Netherlands based company forces digital innovation during Covid-19 crisis

In a global pandemic, being able to engage immediately and effectively with a dispersed workforce has enabled companies to keep their people safe and their operations running.

Headquartered in the Netherlands, Wyzetalk, a provider of mobile-first digital employee experience solutions, says lessons learned working with one of the world’s largest mining companies, Anglo American, has shown how the smart use of technology could solve business challenges and drive innovation on the fly.

“Until the Covid-19 pandemic hit, we never imagined that our client’s workforces would require such intensive engagement in a constantly changing environment,” says Wyzetalk CEO, Gys Kappers. “Imagine trying to connect with 90 000 workers across 18 countries, ensuring critical HR processes are implemented and crucial information shared.”

After the initial lockdowns the Anglo American team had to bring their divisions back on stream adhering to new regulations such as limiting the number of workers on each site, implementing social distancing, screening regimes and other health and safety provisions never dealt with before.

Through their Wyzetalk-developed  Engage platform, Anglo American was able to share targeted information at the individual level, communicating with workers via their mobile phones.

In addition, the platform enabled Anglo American to shift from paper-based daily COVID-19 screening assessments to a digitised process that will link directly with the time and attendance system.

“We have seen some of the most forward-thinking leadership during this pandemic. The Anglo American team not only delivered on their business continuity requirements, but fast tracked the digitising of critical processes,” says Kappers.

The work Wyzetalk has done with Anglo American was recently recognised by Europe’s Communicate Magazine in their Digital Impact Awards. Wyzetalk walked away with three awards as well as a commendation. These included gold for Best Corporate App; silver for Best Use of Digital From the Extraction (oil, gas and mining) Sector; and bronze for Best Use of Mobile and Portable Devices. This commendation was in the Best Digital Employee Communication category in recognition of work done with Implats Mining.

Launched in the UK for the European digital communication community, the awards set the industry-wide benchmark in digital stakeholder engagement and recognises the dynamic ways that digital corporate communications continue to grow.