David Glenn, Director of IT Enterprise Operations for Del Monte Foods, keeps far-flung employees connected and motivated with AxisTV digital signage software. He had used the Visix product while working at the Russell Investment Group in Seattle, and knew he wanted to bring it with him when he made the move to Del Monte. “I wanted it as an employee motivator and to boost morale,” Glenn tells us.
Del Monte uses an AxisTV Professional content manager and seven media players in various offices around the US – three content blocks on six screens in the Pittsburgh Corporate Service Center and another one on two screens at the R&D facility there; one in San Francisco and another in San Ramon, California. “Whenever we spin up a new location, AxisTV is part of our standard deployment.”
In all locations, displays are placed in high traffic areas, such as near elevators and cafeterias, for maximum exposure. Del Monte’s AxisTV system displays welcome messages for new hires, weather maps and a weather ticker, live CNN and traffic cams, and other communications to help their employees feel included and informed.
“Our focus is on employee information,” says Glenn. “We see this as a collaborative tool.” He expands, “In today’s workplace collaboration with fellow employees is vital and somewhat expected. The younger employees entering into the workplace have lots of experience with collaborative or social networking tools like Facebook and MySpace. In our enterprise we use collaborative tools such as SharePoint and the related MySites. This allows us to better communicate and collaborate with our employees. It’s an internal form of social networking. AxisTV fits right into that need and is a great tool to assist with those efforts.” In the Pittsburgh offices, content also includes employee-specific information generated from the Human Resources department.
At Del Monte, digital signage is part of an overall modern approach to communicating with employees. “It’s just a great morale and motivation booster,” Glenn says. “It lets employees know that there’s a lot more to working here than just their daily tasks.” As more employees are exposed to the system, more locations and departments want it. “It has been very well received. We’re getting demand from factories who want it for their lunch rooms,” Glenn continues. “We even get inquiries from people who’ve seen AxisTV at the Del Monte Corporate Services Center in Pittsburgh – we get lots of compliments from folks who have seen it there.” Recognizing employee excellence is another effective tool for boosting morale. “Del Monte has several recognition programs to reward its employees. We use AxisTV to recognize those participants further by displaying their name and reward across the enterprise.”
As Del Monte grows, Glenn plans to expand the use of AxisTV. “We’ll be expanding communications further. We’re working on getting a process in place for better content management.” His immediate goals are practical and focused. “Right now, I want to get more real employee information up there and to get the zones around the country set up the way they need to be.”
Ultimately, Del Monte is using AxisTV as part of a project to recognize excellence at Del Monte and further the company’s core values of honesty, integrity, and respect; consistency in quality; innovation; and enabling individuals and teams to achieve their goals with quality results.