Free business-to-employee communications tool launches to help HR teams engage simply and securely with staff during COVID-19 isolation

IRIS Software Group has launched a new business-to-employee communications tool designed to keep the lines of communication open between HR teams and employees working remotely. IRIS Engage will help staff stay up to date with the latest information and provide the support needed while they are in isolation due to Coronavirus.

IRIS Engage, which is free of charge to existing customers, will allow HR teams using Cascade and IRIS HR Professional solutions to engage in two-way communication with individual staff and groups via email or text messaging directly to their phone or mobile device. It comes with 1,000 free text messages for each company to help them get started.

Key information, such as changes to sick pay benefits, or details of additional allowances being provided by the business, can be shared instantly and securely. IRIS Engage comes pre-loaded with the latest government guidance on COVID-19, tips on working from home effectively and a broad range of information to support employees’ mental and financial wellbeing.

Employee information is drawn directly from Cascade and IRIS HR Professional so if a message is only relevant to warehouse staff or managers, the HR team can quickly identify them.

Winston Poyton, Senior Product Director at IRIS Software Group said: “We know from our own research nearly half (48%) of people managers saw reducing administration as the biggest issue they faced in 2020. Now businesses have been hit by the added burden of COVID-19, the impact on the workloads of HR teams is enormous.

“We have responded by developing an easy-to-use application our customers can simply download and start using to share key information with staff quickly and easily. This could be information such as changes to employment regulations or details of what it means to be furloughed, documents employees need to do their jobs or guidance on protecting their wellbeing while they are isolated at home.”

HR teams can use IRIS Engage to create collections of information in the form of online micro-sites that can be shared with employees quickly and easily via SMS and email. These micro-sites can contain any amount of information, from documents to online or customised digital content, helping them to keep employees up to date with changing information through their mobile phone or tablet wherever they are working.

Any changes to individual, department and group contact information will be automatically reflected in IRIS Engage.

Over 850,000 UK employees are managed by IRIS HR solutions. Visit www.iris.co.uk/perspectives/here-to-help for up to date guidance on running your business at this time. For more information and to download IRIS Engage, visit https://www.iris.co.uk/products/iris-engage/.