and their culture.

One unique initiative Vital launched is a photo contest, which they host in Jostle’s Discussions. An issue many companies have is making field workers feel a part of the same team as the in office workers. Due to the nature of their work, they miss out on a lot of the social elements and traditional engagement activities that companies run.

However, the fact that these field workers are often working in remote, beautiful areas of New Zealand is a big advantage during the photo competitions, as they can get photos nobody else can.

Vital also makes room for serious initiatives such as Mental Health Week and Māori Language Week, which offer valuable resources and facilitate important conversations. Last year, staff participated in Steptember, successfully raising funds for Life Flight, an air rescue charity in New Zealand.

These initiatives are hosted and facilitated through Jostle. Employees log on to see the latest updates, share their progress, and post photos.

Turning individual know-how into a library of knowledge

When they were looking for a platform, Vital wanted to create a knowledge base for employees. They wanted to move away from employees needing to track down the one person who had the answer to a specific question.

Today, their Jostle Library is a one-stop shop for all information related to the company. It’s where employees know they can find various HR, health and safety-related documents, such as manuals, worksheets, and expense claim forms.

Mark says that having everything in one place has made employeesl lives much easier, as precious time isn’t wasted tracking down information.

“If there’s been an accident in one of the company cars, we have our initial insurance accident claim form available. This saves people the hassle of thinking, ‘Oh, I’ve got to get hold of someone in finance or whatever to get the form.’ Now the form is right there, they just have to fill parts out and then send it through. So, it just makes life a lot easier for people.”

Results

Mark compared Jostle to a “waka” (Māori word for canoe), where the oars represent ownership, accountability, and responsibility, which were lacking in the past.

Since adopting Jostle, the company has seen a remarkable transformation in employee engagement and culture. Previously, they relied on Office Vibe as a “thermometer” to measure employee sentiment, with an employee net promoter score (eNPS) that sat at -32.

Since launching Jostle, those numbers have steadily climbed. Today, the company boasts a positive eNPS of 42. To put it in perspective, the national average in New Zealand hovers between 10 and 12. Achieving a score nearly four times higher highlights the depth of connection and engagement employees now feel.