A North West online energy retailer has "completely abandoned" email for internal communication in favour of Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp.
Bolton-based Love Energy Savings said because most of its workforce are "email-hating" under 35s, the business is favouring social media messaging instead - and CEO Phil Foster said he "can't remember" the last time the firm sent out a company-wide email.
He said with the average age of the workforce 33, text messages are now outdated too - adding that social media is a "much more effective way" to communicate with the majority.
He said: “We still need emails for external communication, but when it comes to talking to our workforce, emails have become a thing of the past.”
The shift towards social media messaging began in March 2020, when Mr Foster started 'LES Pump' over lockdown.
The Instagram livestream has seen Mr Foster lace up his trainers to lead his team in video workouts from his garage every day at 8am.
He said: “LES Pump really changed how we interact with our employees.
“Almost overnight, Instagram became a way for us to come together and it really helped colleagues to maintain rapport and a sense of togetherness.
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“The pandemic pushed us to use alternative methods of communication and, more than one year on, we’re still using it to maintain those connections.”
Mr Foster said maintaining connections will be particularly important for the team in the future, with Love Energy Savings hoping to keep many of the flexible work practices implemented during lockdown.
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"Covid has changed the way we work for the better. It has made us a more flexible workspace - both when and where our colleagues work - which will remain long after the pandemic is over.
“However, one downside to remote working has been the lack of small day-to-day interactions between teammates that come from being in the office, which help to build good relationships and rapport.
“Having a more informal way of talking, such as through WhatsApp groups, can mimic those smaller interactions much more effectively than email can, so it helps us to bridge that gap.”