How National Grid uses data to engage frontline staff, amplify leadership voices and build a learning culture
For National Grid's Electricity Transmission business, internal communication isn't simply about sharing information. It’s about making every communication count.
More than two-thirds of colleagues work in operational teams, spread across substations, field locations and infrastructure projects. They aren't sitting behind desks all day. Many are responsible for maintaining and modernising the infrastructure that powers homes, businesses and communities across England and Wales.
The communication challenge wasn't about access to technology but ensuring busy operational employees received the right information, at the right time, in channels that felt relevant to their work.
Jed Saint, Colleague Communication & Engagement Specialist, National Grid.
"We've got to get it right the first time," said Jed Saint, Colleague Communication & Engagement Specialist at National Grid.
"Some of our operational colleagues spend very little time sitting behind a desk. If we're asking for their attention, what we're sharing has to be worth it."
Like many organisations, National Grid is also navigating increasing channel complexity, changing workforce expectations and the challenge of keeping employees connected during a period of significant growth to deliver an unprecedented five-year regulatory investment plan.
The communications team knows success doesn’t come from simply publishing more information.
Instead, they wanted to create a space where employees could share experiences, celebrate achievements, learn from one another and connect directly with leaders.
Viva Engage has become a key part of that strategy. Guided by insights from SWOOP Analytics, it has evolved into a thriving community where colleagues share stories, leaders engage in authentic conversations, and operational knowledge spreads across the business.
Building a communications ecosystem, not a single channel
National Grid never intended Viva Engage to replace existing communications channels.
The Electricity Transmission business already had an established ecosystem that included targeted emails, manager briefing packs, newsletters, leadership updates and intranet content. Each channel serves a distinct purpose. Viva Engage was designed to complement them.
National Grid’s Electricity Transmission’s communication structure.
Sally Jackson, Senior manager, Channels and Content, National Grid.
“An important part of our role is understanding how people are actually using our channels so we can make them work better for what people need,” said Sally Jackson, Senior manager, Channels and Content at National Grid.
“We're also looking at how we can use our platforms as a source of valuable colleague feedback. That's why SWOOP is brilliant. It's something we can use right now.”
The goal wasn't simply to distribute information. It was to create meaningful connection.
That meant helping operational teams share their stories, supporting managers with useful content they could discuss with their teams, increasing leadership visibility and, importantly, encouraging collaboration across organisational silos.
From assumptions to evidence
As Viva Engage became increasingly important, the communications team needed a clear understanding of what was working.
From the beginning, the internal comms team relied upon SWOOP Analytics to understand how the community was evolving. Rather than relying on instinct, the team could demonstrate exactly how employees were engaging, what content resonated most strongly and where participation was growing.
SWOOP Analytics gave the team visibility into the metrics that mattered most:
Community growth
Active and interactive members
Most engaging posts
Leadership participation
Influential people
Influencer Risk Scores
Engagement trends over time
A screenshot of National Grid’s Most Engaging Posts report from SWOOP Analytics.
For Jed, the value was immediate.
"I don't like vanity metrics," Jed said.
"When numbers go up, great. When numbers go down, I don't necessarily worry. I just want to understand why. SWOOP gives me the numbers to do that."
Rather than relying on assumptions or anecdotal feedback, the team uses SWOOP Analytics to understand exactly what is resonating with employees, which leaders are influencing conversations, and how the community is evolving over time.
The data has also challenged long-held assumptions about how employees engage.
Anna Pass, Digital Channels Manager - Employee Communications, National Grid.
"We always get people saying; 'People don't use Viva Engage. We have to send an email’,” said Anna Pass, Digital Channels Manager - Employee Communications at National Grid.
“All of the great stuff that Jed's been doing and the data that we can get out of SWOOP really helps to prove that isn't the case.”
In fact, the team regularly sees stronger engagement on Viva Engage than on many traditional email communications.
"We can often get better engagement rates on Viva Engage posts than we do on some of our emails," Anna said.
"The great thing about SWOOP is we can pull that data and demonstrate it."
The data also provided powerful validation when National Grid's Electricity Transmission community was recognised as one of the leading Viva Engage communities globally in SWOOP Analytics’ latest Viva Engage benchmarking study, giving the team additional confidence in the direction they were heading.
Bringing leaders along the journey
A personal post from Electricity Transmission President Alice Delahunty became one of the most engaging posts in the community, demonstrating the power of authentic leadership visibility.
Leadership engagement has become one of the most important success factors in the growth of the Viva Engage community.
Rather than asking leaders to participate because communications teams thought they should, the team used SWOOP Analytics to demonstrate the measurable impact leaders were already having.
"Showing the data and the impact was really important," Jed said.
"Once we had that initial momentum, we could show the effect that leaders were having and bring more people along on the journey."
The results have been significant.
National Grid's CEO, Zoë Yujnovich, became the organisation's most influential person on Viva Engage during FY26, reaching more than 25,000 colleagues and interacting with 3,300 in the past 12 months. Within Electricity Transmission, President Alice Delahunty became the most influential person in the business unit community.
That visibility has helped transform leadership communication.
