Widget of the Week: Event Countdown for HR

When Important HR Events Get Lost in Daily Operations

HR departments organize numerous dates – onboarding dates, training starts, collective bargaining rounds, health weeks, and application deadlines – that affect many employees. Internal communication teams using Staffbase face a recurring challenge: “How do we maintain visibility for these events without additional newsletters, manual reminders, or IT tickets?”

Typical Pain Points

Organizations consistently encounter these obstacles:

• Important dates disappear – Posts slip down in news feeds; calendars aren’t universally accessible
• High editorial effort – Reminders require manual creation, updates, and removal after the event
• Limited relevance – Lack of personalization means notifications reach everyone regardless of relevance
• IT dependency – Small widget adjustments require technical support
• Fragmented information – HR events exist simultaneously in calendars, SharePoint, and intranet platforms

Solution: Event Countdown Widget

The Event Countdown Widget addresses these challenges through an automatically updated countdown prominently displayed in Staffbase. Crucially: “Editorial teams and HR staff create and maintain the widget independently – without coding and without ongoing IT effort.”

Typical HR Applications

• Onboarding start countdowns
• Training registration deadline reminders
• Visibility for health or diversity events
• Application deadlines for internal positions

Staffbase targeting enables precise audience targeting – only relevant employees see applicable events.

Technical Implementation

Teams define event titles, dates, target audiences, and optional links in the Widget Builder. Content can be sourced from Microsoft 365 or SharePoint. IT involvement is primarily limited to initial setup, while daily maintenance occurs through editorial channels.

Key Benefits

For Communications

• Reduced manual reminders and streamlined workflows

For IT

• Fewer content requests and cleaner platform integration

For Employees

• Clear event visibility and reliable deadline information

Conclusion

The Event Countdown Widget demonstrates how the Widget Builder efficiently solves practical HR communication challenges. JASP brings over 20 years of experience with digital workplaces, Microsoft 365 environments, and Staffbase extensions, prioritizing stable, maintainable solutions over showcases.