What makes an employee app one of the best internal communication channels in the world?
“There really is no magic about it – it’s merely connection of the entire workforce that may be miles or oceans away without constraint.” says John Goulding, Workvivo CEO and Co-Founder.
Without the obvious statement that it’s an ‘app’ used by employees, every employee app is generally understood to:
1. Focus on internal and employee communications.
2. Be available on a mobile device.
Those two points alone make it the perfect channel for disconnected, deskless, frontline workers. It doesn’t stop there. Those two points may be the foundation of an employee app, but you’ll find companies in the space building for the future of work offer so much more.
Resources to create the culture you’ve always dreamed of
A Simple Answer To A Question That Often Sounds Complicated
Not to give you the typical consultant answer but while it is simple, it also depends. The role and flavor of an employee app will depend on your company culture, strategic objectives, your workforce, legal commitments, the communication tools you already have in place.
You want to make sure it fits into your existing toolkit. You might already be using a complicated, legacy mix of intranets, enterprise social networks, chat apps, email lists. You could also use this time to review what internal tools are working well, deduplicate overlapping platforms, and end up with a less confused employee overall.
Take a look at where we think the employee app sits in the digital communications landscape. You’ll see we think it handles 90% of the different types of comms available. Let it do the heavy lifting of amplifying your positive company culture by creating and deepening the sense of community in your organization.
Sure but what are some real-life use cases for an employee app?
1. Sense checking how employees feel
An app where employees can quickly give feedback or say how they are feeling is an excellent way to get a quick understanding of employee sentiment.
2. Communicating with disconnected and deskless employees
In many organizations communicating digitally with those parts of the workforce that are deskless – for example, those working in manufacturing plants, retail environments, and field workers – has proved challenging.
3. Weaning the workforce off email
Email can be useful, but its consistent overuse fuels inefficient communication and zaps productivity.
4. Streamlining employee communication into one place
Digital communication inside complex organizations often ends up being complex.
5. Keeping in touch with employees during a crisis
The recent pandemic has been extremely challenging for many organizations. In trying to keep the operation running in lockdown conditions companies have had to adapt their communication methods and styles. The old communication tools weren’t built for bringing a company’s culture online.
Still not sure if an employee app is for you and your company?
Here’s some data to back up the changing tides.
Did you know people spend on average 5.4 hours a day on their mobile device?
What about the fact that 60% of employees already use mobile apps for work?
Before we get to the infographic below, this is where I want to position Workvivo as the platform of choice if you’re considering changing things up internally wherever you are.
Adoption levels of our employee app are usually over 90%. You can read some of the things our customers love about using Workvivo by clicking on the image below and it’ll open G2 on a new tab.
What are the key features and capabilities of an employee app?
Employee apps are inclusive by default. Your app should
be available on every device, whether iOS or Android,
corporate-issued or employee-owned, smartphone or
tablet, laptop, or desktop.
Easy to use, easy to administer
Nobody uses apps that are hard to use. An app must be
easy to use, intuitive, and feel instantly familiar. At the
same time, it also should be very easy to administer for
the team responsible for it.
Fully secure and compliant
regulatory obligations are given. An app must tick all
the boxes for your IT, risk and legal functions and meet
standards such as SOC2 and ISO 27001, while also
ensuring you are compliant with GDPR.
An employee app is for everybody. It needs to extend
will continue to evolve. Technology marches on.