"Our president is really good at popping up and saying; ‘That looks fantastic, you're doing a great job’,” Jed said.
“The impact of that is massive. For the sake of 30 seconds sharing a comment, that team is then absolutely buzzing.”
Alice Delahunty also regularly shares Viva Engage posts from the Electricity Transmission community into the All Company community.
The benefits extend beyond engagement metrics.
Leadership visibility has become particularly important during a period of significant organisational change.
“There's been a shift from more traditional leader communications towards a more conversational dialogue,” Sally said.
“Because our leaders are visible on the platform, people see them participating in conversations, celebrating success and engaging with colleagues more regularly.”
The effect has been a ripple throughout the organisation.
“Because (Electricity Transmission President) Alice (Delahunty) is posting, we're seeing members of her team posting more regularly,” Sally said.
“And it has that ripple effect.”
Helping employees tell their own stories
While leadership engagement is important, the communications team had an even bigger ambition.
They wanted employees to become the storytellers.
When Jed joined the team from National Grid's social media function, he spent significant time sharing project successes, highlighting employee stories, celebrating milestones and encouraging colleagues to tell their own stories.
Over time, something interesting happened. Employees didn't just consume content. They started creating it.
People began sharing project updates, celebrating achievements, posting photos from sites, discussing innovations and recognising colleagues. Viva Engage gradually became a place where stories emerged naturally from across the business rather than being driven by the communications team.
Examples of Viva Engage posts where colleagues share their work and successes.
Today, the most engaging content includes project milestones, engineering achievements, innovation stories, community events, leadership updates and personal milestones. The result is a healthy mix of business and human-focused content.
“People don't want really super polished corporate-looking communications that have been absolutely finessed down to the last full stop,” Jed said.
“They just want somebody to tell the story in their own words and be honest about it.”
That authenticity has become one of the defining characteristics of the community.
“I'm finding stories on Viva Engage that I didn't even know about and then using them in other communications channels,” Jed said.
From communications platform to learning network
A screenshot of a Viva Engage post about the coloured rope replacing chain-link demarcation systems around substations.
Perhaps the most significant outcome wasn't originally part of the plan.
As more teams began sharing stories, Viva Engage evolved into a place where people actively learn from each other.
Ideas, innovations and problem-solving conversations started spreading across sites, functions, disciplines and even countries.
One example involved a simple operational innovation.
A team discovered that coloured rope could replace chain-link demarcation systems around substations, creating a safer and more efficient way to establish work zones. What started as a local solution quickly spread through discussions on Viva Engage before being adopted more broadly across operational sites.
For Jed, this is where the business value becomes obvious.
“There are a lot of silos across National Grid because we're quite a complex organisation,” Jed said.
“Having the ability to share how you've responded to a problem and broadcast that to as many people as possible is a saving resource for the business. The better we get at this, the more money the business saves.”
Anna sees the same impact.
“It allows people in completely different countries to communicate and learn from each other,” she said.
“You've got people from the UK and the US connecting through posts, asking questions and learning from one another. You wouldn't get that if people were just sitting in offices.”
Sally agrees.
“A lot of our other channels are about broadcast,” Sally said.
“This opens up a whole new world of people you could potentially be learning from and collaborating with.”
Examples of people sharing their stories on Viva Engage at National Grid.
Measurable results
The impact wasn't confined to a handful of successful posts. Across FY26, engagement in the Electricity Transmission community continued to grow faster than headcount, participation became more evenly distributed across the community, and leadership visibility reached new levels.
The growth in Viva Engage engagement in the Electricity Transmission community has been substantial.
During FY26:
Active colleagues using Viva Engage increased by 61.8%
Total raw engagements increased by 34.5%
Posts increased by 30.3%
Replies increased by 30.1%
Reactions increased by 28.9%
Viva Engage usage increased by 30% year-on-year
Engagement growth outpaced headcount growth
Electricity Transmission maintained a lower Influencer Risk Score than the wider organisation
Importantly, data from SWOOP Analytics shows success is no longer dependent on a handful of people driving activity. The community has developed a much broader and healthier mix of leadership, employee and project-driven content. That visibility has helped the team move from making assumptions about engagement to making decisions based on evidence.
A journey that continues
National Grid doesn't see this as the end point.
The community continues to evolve, and the team continues to use SWOOP Analytics to identify opportunities for improvement, strengthen leadership adoption and encourage even more employees to share their expertise and experiences.
“You can't just expect to do one thing with a social platform and expect behaviour change to happen immediately,” Sally said.
“It takes consistent effort, reinforcement of what good looks like, encouraging people and giving them frameworks to use. That's what's coming through in the numbers.”
For Jed, the ultimate measure of success is simple.
“My goal isn't to be appearing all over the top posts list anymore,” he said.
“The people behind those stories should be sharing them themselves.”
And perhaps that captures the transformation best.
What started as an effort to improve communication with operational employees has evolved into something much bigger: a living network where employees tell their own stories, leaders engage in authentic conversations, and knowledge, collaboration and innovation flow across the business every day.
As Jed puts it:
“Viva Engage is face-to-face without the face-to-face.”
