On February 11, Carlson and Carlson Rezidor launched Yammer as its official enterprise social tool to drive open communication, better connect our colleagues and make collaboration easier. The goal was to encourage employees to “work out loud.” Today, as Yammer crosses its six-month milestone, we are taking a look at how it is creating collaboration wins across the company.
One of the most exciting use cases comes from the Carlson Rezidor Omaha campus, where employees use Yammer to connect to their global colleagues, share sales results, trade job shifts, and even manage and share progress for their community garden.
“Yammer has been very positive for the Omaha Customer Contact Center,” says Rebecca King, operations supervisor in Omaha. “It has provided an opportunity for us to truly feel part of the global company. I posted a comment about the results of our local food drive for Food Bank of the Heartland and I was thrilled to see so much response and encouragement from all over the world!”
Across the ocean, in Dublin, Ireland, Jennifer McWade, general manager of our European Reservation Center, agreed with the sentiment and added that “visibility through Yammer helps us realize that, really, in the big scheme of things, we are all committed to the same goals and have so much in common even across cultural and geographical divides.”
Similarly, Jim Van Sistine, business technologist at our Minneapolis World Headquarters, has first-hand experience with Yammer’s ability to connect with colleagues. “I shared an article about a TripAdvisor traveler study and it received a comment from the general manager of the Country Inn and Suites, Appleton in Wisconsin,” he said. “That is when I really knew we were on to something; because I would never have reached her through any other medium.”
On the day of launch, more than 700 people signed up to work socially, and the number of members has since doubled. From corporate employees and leaders to hotel staff and managers, colleagues use Yammer as a two-way communication channel to share and learn from the organization. It is also acting as a valuable knowledgebase for frequently asked questions.
Recently, the Office 365 rollout team built a Yammer group to function as a Q & A forum, as well as an Office 365 resource repository, creating the potential to reduce Help Desk calls. The Office 365 team has also seen efficiency in being able to answer recurring questions one time, in a highly visible way, right in the conversation stream of Yammer.
“We are pleased with the growth of the Yammer network and the value it is providing in its first six months,” said Michael Rockhold, senior director, Information Technology. “Some of our planned uses for the tool have taken off, and some haven’t, which is what we expected. On a weekly basis, though, approximately 10 percent of the audience on Yammer “likes”, comments on, or shares posts, which is right in line with the industry average for social media engagement.”
Over the next six months, look for a number of creative new uses for Yammer, including the potential to extend the network externally to collaborate with outside partners; and more live events/online Q & A sessions called YamJams, which the Information Technology group successfully experimented with in April.
Do you have a business problem or question that you want to extend to a broader audience? Have you found a great article or idea that you would like to share, but are not sure who the right audience would be? In the spirit of “working out loud,” our enterprise social team encourages you to become a more active Yammer user. Join a conversation, or start one of your own. Ask a question. Join an interest group. Then, stick with it, and watch your connections and collaboration efforts grow.
If you are new to the company, or have yet to become “enterprise social,” get involved today! Sign on to www.yammer.com/carlson.com and create your profile. Would you like to see a certain group or resource available on Yammer? Do you have user questions? Email us at collaboration@carlson.com.