Introduction
ESS Messages is a feature that enables posting messages directly to employees' ESS Hub Inboxes. This feature facilitates mass communication across the organization, making it ideal for company-wide announcements or reminders. Messages can be configured to reach all employees or targeted to specific employees based on their assigned Cost Center or Job Info.
Creating a Message
To create a message to send to employees, navigate to the ESS Admin section within the Actions tab and then select the subtab: Messages.
This screen will display any Active Messages that have been previously created and sent that are still posted within the recipient's ESS Hub Inbox. There is also a blue "+ New Message" button that will initiate the creation of a new message.
When configuring an ESS Message, the following fields are required:
- Show Message Until - Enter the expiration date for how long the message will display in the employee's ESS Hub Inbox.
- Subject Line - This will appear as the subject line of the message within the employee's ESS Hub Inbox.
- Body - Construct the message to be sent to employees. Pictures and URLs can be included to enhance celebratory messages or company-wide announcements. Use the "Preview message" button to see how the message, including pictures and links, will appear to employees.
- Post message for - Choose whether the message should be sent to all employees or specific employees based on their assigned Cost Center or Job Info. The option to "Notify Employee Via Email" will send an email notification that a message has been posted to their ESS Hub Inbox but will not include the message content.
- Require acknowledgment - Specify whether the message should require acknowledgment from employees. If selected, the message will be the first thing displayed when employees log into their ESS Hub.
After clicking "Save", the message will then posted to the employee's ESS Hub Inbox. If the message requires acknowledgment, it will be the first item the employee sees upon logging in. The message will then remain in the employee's Inbox until its expiration date, as the employee will not be able to delete it.
Maintaining Messages
After configuring and sending a message to employees, it can be found in the Messages section for monitoring. This section allows for message maintenance if any corrections are needed and provides visibility into who has viewed and acknowledged the message. For each created and sent message, the subject line, posting date range, and a count of employees who have acknowledged or viewed the message will be visible. To edit or delete a message, click the three-dot menu in the top right corner of the message.
To view the specific employees who has viewed or acknowledged the message, click on the number representing the amount of employees who have either viewed or acknowledged the message.
Here, the specific employees who have acknowledged the message and the corresponding timestamps will be visible. A search bar is available to locate a particular employee if there are several acknowledgments.
Once a message expires, its status will automatically change from "Active" to "Not Active," and it will no longer appear in the ESS Hub Inbox for employees. It is advisable to keep expired messages as "Not Active" rather than deleting them to maintain a record of all sent messages for future reference. From the Messages section, the option to toggle between Active and Not Active messages is available.
To reactivate an expired message, click the three-dot menu and select "Edit", and then adjust the expiration date to extend its visibility. Before saving, there is the ability to modify the subject, body, recipient list, and acknowledgment requirement for the message.