Why improving communications within the Royal Navy needs a digital approach

The Royal Navy is on a digital transformation journey with an ambition to be a fully digital organization by 2025. But breaking free of manual processes was never going to be an easy task for a centuries-old organization steeped in legacy and tradition.

David Chandler, Division Director, Great State

With the COVID pandemic spurring on a digital revolution, it was clear the Royal Navy needed to get up to speed in creating a digital solution for personnel to control the direction of their service career more effectively, communicate more efficiently, and create better engagement.

Working in a highly collaborative manner with digital program partner Great State, the Royal Navy launched employee engagement tool MyNavy, designed to improve retention, streamline processes, and enhance the lived experience of all Navy personnel, reservists, Royal Fleet Auxiliary, and civil servants.

As an internal communications platform for the whole service, MyNavy is a valuable tool for Navy personnel to access relevant communications, receive individual support, be recognized, and feel valued – all critical for ongoing employment and retention.

Improving internal communication processes

One of the main challenges the Royal Navy faced was maintaining consistent and timely communications with a geographically dispersed workforce, many of whom rarely sit behind a desk.

MyNavy is transforming the way Navy personnel engage and communicate with each other. Whereas in the past, internal communications was limited to MoDnet email addresses which could only be accessed through military issued laptops. Not everyone was issued a laptop or had access to one. Now, serving personnel can access MyNavy on their personal devices from outside of the military network, meaning they can keep in touch from anywhere at any time.

Amongst its many new features are notifications which send personalized actions and reminders to individual’s devices, such as upcoming deployments or the expiration of qualifications or vaccinations. For the third COVID vaccination booster, for example, thousands of Navy personnel were notified of, and then able to submit details of, their vaccination booster directly through the app creating a far more efficient way to submit personal data.

The announcements feature allows Navy personnel to access relevant and targeted communications securely with focused messages accessible to different groups or units all the way down to individuals, branches, specs, and trades. The app also has the ability to include images, documents, and video content such as the ’60 Second Update’ which is posted every two weeks.

MyNavy is available to more than 35,000 Navy personnel across 27 different countries worldwide.

Photo courtesy Royal Navy

For Lt Cdr Morgan (Mogsy) Long, Senior Product Owner of MyNavy, this was a critical feature to the initial design based on research and insight on what users needed and how they wanted it to work. “I use it daily to receive pertinent, personalized information for the day, from topdown messaging to updates on course booking, health status, uniform collection and deployablility” notes Lt Cdr Long. “It’s utility and empowerment save me time every day, providing me with control over my military life, and a feeling that the Royal Navy is investing in their people.”

Communicating securely

Built as a Progressive Web Application (PWA), the app has been specifically designed to work in low-data or bandwidth areas and to use local connectivity services.

Using ‘headless’ technology, MyNavy uses a javascript framework. Unlike traditional serverbased websites where an entire web page is created on the server, the server sends the browser the code needed to construct the web page itself instead of sending the HTML. This means the browser makes a network request for just that one piece of data.

And because the rest of the page (and the code needed to make it) are already downloaded and running in the browser, the page can display a user-friendly loading spinner to inform the user about the pending data rather than just showing a blank screen.

Once the app, which is in the form of a large upfront download, has been downloaded and saved to a chosen device, each page visit only requires small API requests to access relevant pieces of data, instead of an entire page full of HTML.

On high-latency low-bandwidth network connections – like a satellite connection from a navy ship –this means the app feels much more responsive by downloading a fraction of the data of a full website, meaning no more blank screens whilst data is trying to download.

Accessibility is key

Another feature, born out of user research and utility, is the ability to use a personal email address and phone number for notifications and messages. Whilst most personnel are issued with a MoD email address, many are not issued with a MoDnet laptop, meaning they have no access to emails from home or out of hours.

One of the key issues that Lt Cdr Long hoped the app would resolve was the uniform ordering process from new recruits right through to those already serving in the Navy. The manual centuries-old process of collecting uniform from an out-of-theway stores warehouse was replaced with a digital click-andcollect service allowing personnel to browse an online catalogue of clothing on the app and place orders at an on-base clothing store run by logistics support in a location convenient to the user.

By adding this as a feature on the app, Navy personnel can view and order uniforms online and receive progress updates to their personal email addresses or via the app, rather than their designated MoDnet email address, thus creating a smoother and more efficient service.

Positive digital adoption

Available to more than 35,000 Navy personnel across 27 countries worldwide and with more than 168,000 monthly visits – the positive digital adoption is clear to see with more than 60 percent of serving personnel regularly using it. With 85 percent of users coming from smartphones, MyNavy ensures personnel across the world remain connected and supported from wherever they are, all from the palm of their hand.

Following the success of MyNavy, the RAF has launched its own employee engagement tool – MyRAF – designed to improve the lived experience of their own personnel.

Lt Cdr Long believes the internal communications platform which MyNavy provides is the future. His hope is that one day all defence personnel will use a digital product for all their internal communications. GMC

MyNavy gives serving personnel the tools to take control of their lives in the Navy, all from the palm of their hand

Photo courtesy Great State