Wingu Networks

Into the Future – Using Workplace and SWOOP in a millennial workforce

Wingu Networks has a workforce almost entirely staffed by millennials. At a time when organisations around the world are implementing modern workplace tools to address the needs of millennials, Wingu has already done so by launching Workplace and SWOOP to connect, communicate, collaborate and innovate.

Want a glimpse into the future where the workforce is dominated by millennials? Head to Mexico City and we’ll show you.

Wingu Networks is a digital transformation company based in Mexico offering knowledge and technology services and solutions to small, medium and large enterprises.

What makes it unique is its workforce, which is made up entirely of millennials, with the exception of a few Gen X executives.

At a time when organisations worldwide are implementing modern workplace tools to address the changing demographic of the workforce as millennials become the new norm - they are set to represent 75 per cent of the global workforce by 2025 – Wingu has already done so.

Wingu Networks’ millennial staff at a Christmas party

Its solution was to provide all employees with Workplace by Facebook – a place to communicate, connect, collaborate and innovate.

Product Specialist at Wingu Networks Fernando Zarazua Ceron said the attraction of Workplace was that “zero learning” was required because everyone was already familiar with how to use Facebook.

By day three having launched Workplace across Wingu Networks, about 90 per cent of the 115 staff, spread across two cities, were using it to connect.

Wingu’s Product Specialist, Fernando Zarazua Ceron, who is also a millennial

Instantly, the administrative office in Mexico City was sharing and connecting with the call, or contact, centre in Querétaro, about a three-hour drive from Mexico City.

Prior to Workplace, Mr Zarazua Ceron said there was little relationship between those working in Mexico City and those in Querétaro.

“We didn’t know who was working in Querétaro or what teams were in Querétaro. Who were the managers? The technical support team? We were not aware. We didn’t know each other,” he said.

Wingu network’s contact centre in Querétaro, Mexico

Wingu trialed Workplace in late 2016 and adopted it soon after. The take up was almost immediate, spurred by a message from the then CEO who asked every employee to connect to Workplace as a version of Facebook, but for work purposes. Wingu’s young staff interpreted the CEO’s message as a ‘permission to use’, more so than a ‘request to use’. Adoption was virtually instantaneous.

Mr Zarazua Ceron said most employees based in Querétaro are aged 25 or younger while the average age of employees in the Mexico City office is about 30.

“In the first week of having Workplace we had almost all of our users using Workplace,” Mr Zarazua Ceron said.

“It was amazing for us. All the people use Facebook so it was very natural to post anything we want.

“Something that helped us out really big time was that message from our CEO and that was empowering to us. That freedom that Workplace gave us … here in Mexico we have to be very careful with that work freedom, to put in some memes, some jokes. Jokes are not allowed in some companies in Mexico, so Workplace has given us that freedom.”

Mr Zarazua Ceron admitted a handful of older employees questioned why they were now using Workplace when information could be emailed. But that didn’t take long to change.

“It’s already changed,” he said.

“They are posting likes, comments, jokes… it’s already solved. It was only the first month of Workplace that they had to adapt.”

Smashing down communication barriers

Prior to Workplace, Mr Zarazua Ceron said it was hard to communicate between the two offices. 

“Workplace smashed that,” he said. 

Now there are weekly Live Workplace sessions between the two offices and Mr Zarazua Ceron said it allows staff in both locations to see the others working.

“It’s very natural,” he said.

Enter SWOOP Analytics

Despite such strong connections across the enterprise and 100 per cent engagement on Workplace, Wingu needed to see where those connections were working across departments and where help was needed.

They turned to SWOOP for the answers. SWOOP immediately provides real-time data on who is connecting with whom, which teams and departments are collaborating, it shows every employee’s online behaviours, identifies influencers, assesses the levels of engagement between executives and frontline staff.

SWOOP will track sentiment in the network, tell you when people are posting, find the hot topics, show the health of the network, the most engaging posts and give every employee tips on how to improve their online collaboration.

To ensure every individual can understand their own online collaborative behaviour, SWOOP has identified five personas – the Observer (non-active), Broadcaster (someone who sends messages but does not engage), the Responder (prefers to react to conversation rather than initiate it), Catalyst (seeds conversation) and the most aspirational persona, the Engager (connects and sustains relationships).

Mr Zarazua Ceron said he was amazed when he first saw SWOOP, especially the personal network map which shows who are your strongest connections.

He has used it as a guide to improve his own professional relationships.

“When I first saw SWOOP, I thought; ‘We have to exploit this’,” Mr Zarazua Ceron said.

“SWOOP helped us a lot to view how well we were communicating. The SWOOP interface is helping us to attack those points where some departments are not connecting.”

Executive engagement 

Wingu Networks CEO Luis Enrique Sánchez Reyna

Two days after current CEO Luis Enrique Sánchez Reyna was appointed to the top job at Wingu, he went live on Workplace to introduce himself and “meet” all staff, regardless of their location.

“The CEO began streaming live to Querétaro and Mexico City with his speech,” Mr Zarazua Ceron said.

“Right away people were able to respond with comments and thumbs up. We have very responsive answers from both sides. Everything that happens in our company, some way or another, it’s always present on Workplace.”

Mr Zarazua Ceron said Workplace is always used to onboard staff and the CEO will use Workplace to notify employees of any staff changes.

“He’s always in the front of the communication,” Mr Zarazua Ceron said of Wingu’s CEO.

Wingu has moved almost all its training onto Workplace with the use of groups. There are currently more than 100 groups specifically for training, mostly used by call centre staff so they have immediate access to answers.

A leader in world benchmarking

Wingu networks topped SWOOP’s 2018 world-wide benchmarking report of Workplace networks.

SWOOP’s Chief Scientist Dr Laurence Lock Lee said while smaller organisations may typically find it easier to demonstrate organisation-wide cohesion, Wingu’s benchmark results were nonetheless outstanding.

He said organisations are compared and benchmarked on two key performance indicators; their internal cohesiveness and their exposure to diversity of thought.

“These two factors can often be in competition with each other,” said Dr Lock Lee.

“But high performance organisations like Wingu have demonstrated the ability to maximise both.”

Challenges ahead

Wingu will soon open a third office in Mexico and will heavily rely on Workplace to onboard and train new staff.

Mr Zarazua Ceron said SWOOP will be imperative to immediately see if connections are forming within the new office and if issues need addressing, they will be visible on the SWOOP platform.

For more information please visit www.swoopanalytics.com.