I’m Eric Eijgenhuijsen. I’m Group Technology Director for Metroline in the UK, which is part of the Singaporean ComfortDelGro Group.
A little bit about us.
Metroline is a ground transport company.
We have:
- 5,500 employees.
- A majority of staff are drivers without a corporate email.
- 99% active users on Blink.
Our pain points.
Drivers had to use paper for everything communication-wise: letters, noticeboards in the garages – that sort of thing.
If they needed to do something as simple as a shift swap, they would have to undertake an elaborate process of filling out garage memos.
And in the case of getting an urgent message out? We’d have to put up posters or give people letters.
Life’s changed since using Blink.
Firstly, internal communication has improved massively. All the guys need to do is download the app. We can instantly interact with them through the messaging tool and by posting on the feed.
We get regular feedback in the comments from the drivers, too. Electronic payslips for everyone were introduced. That alone takes lots of effort out. No more having to produce documents, send them around.
It’s much, much faster and more interactive.
Our response to Covid-19.
We’re in the middle of a crisis; information from the government changes constantly. It’s never been more crucial to communicate with everyone quickly.
Blink lets us tell employees how they need to behave; what they can and can’t do; what we are doing to keep them safe. All on the Blink feed.
They can see when we’ve hand sanitized something when we’re going to distribute face masks. It’s hard to imagine what life’s like for people who don’t use Blink.
We can put something together and be certain everyone’s seen it within the space of half an hour.
What I love most about Blink is…
Seeing driver comments and feedback saying “Oh my God, what would we have done without this tool?” And, “How wonderful is this?”
That makes me so happy. How much it actually has changed people’s lives.
And working with the Blink team itself is a joy. Their enthusiasm and professionalism have been fantastic.
These are my employee engagement tips from Metroline.
We have instructed each individual team – the admin supervisors, the garage managers and their staff – to actively post. Come up with good news stories. Inform others. Create a fuss, activity, and feedback from drivers.
That helped because it creates a dialogue with the drivers. We have people literally on it day after day.
You need to find people that are active on social media already. When you introduce Blink, you make them Blink Champions.
We have certainly, in two garages, a number of people that are literally on Blink day after day after day.
This is my favourite feature.
The integration facilities, the Hub. This was why Metroline chose to go with Blink over other platforms. Blink is unique in its ability to integrate very easily into 3rd party systems. It expands and improves on what’s already there.
That makes it so much easier to create a roadmap of where you are and where you want to go.
And for the drivers? They have a single tool to open every morning and get all the operational utilities and tools they need.
A bright future ahead.
If you’re considering Blink, this is what I have to say: “Go get it. Don’t look any further. This is what you need.”
I speak on behalf of the whole company here. Blink has been a real lifesaver; we couldn’t have managed without it.
I can’t wait to move our partnership to unseen heights, and the app to unseen use.
