Workplace From Facebook Adds More New Features to Help Clients Deal With Covid-19

Enterprise offering Workplace From Facebook continues to adapt its platform to aid clients who are dealing with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Vice president and head of Workplace Karandeep Anand said in a blog post, “With many countries currently experiencing at least some form of lockdown, businesses are waist-deep in uncharted waters. Companies large and small have had to transform rapidly as they attempt to continue operating while keeping their employees safe. Yet many organizations are encountering a host of new challenges.” Anand said the two main areas where organizations need support, based on feedback from Workplace customers, are: communicating critical information with the entire staff in real-time and ensuring that this content is accessible by all; and ensuring that employees feel supported and listened to during the crisis. Workplace rolled out Knowledge Library as a new home for critical company resources such as health and safety guidance and benefits information. Anand said the average employee wastes more than nine hours every week searching for this type of information, and employers can now store static content such as advice on working from home or policies on human resources and expenses in one place. [kickout id="1"] The platform also debuted a Draft for feature, which allows individuals to draft posts on behalf of executives, who can then review, approve and publish those posts. Anand wrote, “Businesses are finding that many of the mechanisms that worked fine when colleagues and leaders were located in the same building have become inefficient now that they aren’t … We believe this will help streamline accurate information sharing, while bringing together voices across the organization.” [kickout id="2"] A new Campaigns feature, which will debut in May, enables users to track audience reach and engagement across a group of posts, including sentiment metrics, allowing them to determine which content was most helpful and create similar fare. Anand wrote, “For instance, with Campaigns, you can publish multiple posts on Covid-19 or working from home, and then look at the impact on employee morale to ensure that you’re providing the most relevant information.” [kickout id="3"] On the employee well-being front, Workplace will expand the capabilities of its Safety Check feature with Safety Alerts, which enable organizations to share stand-alone alerts with updates or context regarding an incident, without requiring response. Safety Alerts can be used for important safety updates, and not just drills or actual crisis situations. They will be available in June. [kickout id="4"] The platform also rolled out a new type of post, Q&A posts, which enable organizations to receive quick feedback. Employees can add and upvote questions, giving top concerns across the organization the appropriate priority. [kickout id="5"] The Care Reaction that debuted on Facebook last week will be added to Workplace next month. [kickout id="6"] Also coming in May are Profile Frames, a new set of work-from-home-themed frames that users can overlay on their existing profile pictures, with themes including Apart Together and Work From Home Parent. [kickout id="7"] [kickout id="8"] [kickout id="9"] [kickout id="10"] [kickout id="11"] [kickout id="12"] Anand concluded, “This is just the first set of features we’ve developed to help Workplace communities with the urgent priorities they’re facing today. You’ll hear more from us soon as we continue to develop new features that help make our working lives easier while we all come to grips with this new normal.”